Mountains & Makeup: London Drugs #LDBeauty 2018 media event

In case you don’t follow me on Instagram, I recently attended my very favourite event of the year.

Held every year in B.C., the London Drugs Beauty event is the creme de la creme of Canadian beauty events. It’s like going to IMATS and then leaving with every beauty product they offer.  Okay, so it’s not that excessive, but you leave with a lot of stuff.

This was my fourth time attending (I went in 2014, 2015, 2016, and now 2018), and although it was traditionally held in Vancouver the past few years (aside from last year), they had it at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler this time around (it was held there last year as well). Although I’ve been to Vancouver a million times, I have never travelled to Whistler, so in addition to attending this event, I was super excited to check out the famous ski resort town as well.

Welcome sign at LD Beauty 2018 in Whistler
Emani Cosmetics at LD Beauty 2018 Shiseido booth at LDBeauty

Since I live in Winnipeg, London Drugs was super kind to fly me out the night before and put me up in a hotel in downtown Vancouver. The next day, all of us blogger, vloggers, influencers, and journalists, met outside Waterfront Station and hopped on a bus for the trek up (I would also like to add that London Drugs hooked us up with a goodie bag filled with snacks for the drive).  After about 1.5 hours of the most gorgeous views (you travel through the mountains and have this stunning view of the lake not he right-hand side), we got to the hotel where we had just enough time to check into our rooms, change, and head down to the event.

London Drugs ended up changing the format a little this year since traditionally in the past we were given a large tote bag, which held all the products that the vendors give out.  You get a lot of stuff at this event, so the bag gets really heavy and bulky fast and it’s quite uncomfortable to walk around with (major first world problems, I know).  Also, the event previously was held for two hours, so it was tough getting booth to booth and listening to what each vendor said in that short amount of time. This year was totebag-free, and instead, when we left we were given this giant box which contained all the products that we normally would have gotten in the past. As a result, that made the event much more comfortable, and since the event was 3.5 hours this time around, we could actually take our time and not feel rushed.

So if you haven’t read my past blog posts on what #LDBeauty is, it’s a trade show were different brands that are sold at London Drugs each have a booth and they explain what is new from the company.  In our goodie boxes at the end, there is often the products they were showcasing, so as you can imagine, those boxes are very heavy and are worth a lot of money. This year there were 32 vendors, everything from makeup to hair, skincare, fragrance, you name it. Since I work with a lot of different brands and their PR already, I was familiar with a lot of the products or already had some of them, but there were other brands there that I wasn’t as familiar with or connect with often, so it was awesome to physically try stuff out and get the rep to explain the benefits of each product. Some of the booths I was most excited to visit were Ardell, Bioderma, Clinique, Coty Fragrances, Kiss, Lise Watier, NYX, Real Techniques, Revolution Beauty, and St. Tropez.

Real Techniques booth at LD Beauty Kiss booth at LD Beauty

After the event, we were given our giant box and I made my way back to the room to dig through it (truth be told through, I was super overwhelmed and a little stressed trying to jigsaw it all in my suitcase haha).  Later that evening we all made our way across the street to Milestone’s, where CoverGirl hosted a dinner with their pro makeup artist Veronica Chu and she chatted about the new TruBlend Matte Made Foundation (which you guys know I love – I actually brought it with me on this trip!).

The next morning we all met on the Fairmont’s rooftop patio (it was in a tent since it was chilly) for breakfast, where we learned a little more about London Drugs (for all my east coast readers, it’s a Western Canada-based drugstore that also sells electronics, furniture, and makeup. Winnipeg is as east as they go, but you can order online; they ship across Canada). After, we made our way back down to learn about the science behind Neostrata’s products, where we also got to take home some skincare goodies.

After all the beauty events were over we did have some time to relax or roam around Whistler, which I fully took advantage of with Jayne from Cosmetic Proof and Chelsea from Olive & Ivy, since this was my first time here. Around noon we boarded the bus and made our trek back to Vancouver, where a limo was waiting for us out of towners to take us to the airport.

Since this was my fourth time attending #LDBeauty, I knew what to expect, but honestly, it’s such a thrill to go to this event and the company really does go above and beyond.  Just the fact that they had it at the Fairmont Whistler really put an awe factor to the whole experience. Since we got so much stuff, I have yet to go through it all, but I’ll definitely be sharing a lot of items here on my blog. From what I have seen through, here are my top 11 items (I couldn’t narrow it down to 10) that I’m most excited to try:

  1. Ardell Magnetic Lashes – to see if they are as good as my TOK Beauty ones
  2. Bioderma Atoderm SOS Spray, which soothes irritations and itches
  3. Clinique Dramatically Different Hydrating Jelly – I’ve been a huge fan of the original formula for years.
  4. Elizabeth Arden RETINOL Ceramide Capsules Line Erasing Night Serum – I love their eye serum capsules.
  5. Oui Juicy Couture Eau De Parfum – I’m a huge fan of Juicy Couture fragrances.
  6. Kiss Professional 24K Gold Peel – Peel-Off Mask – Who doesn’t love trying new masks?
  7. Lise Watier Neiges Sparkling Lipstick – Love the packaging on this, it’s silver and glittery!
  8. L’Oreal Paris Unlimited Mascara – I love L’Oreal Paris mascaras and this one has a dual-position brush.
  9. Real Techniques Flawless Base Set – I’ve always wanted to try this brush set as I’ve only heard great things.
  10. Revlon PhotoReady Highlighting Palette – Who doesn’t love a good highlighting palette?
  11. Silk’n Silhouette – a device to reduce cellulite and smooth skin.

Truthfully, since we got so much stuff at the event, and now that holiday sets are coming in, I have been slow going through it all, but I have been playing around with a few items. Everyday I dig into my box and pull something out to try, and so far, nothing has really disappointed me.

Neostrata event at LdBeauty 2018

Whistler BC CoverGirl dinner at LDBeauty 2018 in Whistler
Fairmont Whistler Chateau

Huge thank you to London Drugs for inviting me to this amazing event.  Keep a look out for some reviews coming up soon featuring a lot of the products we were gifted.

Do you shop at London Drugs?

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