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Every woman deserves to experience her very own professional photo shoot that makes her feel like a celebrity and at least one professional photo that she feels captures her beauty– especially when her makeup is on point!
This weekend I had the opportunity to partner with The Menlo Park Mall here in New Jersey to take part in its Smashbox Photo Event, an event that gives everyday women the red carpet treatment and the opportunity to feel like a star.
Smashbox travels around the country hosting these live events throughout the year.
Menlo Park Mall hosts them with Sephora once or twice a year– and I highly recommend checking them out!
During the event, customers who make a minimum purchase of $75 worth of Smashbox cosmetic products have the opportunity to be transformed by a senior makeup artist and have their photos taken by celebrity photographer, Steven Kahn.
So 9:45 Saturday morning, I arrived fresh-faced and ready to let my Sephora senior artist do her thing.
I didn’t have my morning cup-o-joe (which is unheard of for me) but the high-energy atmosphere quickly perked me up– and Starbucks was just a quick escalator ride away.
My Sephora senior artist, Kiara ( who by the way, had the fiercest purple locks and eye make-up!) started our sesh by asking what my make-up style was (bright, glowy and natural/nude hues– always), and getting to know my skin type (currently still grossly-winter-dry) and made her selections for me from there.
(Do you see Zara there in the background? Yep. I did some serious damage there after the event. Zara obsessed!)
Smashbox’s O-gloss (a magic-like gloss that goes on clear and transforms into your own shade of pink based on your skin chemistry) has long been a favorite of mine, but during the Photo Event, I discovered a few other great products as well. My favorite new find– the Brow Tech pencil in Matte Taupe. It matched my brows perfectly and the point on the pencil is so fine it is easy to fill in your brows with small, natural looking strokes.
When make up was done, Kiara provided me with a list of the products she used (linking to some of favorites at the bottom of this post) and then it was time for my close up!
Steven Kahn was a true professional and made me very comfortable right away. He gave great direction on how to position myself, tilt my head, etc. and quickly snapped about 20 shots.
In total, the photo shoot lasted 5 minutes– maybe– and I’m not going to lie, I was skeptical. Not that I doubted Steven Kahns skill, but more doubted myself to have nailed a great professional picture in such a short amount of time– I’m known to be a blinker– ha.
The hi-resolution photos are emailed to you via a download link later that day. I got mine about 3 hours later and I was amazed!!
That is some serious “Mariah Carey approved lighting“, am I right? I would pay big money for that to follow me around!
You can really see how what a great job Kiara did on my eye makeup in the pictures. The reddish brown colors from the Photo Matte Eye Pallet really complimented my brown eyes.
Below are some of my all time favorite products as well as the ones that Kiara used on me at the Event.
Local friends, Menlo Park Mall hosts a lot of events through out the year. You can find upcoming events here.
Psst! And don’t forget to sign up to be a Simon Insider and earn rewards back for your shopping hauls. For my serious shopping friends, the parking perks are AH-MAZING.
If you are interested in attending a Smashbox Photo event in your area, you can see their full schedule here.
Disclosure: This post was written in partnership with The Menlo Park Mall
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