Suqqu x Stylist

I attended the Suqqu x Stylist event recently because (a) the tickets were £50 and redeemable (winner winner, chicken dinner) (b) Suqqu is one of my favourite beauty brands (c) the guest MUA Naoko Scintu is half Asian and therefore someone I could relate to (d) Held by Stylist - one of my fav magazines (shame, they don’t do digital copies anymore) and (e) held in Selfridges, one of my fav shopping departments!

The event venue was the Corner Restaurant and champagne bar on the 2nd floor. I didn’t even know this existed as it’s so tucked away and will definitely head in that direction one day for pre-dinner aperitifs. I was about 20 minutes early, which for a beauty event is normally a good time to arrive but instead, I was met by a slightly snobby woman at the door, who told me to come back. Rather vague. I asked her at what time, and she mentioned 10 minutes later. I went away and came back 10 minutes later to find a queue - typical!

Upon being checked in, and entering the designated area, we were met by friendly Suqqu staff who appeared genuine in their thanks at our attendance. Champagne was offered and of course I took it. In fact, it was already finished by the time we found our seats. I attended this event alone, which I used to hate in the past but nowadays, I’m used to it and quite enjoy the experience of talking to others which you wouldn’t do as much if you’re with a friend.

There was a lovely Suqqu team member who I imagine is in a senior position as she did a demo on Suqqu’s famous gankin massage. I cannot remember her name but she was lovely and spoke to me whilst we were waiting to sit down. In the end, we beelined straight for the front row seats (why ever the hell not!?) and took our place where chairs were so tightly packed together and being cheek to cheek (face and bum), it was rude not to say hello to your neighbour!

The event was supposed to begin at 6.30pm but it started after 7pm and ended after 8pm which was a long time to be sitting down with lower back pain and practically on the lap of my neighbour. Then Shannon Peter (Beauty Director of Stylist) started the interview segment by essentially shading Korean Beauty skincare which being Korean, wasn’t a great start! She said that though Korean beauty products tend to be on the “cute and kitsch” side, Japanese beauty is “more comprehensive”. Firstly, has she even been to Japan? They’re the kings of “cute and kitsch” and ex-squeeze me, but Korean beauty has more famous products than Japan because they work and live up to the hype. Sorry, but I had to get that off my chest - Ha!

The setting of the event itself was beautiful and decorated tastefully. The event started with the demo of the gankin massage which was well demonstrated and I learnt a lot about circulation and lymphatic drainage. We discovered that the lady who was doing the gankin massage, supported Naoko by giving Jodie Comer the very same treatment just before Naoko applied her BAFTA winning look.

Naoko then recreated Jodie’s makeup and the final look was polished and looked great on the beautiful model. Though it was an evening look, it was still very soft and a neutral look that would suit everyone. Naoko discussed some of her Suqqu must-haves and her journey to becoming a celebrity makeup artist. She shared that she is half Japanese and half Italian, but born and bred in Camden. Her signature style of makeup is natural makeup that emphasises a woman’s natural features - which really, is the best style of all.

The goodie bag included x4 Suqqu skincare products including, Moisture Hydro Lotion, Moisture Serum Cream, Face Stretch Mask and Moisture Repair Essence - £100 worth. Plus, we all received a complimentary gankin massage which I believe is normally £60 but redeemable on products. It was quite a generous goodie bag from a £50 event where we got to redeem our ticket against products purchased on the night.

Final Thoughts

It would have been nice if they had organised the shopping part of the evening a bit better. It was terribly disorganised with everyone from the masterclass trying to grab the attention of one of the sales assistants, and this meant a lot of elbowing on some of the women’s parts. I used my Selfridges bag as a shield; shame it didn’t have metal spikes attached to it!

The Suqqu team were all super friendly but it would have been nice to have a third of the team dedicated to serving customers who didn’t want to be colour matched and simply wanted to purchase (ME!) They could have included a notepad and pen on the chairs for people to write their favourite products down, to aid the transition of easier purchases.

The events team/ Selfridges were very generous with the bar as I saw many women go back for 2nd and 3rd drinks. Normally at these kind of events, you are only given one drink and maybe a top up. This was a nice touch as it added to the luxurious feeling for a luxurious brand. I would highly recommend this event to anyone who is new to makeup or loves Suqqu like I do, as it’s very worth it. Coming from a makeup background, I didn’t feel like I learnt anything new but it always interests me to watch others apply makeup and in this case, learn the more specific techniques and reasons for why gankin is so beneficial for the skin.

Until next time xo

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All pictures on this post are my own.