Loose Button's Summer Trends 2012 Event

If Loose Button, the company behind Luxe Boxes, keeps organizing events like tonight’s Summer Trends 2012 (and inviting me), they’re going to have me as a life-long subscriber.

Tonight’s event, held at Dermalogica’s training centre on King Street, saw over 100 guests, including 50 Luxe Box subscribers treated to wine, cupcakes, advice from Dermalogica consultants and a great swag bag.

And why was that swag bag so great? Because it contained:

•  A soft-cover novel written by the event’s key speaker 
• Valentino’s Valentina perfume (sample size)
• Joico’s K-Pak Revitaluxe hair treatment (50ml)
• Benefit’s Ultra Plush Gloss (full-size)
• Dermalogica’s Meet Dermalogica kit that features the Special Cleansing Gel (50 ml), the Daily Microfoliant (13 g), the Skin Smoothing Cream (22ml) and the MultiVitamin Power Firm (5ml)

The Dermalogica kit itself is worth $68 while the gloss is worth another $18. Those two items alone make this swag bag worth at least $86. My annual subscription to Luxe Box was $120 so to get one bag that’s worth only $90 is a great deal (if only the actual boxes were this good).

While the swag bag was amazing, the point of this event was to learn about this summer’s hottest trends. Sadly, this didn’t happen as the presentation, given by Chantel Simmons, an editor-at-large at TheKit.ca, basically told me stuff that was beyond obvious. While some of the info was summer 2012-specific (winged eyeliner, creative nail design), none of it was new and it was all presented in a very superficial way.

It was also a painfully white girl presentation. Slide after slide featured white girls, often blonde, while the majority of the audience was not white or blond. And then there was a whole slide devoted to how pasty white girls can achieve a good fake tan. This was advice that applicable to me, but not the majority of the room.

Thankfully the presentation was short and finished off the evening. Also, by then I was happy for a chance to sit down, after spending close to an hour snacking, sipping wine and learning about various products from Benefit and Dermalogica.

Amanda, the Dermalogica consultant I spoke with, was particularly friendly and helpful. I also really appreciated how she didn’t try to sell me and my friend on the products she represented and how she didn’t squirm when my friend asked her what someone on a budget should buy (a good cleanser, an exfoliate and a moisturising SPF).

While the presentation part was a bit of a letdown, the rest of the event was great and I really hope that Loose Button organizes more of these things.