An Afternoon at Kiehl's, Grand Central

On Wednesday, I hopped on the train to Birmingham to spend the afternoon at the new Kiehl's store at Grand Central. After discovering the GOD that is the Creamy Eye Treatment with Avocado back in December, I knew Kiehl's was a brand that I wanted to appear more on my skincare shelf. Now I'm not the kind of person that usually goes to events alone, but for Kiehl's I made an exception.

Founded in 1851 in New York's East Village, Kiehl's started life as an apothecary under the name "Brunswick Apotheke", until apprentice John Kiehl took over, renaming the store Kiehl Pharmacy. Upon John Kiehl's retirement, the Morse family took over the pharmacy and introduced iconic products like their Musk Oil and the first items aimed at men. Kiehl's have since sponsored the Everest Expedition of 1988, created many a philanthropic campaign and even broken world records as the host of the world's first ever "treadathalon", a 24 hour treadmill challenge in 2004.

These are just some of the reasons Kiehl's has become a household name, but above all it is the products that really are the stars of the show.  To me, Kiehl's is such a solid basic brand, and by "basic" I mean the kind of products that you repurchase again and again because they just work.

After a cheeky Joe & the Juice pit-stop, I arrived at the store and was welcomed by the lovely Kiehl's girls, May and Fay. Awkward introductions aside (I never know what to say when you have to say something interesting about yourself!), the girls set us up for the ice-breaker, which was a game. We had a list of celebrities that used Kiehl's products and we had to work out who used which product. I was in a team with the lovely Jamie from Tanned Beauty Addict and Catherine from Cocoa May, and we basically guessed every single one! We must have done something right though, and we ended up winning the game!

Next it was time for the Kiehl's girls to work their way around the group, giving skincare consultations. I ended up being one of the last to be seen, so I took the opportunity to snap the hell out of the store as I was taking my 45mm f/1.8 lens for its maiden voyage! This was helped greatly by the amazing lighting (very blogger-friendly, and that's not even mentioning the marble tables. They must have known we were coming). The décor of the store was particularly photogenic, thanks to its modern design with a nod to the old-style apothecary it once was. 

Seeing as I went to the event solo, I made sure I stepped out of my comfort zone and spoke to as many people as possible, and basically tried not to be the one that scoffed all the Millies cookies and muffins. Having only been to mostly Leicester blog events before, it was so nice to meet some of the Birmingham bloggers. I had the pleasure of chatting to Elizabeth from Rosalilium and Raj from Average Chap, who were both so lovely, as well as Sian from Sian Victoria, who popped in just in time.

Although I found that because we were sat down, a lot of people didn't really stray from their groups and mingle, it was the perfect set-up for going to the event solo. Some events can be really busy and super daunting to walk into a room where everyone is already stood chatting in little groups. 

I was quite surprised that there wasn't much wandering around and testing the products. Give us Leicester lot a Body Shop or Lush event and we'd have our fingers in everything, slathering serums upon moisturisers upon oils on our hands. I think there was a bit of a missed opportunity to promote the new mask range that launched not that long ago!

Finally it was time for my skincare consultation, and this was done using Kiehl's special paper dot system. They place one dot on your forehead, and one on your cheeks and based on how much oil is absorbed, it gives an idea about your skin types. I would usually say that my skin is oily, but recently the oil product has calmed down and although my t-zone is still a little oily, my skin is generally a little dehydrated. I'm just happy that I no longer have to worry about my oily skin when I'm wearing foundation!

The Kiehl's diagnostic tool indicated that my forehead was normal-oily and my cheeks were normal-dry which, based on how my foundation applies, its pretty accurate. I also said that I wanted to target dullness and minimise some of the larger pores that I have on the skin by the side of my nose. May recommended a series of products; the Calendula Deep Cleansing Foaming Face Wash (£22), the Hydro Plumping Re-Texturizing Concentrate (£40) and the Daily Reviving Concentrate (£37), as well as the Rare Earth Pore-Minimizing Lotion (£26). I'm not the hugest lover of face washes, but I am really keen to try the Daily Reviving Concentrate and the Pore-Minimizing Lotion is something I'd never thought of using.

We all left with a generous gift bag, packed full of samples, and felt very well looked after. The goodie bag included samples of the Midnight Recovery and the Daily Reviving Concentrates, which I've wanted to try for a while. Also in there were samples of the iconic Creme de Corps, Rosa Arctica Cream and the Calendula Herbal Extract Toner and some bits from Max Factor and Lancome.

I also won a prize in the raffle and picked out this cute Benefit Makeup Bag, which came with samples of the They're Real Eye Makeup Remover, Gimme Brow and the Big Easy BB Cream. This will be a fab little bag for popping into bigger handbags for beauty on the go, and some of the samples are products that I am eager to try.

Thanks so much to the Kiehl's girls for inviting me down and for being so lovely! I had such a great time at the event, and I'm so glad I stepped out of my comfort zone to go to something alone as I met so many amazing bloggers. It was great to discover so many new Kiehl's products, and my wishlist has expanded significantly. I'm looking forward to trying some of the samples and I predict a little haul on the horizon to add to the lonely Creamy Eye Treatment on my skincare shelf.

What are your favourite Kiehl's products?