There’s nothing like a room full of beauty products to provide a slice of heaven on a dreary, rainy Wednesday night.

The doors for the CEW Beauty Awards Product Demonstration general session open at 6, but the crowd typically starts lining up early. As in, around 3:30 or so.  My eagerness to get in the door prompted me to leave my non-Manhattan abode around 2:45, which would have gotten me into the city in time to que up at the traditional time.  Unfortunately, what I didn’t take into account was the weather – it was raining.  So rather than sit in the rain for hours, I spent the time schlepping around the neighborhood.  In the process, I bid au revoir to my beautiful kick-around flat boots.  They served me well, and will be remembered for their noble sacrifice.

At 5:40, the line finally started forming, so I quickly I took my place before it snaked around the block (which it took less than 10 minutes to do).  The logisitics of the event were actually very well planned this year – they had us in the doors by 6:08, which is the record for the past five years I’ve attended (rather than demonstrated).

I was greeted by a familiar sight:

Fashionable women, gift bags courtesy of CVS Beauty 360, a giveaway from Judith Ripka, and aisles upon aisles of the year’s most celebrated product launches:

The event was great – lots old friends/colleagues, plenty of new contacts, and lot of interesting information from the demonstrators.  A couple of trends:

1. Skincare Continues to be High Tech – Hyaluronic acid, peptides, ceramides and retinols remain the ingredients of choice. (See: philosophy When Hope Is Not Enough Hyaluronic Acid/Peptide Capsules, RoC Multi-Corexxion Night Treatment)

2. Hair Products Follow In Skincare’s Footsteps – Organic labels and SPFs were represented. (See: Jonathan Green Rootine Nourishing Shampoo, Tela Beauty Organics Guardian SPF 18)

3. Recessionistas Rejoice – Color prolonging technology and root camoflauges were found in abundance. (See: Avon Advance Techniques Gray Root Touch Ups, Ken Paves Healthy Hair Boost Up Color Drops)

4. Lip Plumping Is Here To Stay – Need I say more?  (See: DuWop Cosmetics Prime Venom, Pixie by Petra Lip Booster)

Ah, but at the end of the day, no one attends for the networking or trends.  We’re all there for one singular purpose: the gift bag:

All in all, it was a great pull.  I’ll be divying the loot up with the rest of the Femmes, so expect reviews soon …

Tags: Allure Magazine, Beauty, Beauty Awards, CEW, Cosmetic Executive Women, Cosmetics, Hair care, Skincare

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 18th, 2009 at 8:28 pm and is filed under Schmears. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.