Tag Archives: Benefit

Pre-Thanksgiving Pampering (or Trying To Get Everything Done)

Thanksgiving is pretty much here already. That’s insane! I’ll be heading to San Diego this year to join my family, and before I go I have so much stuff to get done!

I have some of my usual craziness, but for some reason this upcoming weekend is one of the most packed weekends of the year for me. And besides getting things packed before I drive, I have some food and crafts to finish up (I’ll post about those during Thanksgiving week).

But yesterday after work, I realized that if I wanted to get any of the beauty things done that I wanted to do, it was my last chance before I drive down.

So as soon as work was done for me at 3pm, I hopped in my car and drove to Brentwood where the Benefit store is that I get my eyebrows done at. Fortunately, you make appointments online so I knew that I would get in when I needed to.

Getting my brows done pretty much feels like maintenance to me. I’ve been getting them done since I was 14. And when I don’t get them done, I have a pretty bad unibrow. But at least at Benefit they try to make it fun. They always do a little makeup for you before you leave and while you are waiting there is a ton of makeup to look at and play with.

I actually needed to purchase a few things, and I found that they had a holiday gift pack that was cheaper than the 2 things I needed. So I got what I needed plus a little extra (some of which I will be giving to my mom).

After my brows were done, I got back into my car and drove about 20 blocks to the nail salon. I had also made an appointment for my pedicure (I don’t like doing walk ins anymore because you never know if they can get you in or not). I hadn’t had a pedicure since before my birthday and the blister on my foot is healing very nicely. So I figured I was due and wanted cute toes for Thanksgiving (although I’ve realized since that all the shoes I will be packing are closed toe).

When it’s wintertime and I get a pedicure, I try to go for some out there colors. I’ve done yellow and various neons before, but this time I found a really cute icy blue that seemed perfect for winter.

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Now that I feel beautiful and girly again (it’s funny how getting your eyebrows done and a pedicure can make you feel like you got a total makeover), I’m superficially ready for Thanksgiving. This weekend will be some shopping trips and getting things prepared for my drive as soon as I’m done with work on Tuesday.

The countdown to the major family event of the year is on!

A+ Customer Service (or Loving Benefit)

I’ve been going to Benefit for a while to get my eyebrows done. I first discovered Benefit as a salon when I went to an Eventbrite event a while back. And while I don’t go to the location where the event was held, the Santa Monica location is very close to my box office job.

I almost always make an appointment to get my eyebrows done. It’s nicer than walking in plus then I don’t have to wait around for someone to be available. So when I decided to go get my brows done this past Saturday, I tried calling to make an appointment. But when I called, I just got a message saying that the mailbox was full. This seemed weird, so I kept trying back. For a few hours, all I could get was that weird message. So I decided to risk it and go in without an appointment.

It took me twice as long as I usually do to get over there and once I turned on the street, I discovered that there was an event going on where all the stores on the street were selling things on the sidewalk at huge discounts. The street was crazy busy and it took me forever to find a parking spot.

I should have seen this as a sign, but I finally parked and walked inside Benefit. Once I got inside, I said that I was hoping to get my brows done and I couldn’t call to make an appointment. The manager let me know that the phones were down and unfortunately they couldn’t fit me in for a brow wax because everyone was booked up.

I was a little annoyed (I feel like even if the phones are down something should have been put on their twitter or Facebook account to let people know that there couldn’t be any walk-ins that day). But I scheduled an appointment for the next day.

On Sunday, I got to Benefit with no issues and found a parking meter right in front of the door. As soon as I walked in, the same manager from the day before was there and she apologized for the day before. And since I was inconvenienced, they gave me my brow wax for free!

I was shocked that they would comp my wax on something that they could not have helped. When I told the manager that they didn’t have to comp it, she said that they wanted to be known for good customer service.

And even though I’m already a fan of Benefit (for the eyebrow wax and the cosmetics), they have made me a fan for life!

Plus, they did an awesome job on my brows and I got a nice makeup touch up right after.

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Brows and Bubbly (or Another Fun Evening Out With Eventbrite)

On Tuesday night, I got to go to another fun event. This was run by Eventbrite, the same company that did the Spa Night Out at Burke Williams. Eventbrite is an online ticketing service. And one thing I love about getting my tickets through their site is that they have an iPhone app that you can use instead of printing your tickets! This is great for someone like me who is normally running from one place to another (and usually forgets to print things out in the morning). The app is free, and you can also use it to discover new events and buy tickets.

The event this week, called Brows and Bubbly, was held at Benefit on 3rd St. I love Benefit makeup (I have a bunch of it at home), but I had never been to a Benefit Boutique. It was so cute inside!

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My ticket included one service and I chose an eyebrow wax. This is something that I do pretty regularly (I was born with a pretty bad unibrow), but this was a much nicer eyebrow wax than the place I normally go to (where I ran into my ex-bff). After my eyebrow wax, I got to have a mini-makeover/makeup application done. All of the Benefit products were out.

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And considering that I just had a wax done, I think I looked pretty good afterwards!

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I’m pretty picky when it comes to makeup. My skin is very sensitive, and it’s hard to match colors to me because I’m so pale (I’ve had more than one makeup artist mix a white base with foundation to match my skin). I loved the products that were used on my face this time! And I decided to purchase two. I got a concealer as well as the “That Gal” primer.

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The primer really evened out my skin tone and blended in super nicely with my skin. Plus, it smelled delicious!

After making my purchases, I decided to see what else Eventbrite had set up for us.

There was some champagne (hence the bubbly in the event name).

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And cupcakes and popcorn.

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But since my stomach wasn’t feeling so great that day, I just had water.

Before I knew it, it was time for me to head home. But before I left, I got another amazing gift bag from Eventbrite! This time, it had some delicious treats (which I shared with my co-workers at my day job), makeup samples, another Uber gift card, and more spa passes to Burke Williams! I’m totally set for going on lots of spa adventures in the near future!

Thank you again to EventbriteLA for throwing another amazing event (and inviting me to attend)! I had the best time and am already looking forward to the next event! I promise to share the next event I’m going to with all of you so you can join in!