It was surprising to say the least, when I was expecting contribute to the blog only to find I was being recognized for my efforts toward my own blog. Completely outright made my day, I was all smiles. Doing what you love is a great thing.

DAY 1: Bumble & Bumble, L’Oreal, and Arcade Marketing

Bumble and Bumble offices

The first stop on the FIDM’s New York Beauty Study Tour, was at Bumble & Bumble offices. We got to meet with Suzanne Machesky, a fellow FIDM aluma. She was on this very same tour and got hired at Bumble & Bumble because of it! She gave us plenty of tips on being successful in the industry and shared with us what she does on a day-to-day basis. And yes, it’s fun.

A person from each department came down to speak with us about how their department collaborated on a product line they recently launched called BB Wear and Care (Fabulous line btw, love their Quenching Masque). I was quick to notice that how  each department worked together in the same exact fashion that I learned at FIDM. To be more specific, group work, group work, group work. It made me so happy to see that what we were learning in the classroom translates smoothly into the work environment.

A visit to the L'Oreal office - my notes and gifts

Our next appointment was with L’Oreal, we met with two women from the Designer Fragrance Division. They spoke to us about two new projects they were working on. One was on their upcoming release of Aqua Di Gioa Georgio Armani, a new women’s fragrance to complement best-selling counterpart Aqua Di Gio. It smells very clean and fresh, look out for it this summer. The next project they are working on in is the release of a new fragrance collection for Ralph Lauren. They explained to us what it’s like to work with a living designer for the creative design process. Ralph Lauren is very much involved. It was nice to see how a large company works when creating a new product. It is a bit different compared to smaller companies because there are more people involved.

The view from Arcade Marketing's office

Our last stop for the day was at Arcade Marketing, they call themselves specialty printing marketers. We met with Laura who told us about what she does for the company. They were one of the first in the industry to create scent sampling for fragrances. When you open your magazine to get a whiff of the latest Juicy Couture or Dior fragrance, you can thank them. Arcade talked to us about how they work on marketing campaigns that samples for their clients in fragrances, color cosmetics, and skin care. It’s important to note that they mentioned a revolutionary idea or concept is all about timing. Something that isn’t hot right now could be or will be in 5 years.

(P.S.) We totally saw Jay-Z and Eminem performing on the rooftop of David Letterman which was right across the street from Arcade Marketing. I got a picture from the office!

The Late Show with David Letterman in New York

Jay-Z and Eminem perform on the roof of the Ed Sullivan Theater, home of The Late Show with David Letterman

Just after the first day of the FIDM’s New York Beauty Study Tour  I was having so much fun and felt inspired, there’s so much to learn and so much to see I wish we had more time!

In my Package Development and Design course at FIDM, we were asked to keep an open mind when looking at packaging in cosmetics. After learning about communicating with color last week, I came across a pawn shop off of Vermont and Beverly that had the most eye-catching design on its store front. I love how it looks so loud, and bold you swear it demands you to look at it whether you want to or not. Imagine the blue and yellow color combination wrapping the outside of a tube of lipstick. Throw in a gold ring divider to wrap around the center where the tube and cap meet. When you open up the tube and twist up you find the perfect shade of red. Doesn’t it make you just want to buy it right this second and pretend to use the restroom just to reapply your lipstick? Be careful, you might cause some hardcore stares. Moments after checking out the pawn shop I look down at the  color combination of my long sleeve shirt and cardigan and I can’t help but smile. I want to create this like, now.

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure to attend a FIDM’s Prestige Beauty Circle meeting when Stila came to visit and talk with us about their latest creation, ‘The Makeup Player’.  Jeanne Tamayo, the HSN spokesperson for Stila, and Sarah Lucero, celebrity makeup artist for Stila, came to chat with us about their new product and hear what we thought about it.

Initially, I was confused about how it works but after Jeanne explained the breakdown I was excited to try it out at home. Sarah even did a look demonstration on one of our members! The idea behind the player is that you’ll be able to download Stila educational beauty videos from stilabeautytube.com and watch them from your iPod or mp3 player. After downloading them your mp3 player you just plug it into the makeup player and it plays through the speakers so you can watch and learn how do to your makeup with Stila lessons when you’re at home or on the go. The only thing you need to make the player run is 4AA batteries and your own mp3 player of course. The videos feature Stila makeup artists inside scoop on how to apply makeup the Stila way. Even when you’re not watching Stila beauty videos your makeup player you can listen to your mp3 player while you’re getting ready to go out or  just when you feel like it. I’m telling you, this is a genius idea!

In the player comes loaded with Stila’s best products, and Stila’s new one step makeup. Each Prestige Beauty Circle member received a free makeup player, and I got medium skin tone kit. The kit includes natural eye shadow trio with a #7 makeup brush, Stila Convertible Color for Lips and Cheeks in Rose, Stila Lip Glaze in Grapefruit, One Step Makeup in Medium, and a beauty DVD that shows you how to use the products to get a natural look.

After watching the DVD I used all the products in the kit on myself while listening to Pandora on my phone. I usually do my makeup in the car but this will give me an incentive to wake up earlier and do it at home. My favorite part of this look is my lips. I used the convertible color on my lips as a base and applied a bit of the lip glaze on top.

I urge you all to go out and get one; it’s found its way home in my bathroom. If you’d like check it out you can visit http://stilabeautytube.com/ where you can find Stila’s beauty lessons with tips and tricks and information on how to get your own.