e.l.f shop Cardiff - launch event

 This statement wall/pillar greets you when you walk in

 One of many e.l.f palettes you can buy in the shop

 ** Trying ** to be an artistic shot :P

Some of their mineral lipsticks - swatched one on my hand and felt soft & buttery

It wouldn't be a real event if they didn't have cake pops :P  How amazing do they look!?

Monday evening saw the official launch of the first European store e.l.f have launched here in the UK, in my very own home city, Cardiff.  Home to the Royal arcade, for anyone local, that's the one with Wally's delicatessen in.

Greeted with edgy DJ's booming out music, and barman from Mokka lounge whipping up cocktails in style, I was in awe of the store.  My colleague who I'd gone with asked me what the price range was, she thought they were priced the same as MAC, because that's how good the packaging looked, and more to the point, how stylish the store was.  When I showed her the prices of the products she couldn't believe it.  

This must be the first dedicated makeup shop in Cardiff that isn't the MAC freestanding store.  That's a sad thought, it would be so lovely for there to be more dedicated makeup shops here.  I absolutely love the location of the shop too - I love that they've stayed away from the clinical starchy units they could have had in St Davids 2, but they've set up shop in one of Cardiff's famous arcades where you'll find non-chain shops and little independant gems (Rules of Play and Clare's Buttons being some of my favs, oh and Madame Fromage!).

The downstairs is dedicated to makeup & nails featuring both their mineral line (black packaging) and their more budget line (white packaging).  Head upstairs and you'll find yourself in a studio - one that will see YouTube videos being filmed in, and a space for makeovers.

When I was chatting to Neil (director of Distribeauty who own the e.l.f Europe franchise) about his visions for the future of the store - he sees a future of customers coming in and having 'swatch days' where they swatch palettes and lipstick on their arms to be feature in their blog posts or YouTube videos - their products featured on 'normal' people, not necessarily models, but involving makeup fanatics regardless of whether they're just a fan of makeup, or a blogger etc.

All of the 6 girls who work in the store are fully trained makeup artists too, so you know when you're getting your makeup done there, you're not going to look like you've been shot in the face with Homer's makeup gun like 99% of the department store reps.

I love what e.l.f have achieved here, it's a beautiful cheek shop that's a pleasure to be in, I highly recommend making the trip to see it, it won't disappoint. 

** It's my best blogging friends 30th birthday today (A Scottish Lass), so why not head over and with her a happy birthday on her blog ** :)

This months Biggest-Pixi3 advertiser is the lovely Amy from Srslylou

 

Follow me on Google Plus | Bloglovin | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest