Hi peeps!
Two very exciting things happened for me and my blog in the past week that I wanted to share with you, especially because some of you participated in one of it! The other is something a little more personal but a personal blogging milestone Iโd like to share and document for posterity. The ironic thing is that both are from the 2 sides of the English Channel! ๐
Exciting Event #1
I had the opportunity to meet a few of you at the REN Skincare x MWS event held last week at KENS Apothecary Bangsar Village II and I was really excited about it. It is one brand I enjoy using and I like working with a brand and product that I personally like and enjoy using. Will there be others? It depends really on my level of interest in a brand or product and the goodwill and cooperation of the brands in question. Weโll see ๐
I was horrible about taking photos (bad blogger!) so most of the pictures are courtesy of my friends Juan and Beetrice who kindly filled the gap for me with their phone cameras! Wonders of technology! But I was very happy to have met some people who comment regularly โ Victoria, Shannen, Jennifer, Xen, Sabrina, Fizah โฆ I hope I didnโt miss anyone out! Itโs like meeting old friends, almost! ๐
Personal thanks go out to Hubert and Sarah for making the event possible and for the presentation that Iโm told many of you enjoyed. They put on some special deals for the day, gave attendees an exclusive sneak peek and trial of the new REN Satin Perfection BB Cream and Bio-Retinoid Anti-Ageing Cream, and held a lucky draw for 2 lucky winners.
I had a fun afternoon, I thoroughly enjoyed meeting and chatting with those of you who attended, and I hope that those of you who attended did too. Next time, Iโll be sure to request for some chairs heheโฆ sorry about that! ๐
Exciting Event #2
The second big thing that happened for me and my blog during the week was an invitation by UbiFrance, the French Trade Commission of the French Embassy here, to speak to a delegation of some French cosmetic brands who were here in the country to seek out local distributors of their products. It was the 2nd time the French Beauty Rendez-vous has been held and I had been invited to speak on trends and the online platform and blogs so that was something I was a little familiar with.
I had been on tenterhooks about it for almost a week since I said yes, because this is the first time I was doing something like this! It was a closed door presentation session to the trade delegation with a presentation by a representative of the National Pharmaceutical Board (where I learned as well just how much work goes into bringing in cosmetics or a cosmetics brand. Now I understand better why the costs are such, or why certain brands/products donโt pass muster), market trends by the General Manager of Dior Cosmetics Malaysia, Beauty trends in Malaysia by Elle beauty editor and moi! ๐ Naturally, I couldnโt take any photos because it was a serious affair after all. But the official group photo will be sent to me next week and Iโll update it then ๐
Iโm not sure what I said, but apparently it was helpful hahaโฆ It was nerve-wracking, and exciting and stimulating but I thoroughly enjoyed every finger-biting second of it! I also had the opportunity to speak to a couple of the brand founders which I was quite interested to see enter our local market. Letโs hope it does happen ๐
But the highlight for me came in the evening, where I had been also invited to attend a cocktail reception at the French Embassy, hosted by Madame l’Ambassadeur to Malaysia! Did I give a little scream and do a little jig when the invitation came in? You bet I did! ๐
Clockwise from Top-Left: Meeting with Madame l’Ambassadeur to Malaysia Martine Dorance, The gorgeous garden at the French Embassy, Sneaking a quick picture at the foyer of the residence, Meeting founder of Pulpe de Vie โ a brand I would be keen to see appear on our shores
It was my first time attending anything this official and I have to say that I fell in love immediately with the garden at the residence. It was absolutely breathtaking in its serenity and lush greenery. The wine was good (but of course! This is the French Embassy, weโre talking about!) the canapes were delicious and the people from the embassy friendly and engaging and I even discovered a MWS reader in their midst (Hi Yuki! :D).
I was presented to Madame l’Ambassadeur which left me rather tongue-tied (I had no idea what to address her! Yikes!) and I didnโt have the chance to request for a photograph (kicking myself for this!) so my memory is kept in a snapshot in my head, and a blurry side shot from a distance. Man, what an evening it was!
So that my friends, were 2 very important events that happened in the past week. Iโm very happy to have some of you personally share one of them with me, and for you to share in what I consider to be my other personal achievement and blogging milestone. Whoever could have guessed that a girl (nick)named Paris would one day end up sipping wine on a bit of French soil in KL ๐
Thank you for sharing in the exciting events with me and I hope to have a few more in the future where I can meet more of youโฆ if thatโs something youโd like, that is ๐
Paris B
How exciting! Congratulations! You deserve it!
Thank you Gio! xx
Yet another feather in your cap! Shakespeare may have said โWhatโs in a name?โ to which you may well reply, โEverythingโ as it has certainly taken you places. Wish I had been a fly on the wall of the presentation hall. Congratulations, Mademoiselle Paris!
Haha you might have just heard me rambling on and on, forgetting to look at my notes and wondering if anything I said made sense or was lost in translation haha! But thank you Ginny and thank you too for quoting Shakespeare at me โ itโs so rare these days ๐
Congratulations on these two wonderful events especially the second one. It must have certainly been nerve-wrecking being asked to speak in front of the French delegation. But it is ironic to have a Paris in a French surrounding talking about French brands. LOL.
Really glad to have been part of the REN event and to have personally met you :-). I hope to be able to participate in more such events in the future and to get to know your other readers as well. Keep up the great work you are doing on your blog.
Thank you Victoria and Iโm very happy to have finally been able to put a face to the handle ๐ I do hope to have more but will have to see how it goes. For some reason, brands Iโm interested in are less keen while those Iโm not are more keen. Conundrum ๐
late in commenting but am proud of u my child!
had tons of fun at the REN workshop too!
Lol! Thanks Xin and canโt wait to see how the AHA thing works for you!
WOW! Congratulations on your recent achievements!! Iโm sure there will be many more to come ๐ So happy for you!
Thank you for the shout out hehe, it was a pleasure meeting you- Im sorry if I was a little awkward, I dont know why I got a bit tongue-tied. I enjoyed listening to you speak, so eloquent, demure and classy.. and your skin is like porcelain! I thoroughly enjoyed the informative session (:
Would love to read/attend more of the events you would be organizing ๐
Thank you Xen and it was lovely meeting you! Haha my skin is far from being porcelain but thank you anyway โ Iโll take any compliment I can get haha ๐ No promises on organizing other/more events but then, never say never eh? Hope to see you at the next one whenever it will be ๐
Haha thank you for the shout-out in the post! It was lovely
meeting you at the cocktail, I thoroughly enjoyed our little chat!
Hopefully Iโll see you around when our next beauty event comes
up.
Haha Hiya Yuki! It was surreal actually meeting a reader in that place you know ๐ Hopefully weโll meet again soon!