Over the May Bank Holiday weekend, the Trafford Centre transformed itself into a paradise for beauty lovers. The Trafford centre was absolutely heaving with beauty addicts thanks to the Beauty Unfiltered event, and there was a buzz inside like I had never seen before.
The Trafford Centre’s Beauty Unfiltered event 2022 aimed to celebrate beauty that represents every individual, in all its gorgeous, unfiltered glory - and it did just that. Thanks to a diverse range of events and participants - there was something for pretty much everyone. I was impressed.
With a new temporary beauty studio located in Orient Way, there were a range of demonstrations, workshops, 1-2-1 consultations and exciting product offerings supported by beauty giants Selfridges and John Lewis. Boots hosted a separate consultation space whilst beauty clinic Thérapie offered skin treatments, discounts, goodie bags and prizes over a two-day period.
The uplifting ‘beauty tribe’, choreographed by Paul Swaby, showcased a powerful performance from a host of diverse talent and took place around the centre’s iconic Main Dome between 12 and 5pm daily to encourage and inspire visitors to feel confident and comfortable in their own unique, beautiful skin. To celebrate the lead-up to religious holiday Eid, the centre came alive with festivities from 6pm-10pm on Friday 29th and 6pm-9pm Saturday 30th April with beautiful harp music floating through the malls, henna art workshops and an explosive performance combining traditional instruments, music, costume and dance from the SonAash Sisters and award winning DnS Dholis.
National breast cancer awareness charity CoppaFeel! was also in the Trafford Centre on Saturday to help raise vital breast cancer awareness with their fabulous team of volunteers called the Boobettes.
But for me, the highlight was the 'secret' Charlotte Tilbury counter - which will remain in the Trafford Centre until this Saturday. The counter, which can be found in the Main Dome outside Selfridges, celebrates the brand's iconic pillow talk range.
As well as a whole range of products, the stand also features a wind machine containing confetti. People who buy two products from the stand are welcomed to go inside the machine and are given a chance to win free Charlotte Tilbury products - dependant on the colour of confetti they manage to catch. It's kind of like ITV's The Cube, but for beauty fans.
As well as this, you can also book in for a make-up consultation. I headed to the stand to get my make-up done ahead of a night out, and I was pleasantly surprised by the results.
Considering the stand was right in the middle of all the Trafford Centre queues for Selfridges on a busy Saturday, it wasn't quite as stressful as you'd imagine. As long as you don't mind a load of shoppers watching you get your face done as they walk past, you pretty much forget you're in the centre of one of the busiest malls in the UK.
In fact, the most annoying thing about it was probably the sountrack they had on loop. It's about 15 seconds long and features Charlotte on the phone to icons Twiggy and Kate Moss. I'll be honest - after sitting there for 45 minutes, I felt like Twiggy had been personally harrassing me on my own mobile.
I was sat down and made to feel immediately at home once I arrived at the stand. My makeup artist was incredibly kind, and spoke me through exactly what look I wanted. She asked what colours I'd prefer, what finish I'd like and where I was going that evening so she could work out the coverage I'd need and how best to set it. My look was put together using the Pillow Talk range, which has been designed to suit every skin colour (we need more of this from major beauty brands beyond foundation shades, BTW).
The process probably took 45 minutes in total, and I was stunned at how much I loved it in such a short timeframe. I'm probably one of the most unconfident people you'll ever meet if we're talking about body confidence. I've had body dysmorphic disorder since I was 17 (I'm 29 now), and I struggle to feel pretty most of the time.
But the Charlotte Tilbury makeover made me feel confident, and I loved it. The best bit was, when I arrived home from a night out at 3am, my makeup still looked FLAWLESS. I couldn't actually believe how well it had stayed on. I think that says a lot about the Charlotte Tilbury brand, its products and it's make-up artists. I added my own lashes, by the way!
The Charlotte Tilbury stand will be outside Selfridges in the Trafford Centre until the 13th, so well worth a look if you can (just make sure you buy products before promising your kids a go in the wind machine).
