After Macy's it was on to lunch at Dive! where we had prize raffles, Special Guests (Karie from Looking Glass Cosmetics, Sandi founder of Paradiso 920 and Kim from 310 Skincare), gift bags (provided by kind sponsors) and a yummy lunch.

The raffle prizes included:
Dremu Box of Miricles (1)
Clinique Wild Card Lipsticks (14)
A Profaces Brush Set (1)
A set of Peter Thomas Roth Skincare (1)
Gift bags of assorted items, donated by various sponsors like LipoSlim, Arizona Sun, Protocol Cosmetics, OPI, Heavy Duty and more (5)

There was also a special prize drawing done by Kim of 310 Skincare featuring a whole selection of shelf fare products.

The gift bags that BeautyBuzz provided included full size items from: Trucco Sebastian Primal Elements 310 Smashbox Mavala Toma Tony & Tina Dazzle Dots mirrors Joico Therapy Systems Rx Club Monaco Hard Candy Charmed World Evian Kustom Girl Bourjois sample items from: Aqua Dessa Zia Philou Paradiso 920 and information from Squirt Divert Robert Craig Kiss Me Mascara

Goodie Bag taken by Melissa

Goodie bags were also provided by Looking Glass Cosmetics which included polishes, eye dust and a glitter as well as a circulating bag where attendees could pick a few polishes of her choice.

Welcom Sign taken by Melissa

As if that wasn't enough we then had the chance to go to Neiman Marcus for a second makeover or a skincare consult. All attendees here also got little tote bags of items, including full size ReVive hand creams and I rice mirrors.

Well enough background info, lets see what the attendees have to say!

Well, the SO thought I was a little wacky but he said he expected me to buy a lot. It was so funny....whenever he told someone why we were going to Vegas, he would say I was going to a "Beauty Convention" ;-) I told him I wasn't buying anymore stuff for the rest of the year, and he was like "yeah right!"

L-R Robin and Abby taken by Melissa

I just had to say thank you to the Panelists for making this such a wonderful event! I had the most SUPER time meeting everyone and joining in the shopping orgy. It was so awesome to check out all of the lines I had never seen in person, Versace, Nars, Chantecaille, to name a few. My credit cards will be recovering for a long time *lol*.

L-R Cheryl, Melissa, Robin taken by Tim

My Vegas Haul......

Well, here's the damage! I won't list the goodie bag stuff because people have already given descriptions of these generous, awesome motherloads. I was bowled over. So nice of the panelists!!!!!

Px Unmakeup in Sheer cream and Foundation brush. I was happy to be re-colorprinted, as I wasn't satisfied with my b/r family anymore. I love this stuff. It really neutralizes any redness in my face. Also adore this brush.
Benefit-Kitten (sparkle powder) Is this the cutest package or what?! My 1st purchase of the day.
MAC-Quarry eyeshadow and brushes #266 & #275, (eyeliner and crease). Received a free Lipglass.
Chantecaille- e/s in Ginko and Coriander
Fresh- Honey Plum lotion
Khiel's- lipbalm both of these are being shipped to my house.
NARS- Colorwash in Modesty. A beautiful plummy lipstain. I Love love love this. Can change the look with lipglass.
CK-eye wash in Pale Gold. I like this line a lot. I would have purchased more, but by that time I had spent way more than I should have.
Stila- All over shimmer in #7 (white/silvery) Flaunt powder in Violet. Another adorable package. How much sparkle powder does one human need!? Oh well....smells so good.
Sephora- Shower gel in Framboise. Notes in Framboise, Violette, and Pomme.

At lunch I won these door prizes:
Clinique lipstick in Wild Card

An amazing 310 goodie bag! I am in heaven...I may never shop Lush again. I received PMS relief and Calming Lavendar Fairy Dust (this is for the bath and smells amazing, I can't wait to use it!), Summer Loition (almost salve-like, wasn't sure I would like it, but I do! It smells sort of caramel-ish and has natural sunscreen properties) Invigorating salt glow scrub, Tangerine lipbalm (YUM!) and a massage bar. I also received the Jojo Coco Cloud cream in Lily in my other goodie bag, as did everyone, and I adore this. I think this will be a fab winter lotion. I talked to the woman from 310 for a while and she was very nice. I will definitely be buying more from them.

From L-R: Kisha's Mom, Kisha (on the phone), Robin (very excited about her goodies), Cheryl, Maria, Dorthy taken by Tim

I also bought two shot glasses, one from Binion's Horse Shoe and one from the Luxor (we stayed there Sunday night..very cool! I highly recommend it). And Andy bought me some heart-shaped purple sunglesses at Treasure Island..very 70's glam trash..love em!

I have to say, I spent more on makeup than I ever usually do...but I don't regret it a bit. It was so fun, and very helpful to be with people who knew the low-down on some of these products.

From L-R: Front Row-martianspygirl (Robin), Cuppy (Cheryl)
Back Row-Maria, Abby

A big thank you to Cuppy for giving me a ride back to the Sahara!

Congrats to Kisha on your marriage! And take care all of my new Buzzer pals. I hope I can make it to the next event..where ever it may be :) *lol*

M-girl (Martianspygirl)

This day was fabulous. Everyone was an expert in some area and we shared in person as we do on the board. I so enjoyed seeing Amy again, and meeting Cuppy,Martianspygirl, and everyone else...and I can't wait til we can meet again.

L-R Abby and Roseann taken by Melissa

My MAC makeover was great and bought everything ,but lips. that was a good thing cause in the goodie bag there was an orange shimmer gloss from Sebastian, and Wild Card lippie from Clinique. So here's what I bought after my 8:30 appointment with Suzanna.
Satin Foundation:nc30,
Concealer:nc30,
all over eye in Shroom;
lid in Krisp;
crease in Aria;
corner and liner in Saddle;
brows in Couquette;
blush in Margin.

L-R Amy and Abby checking out her drawing prize! taken by Tim

We got fabulous goodie bags from the buzz and their vendors....so much stuff, that I haven't had time to look at what I bought. Bought the Re'vive moisturizing cream with the aha, and then was soooo impressed how awake's brush cleaner removed the dark red lipstick I dropped on my pants, I bought it too. At Neiman's I bought the re'vive moisturizing cream and when I opened the plastic sealed box, cream was oozing out of the top...back to Neimans.

This way a great day....I talked to Eva and Donna in fl on the phone, and met wonderful people!!! Sorry you all couldn't be there, maybe next time...thanks to all the buzzers who supported this event with phone orders....and to everyone else who was with us in spirit!!!! This is truly an awesome site!!!!! Have to put ice on my swollen ankles....again....thanks to Maria and Melissa for a wonderful day.

I drove up to Las Vegas the Friday before the event with my family in tow. The night before I could barely sleep. I busied myself with a spa night. I gave myself the works, including manicure, pedicure, Queen Helene Mint Julep Mask. I think I finally fell asleep around 4 a.m. I set the alarm for 7:30 a.m. to make it to the event on time.

So, it's no surprise to anyone when I tell you that I overslept. I had my fiance drive me over to Macy's where I was supposed to meet everyone at 8:15. It was now 8:10. We were driving for 10-15 minutes when I realized I didn't know where we were. We'd completely passed the mall. I nudged my half-asleep fiance and we turned the car around. By the time we found our way to the right place, it was almost 9 a.m. So much for being prompt. The sad part is that I had mapped out the route when arrived the day before, but I guess the moral of this portion of the story is that you should never drive while tired.

Tara and Dorthy getting done at Lancome taken by Maria

When I arrived, I had no idea where the cosmetic section of the store was so I began to wander around the brightly lit store. Luckily, there was a very nice woman walking my way who I stopped to ask to point me in the right direction. She, instead, escorted me to the right place and even made sure that I got a nice pastry from the caterers and a Macy's tote filled with samples before leaving me in awe. Everyone had already started getting makeovers and the store was filled soft, happy chatter. 'Why hadn't I noticed all of the noise before?' I wondered. People were drinking juice and eating fruit or various pastries and smiling brightly. I saw Melissa. I began to feel comfortable, knowing there was someone that I recognized and I was definitely in the right place. Mel was looking for her mother and after a few minutes of talking, I left her to looking while I cruised around the store trying products and catching my footing. I saw Tara, a lurker from the messageboard (and Mel's sister-in-law) who I had met at the South Coast event getting a makeover at Lancome, she looked really nice. I circled around the Chanel counter wondering what I'd do until ten o'clock, when I was scheduled for my Chanel session, when Maria noticed me and motioned me over. The male Chanel MA was giving her smoky eyes with dark colors that looked beautiful and we talked about how I'd been late while the MA tried to work around the conversation. I went back over to the Chanel samples to give them more space and played with the colors, deciding what I was interested in. I loved the Spark Glossimer, a pink-peach-berry colored gloss with sparkles. A female MA came over to me then and I explained that my makeover was at ten and she decided that she could start on me right away. I was a little nervous because this was my first makeover and I didn't know what to expect.

I told her that I was getting married that night and that if I liked my look I might recreate it later that day since I had another makeover also scheduled for later at Neiman Marcus. We started with a gold shimmer liquid to give me some glow since my skin was looking good enough that day to skip foundation, she thought. Then she asked me what I normally do makeup-wise because she didn't want my fiance to be shocked at the sight of me coming up the aisle. I told her that I usually go for muted, neutral colors. I also told her that I use a lot of Chanel products which is actually why I picked Chanel to get my makeover. I love the Gel Blush, the pink-tinted Powderlights loose powder and the Sculpting Mascara-- they are staples of mine. We decided that we would use similar colors, deepening them a bit for a nighttime look (I was having a evening candlelit wedding). She applied a peach-y red powder blush on the apples of my cheeks that I really liked. She applied a deep brown eyeshadow all over my lids, lined my eyes with black eyeliner and asked me if I'd like smoky eyes since this was a special occasion. I said yes, but that I didn't want anything too dramatic because it's easy to go overboard with my features-- a little goes a long way for me. She began to use black eyeshadow all the way up to my browbone! Then she handed me a mirror and I took a look at myself. To my eyes, I looked very gothic and my eyes looked heavy, it was a little frightening. I think that she must have noticed my displeasure, because she offered to tone it down for me a little and I agreed thinking that she would remove the black and start over. Actually she just took some more brown eyeshadow and layered it on top of my already eyeshadowed lids. Then she handed me the mirror again. This time I'm sure that she could tell that I hated it. She told me that I just wasn't use to the colors being so dark and tried to tone it down even more. She used still more brown eyeshadow! This time when she handed me the mirror, I told her this was fine, thinking that I would just fix it myself when I had a chance. We moved onto my lips.

L-R Jada getting done at Lancome and Kisha getting done at Chanel taken by Melissa

I told her that I preferred berry shades on my mouth because I had yet to put on a brown lip shade on my mouth that didn't make me look like a corpse. Brown colors are just to close to my actual skin color for my taste and I either wind up with a mouth that looks like I filled up on putty and didn't wipe or a mouth that blends right into my skin, leaving me looking very washed out. After discussing what she should use on me with the male MA who had done Maria (who looked great, by the way) that she knew just the right color to use and that I'd be very happy with the results. She took a double sided pencil (mahogany and chocolate) and began to outline my lips with the chocolate shade. Then she filled in my lips with a Glossimer called Whisper. Whisper is a tan/beige/flesh colored gloss. When she handed me the mirror, I saw a mouthful of putty looking back at me. I was not happy. However, both her and the male Chanel MA ooh-ed and ahh-ed at my mouth, so I thought that maybe I just needed to get used to the color on me. She finished up by applying several coats of Sculpting Mascara on my lashes. My lashes clumped together in bunches. I decided that I would buy the lip pencil (for underneath my lipsticks at home) and the Spark glossimer that I'd wanted. Just then I realized that I didn't have enough money on me, so I called my fiance at the hotel and his best friend informed me that he'd left to drop my mother off at Macy's as well. So I waited outside where he'd dropped me off. While I was out there I got the chance to peek at myself in my compact. I hated it. I tried to take off some of the eyeshadow with my finger. It dulled enough for me to be a little satisfied. I combed my lashes, but unfortunately it made the mascara flake off onto my cheeks. I cleaned that up and smoothed out the gold shimmer liquid on my cheeks where it had caked. Later, I wiped off the lipstick entirely and reconciled myself to the fact that I wasn't going to like it no matter how long it was on.

L-R Kea, Amy, Maria and Abby taken by Melissa

I went back in to Macy's in the hopes that my mom had come in from another entrance and spotted Amy, Abby, Melissa and Maria sitting in the corner of the store near the MAC counter talking. I talked to them for a few minutes, but I was still preoccupied with finding my mom and getting some money from my fiance for the stuff waiting on hold for me at the Chanel counter. Four phone calls, three trips outside around the mall and numerous trips through the store-- and I finally found my mother outside near the restaurant. My fiance had long left. I brought my mom inside to meet everyone. She hit it off with Abby and they went to reschedule her Neiman Marcus appointment. I took the moment to catch my breath and talk to everyone. Then it was time to go to Dive for lunch. Somewhere in there I completely forgot to go back for what I wanted at the Chanel. I feel badly that I left the MA waiting for me, but the good side is that I didn't have any dreaded buyer's regret.

Dive! taken by Maria

At Dive, we all sat at a very long table together. Dive, for the record, is appropriately named. The restaurant is modeled after a giant submarine! Very cool. Outside the restaurant it even looks like a sub has crshed through the interior of the restaurant, ala Hard Rock Cafe and their Cadillac. Inside there was lots of paneled glass, the entire place was shaded in aquamarine, blue and yellow. On the second floor where we were seated you could see a suspended track hanging from the ceiling that weaved its way down towards the bottom floor and every few minutes there were submarines that came riding along the track near us. All of the doors had portholes for windows. I couldn't stop looking around.

L side-Kisha's mom, Kea, Amy, Abby, Madgell, Kelly, Tara, Robert, Karie R Side-Kisha, Robin, Cheryl, Dorthy, Jada, Julie, Will (standing) taken by Melissa

The goodie bags

Waiting for us at the table were little celophane packages from the Looking Glass. Inside, were mini bottles of nail polishes, lipsticks and other goodies. After we were seated, Melissa and others passed out Beautybuzz bags filled to the brim with products. Most of them were full sized! We were also given a playing card and depending on which number or face card we had, we were given a door prize. I got a lipstick from Clinique. Representatives from 310 online, the Looking Glass and Paradiso 920 (Sandi, the founder!) were also there! There was a lot of talking! Admittedly, I spent most of the time on my mom's cell phone to the hotel, getting everything for the wedding straightened out. But after that, I got a good chance to put faces to the names I had seen on our messageboard. It was a really good time and all of the wedding jitters I'd felt were evaporated with a lot of laughter and friendliness. This was the nicest group of people I've come across in the longest time, maybe ever. There was a general feeling of comraderie. People even encouraged me to eat so I wouldn't pass out at the alter. Even my mom ended up laughing and enjoying herself.

Finally we all headed over to Neiman Marcus. My mother was already there with my little sister getting makeovers at Bobbi Brown. They were being treated like queens, they told me later. I went to the Laura Mercier counter to get started. A lovely dark-haired MA (a former schoolteacher) did my makeup for me. This time I was explicit about what I'd wanted and explained what had gone wrong at Chanel. She understood. She applied tinted moisturizer mixed with oil-free foundation for a little bit more coverage, but not much since I didn't need any. Again, I was complimented on my skin, which does not happen everyday. Then she filled covered a spot or two with Secret Camouflage and set it with Translucent Loose Setting Powder. She dusted a deep peach blush on my cheeks, and moved onto my eyes. She swept a peach-brown shadow all over my lids and lined my lids with a ebony pencil, making a very thin line. Then she went back over the line again with a ebony shadow using a flat-tip eyelining brush to set it. She also used the shadow in between my lashes for depth. You really couldn't see a line, it just made my eyes stand out more. She applied two coats of black mascara carefully to the top lashes and used the tiniest bit on my lower lashes for emphasis. Then she moved onto my lips. She applied a flesh colored lip pencil all over my lip and then topped it with red, red lipstick. It's name was Seduction, and I could see why! I felt like it was a little too much, though and so she toned it down with a coat of wine colored sheer lipstick called Port. I loved it. I had never been able to find a red lipstick that I could wear before, red usually makes my lips look like they are standing an inch off of my face. I bought the Translucent Powder (thanks to my mom who loaned me the money), the Seduction and Port lipsticks, and this left me eligible for a NM goody bag. It was a clear plastic tote filled with products from numerous lines. Wow!

Kisha getting done at Laura Mercier taken by Melissa who had a hard time getting Kisha in pics

After I had my makeup done, I had the chance to walk around and see everyone before I left. Everyone looked great. I went and found my family at the food court, they'd gone to feed my little boy. My mother and my sister were very satisfied with their makeover, they both looked beautiful. Especially my mother, who I can never get to wear makeup. I went back to NM for a minute to say goodbye to everyone and to see Melissa's makeover (she'd gotten a LM makeover as well), then I left to get ready for the wedding.