My Benefit + Birchbox Benefit #BeautyBash!

Last month Birchbox selected me to host a Benefit x Birchbox Beauty Bash!  Winners of the contest were sent boxes made up by both companies that contained all the right things to host a fantastic girls' night in for the hostess and five friends - beauty samples, full-size giveaways, balloons, coasters, and lots of awesome party ideas!

Hostesses were encouraged to get as creative as possible, but were also supplied with games, cocktail ideas, and decorations on a special Benefit x Birchbox Beauty Bash website.  We were free to host our party at any time during National Wing Women Weekend, September 26th-28th, 2014.  I hosted mine on the night of the 26th and was actually able to invite 7 friends because I got extra lucky and got sent 2 party packs from Benefit & Birchbox!

The color scheme of the night was definitely pink, white, and gold thanks to the adorable coasters Benefit & Birchbox sent me. They had awesome phrases like "laughter is the best cosmetic", "love awaits you...so put on your lipstick!", "the realness of concealness", and "looking good is the best revenge". The good news? They're completely reusable, so I hope to host many more beauty bashes in the future! The giant pink balloons were a lovely addition and I finally had the chance to use the "time to drink champagne and dance on the tables" party cups I picked up at Swoozie's earlier this year during a visit to Greensboro, NC!

I had a lot of fun setting up the food and drink stations. Since the party was from 8-11pm, I made sure to offer up some substantial food for guests who didn't have dinner before.  We had veggies & dip, turkey & cheese pinwheel sandwiches, chips, and chocolate chip or white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. The drink of choice? Pink champagne of course! We mixed it up with a bit of fresh squeezed lemonade and a splash of Hendricks gin.

The boxes were chock-full of some awesome beauty items. Each guest received 4 samples in her swag bag: They're Real Push-up Liner, They're Real Mascara, The Porefessional Agent Zero Shine, and Lollitint Lip & Cheek Stain. There were also a few full-size items included in the pack like Push-up Liner, Mascara, Hoola Bronzer, and Gimme Brow Gel. I gave those away throughout the night as prizes during the different rounds of games we played. 

Throughout the party guests tried out the different make-up samples in their swag bags. The eyeliner and mascara were the big hits of the night. We all practiced making our cat eyes with lots of mirrors and makeup remover wipes on hand just in case! Most of us saved The Porefessional later and a few of us tried to create some bold looks with the Lollitint - a little product goes a long way.

We also had a blast playing a few of the games Benefit & Birchbox created for us. We played several rounds of "Flattergories" a fun game where one person picked a letter of the alphabet and the rest had to fill out words starting with that letter under all the categories on the page as quickly as possible. We got some pretty wild answers as the night went on! The other game was "Wing-O" which was a fun take on Bingo with all kinds of fun scavenger hunt type activities. In this case, "Pink Drinks" was the easy box to cross off!

The rest of the night was spent chatting away, listening to music, catching up with old friends, and introducing new ones! We finished off the night with several rounds of "Heads Up!", a fun iPhone based charades type game. If you haven't checked it out - you must! It's the perfect ice breaker.

Sending lots of love to my beautiful wing women - Liza, Amanda, Laura, Naari, Yuliya, Lyniese, and Melanie! Thank you all so much for coming. I think this is the start of many awesome girls' nights in! A huge thank you to Benefit Cosmetics and Birchbox for making it all possible and giving us an excellent excuse to all get together.