A WEEKEND WITH BIRCHBOX
Receiving an email asking if you’d like to be flown to New York for the weekend is something dreams are made of and I was over the moon when Birchbox got in contact. Myself, Anna and Patricia spent four days getting to know the brand better, learning about their new project ‘Birchbox Local’ and seeing their nail creations backstage at the Ruffian S/S14 show. I case you don’t know, Birchbox is a monthly beauty box that brings beauty samples to your door, you can buy the full size products on their e-shop as well as browse their editorial and video content on their website. So how do I pack four amazing days into one post? Here’s a quick run through…
The Birchbox Office:
With over 160 people working in the office, it’s buzzing and the atmosphere is inspirational. We were shown around and I couldn’t help but notice all the encouraging, fun, engaging displays on the walls. My favourite desk by far was Molly Chen’s, the Editorial Director. Her desk was bursting with products as well as a pair of pretty pink Nike trainers that every team member receives once they’ve been there for a year.
Birchbox Brand Relationships:
Seeing as we were at the hub of where Birchbox began it seemed like the perfect opportunity to introduce us to some of the brands that Birchbox work with. When brands work with Birchbox it’s not as simple as placing a product in the box, they work together on a whole campaign and so they take the relationships very serious. We met Laqa & Co to talk about future colour trends and the products they have coming out. We were really lucky to visit the Caudalie spa and meet Mathilde, the founder of the brand. We chatted about desert island products (hers is Premier Cru) and were treated to lovely mini facials. The final brand we met was Tay and we were very kindly welcomed into Sarah Tay’s house in Brooklyn to see where her ideas were all created. Tay is a brand I already knew from Cult Beauty so it was really interesting to meet Sarah and find out more about her passion behind good ingredients. We were also able to mix up our own oil infused balms, I chose Rosehip and Tea Tree oil for mine.
Birchbox & Ruffian:
For the Ruffian S/S14 show they teamed up with Birchbox to create a new nail polish collection specifically for the show. The Birchbox Facebook fans voted for their favourite colours and the Crowd Sourced collection was born. We went backstage to see the nails close up and they looked great!
Birchbox Local:
Birchbox local in Chelsea Market was the main reason for our trip, but despite knowing this I was still shocked at how great it was. During fashion week Birchbox Local was invite only and open mainly to the press as a place to hang out, use wifi, get pampered and try some new beauty samples. But for the week following it’ll be opened to the public as a Birchbox pop-up shop. The space is spread over two floors and is beautifully decorated in Birchbox colours, they even painted the staircase rainbow! I was treated to a massage and a manicure before heading over to the sample stop to build my own Birchbox. We were able to pick 5 minis from the sample ‘candy’ store before they were packed up into a box for us to take home. The public will be able to book in for beauty appointments, purchase their own hand-built Birchbox and buy full size items from the pop-up shop. We had the best time hanging out, meeting other bloggers and scoffing our faces with sweets.
Restaurants:
ABC Kitchen // On the first night we met the founders Katia and Hayley and spent the evening hearing the Birchbox story and discussing beauty obsessions. We had a set sharing menu and the food was incredible. The idea of the restaurant is all about fresh, local produce and some of my favourite dishes were the tuna sashimi, the kale salad and fresh ravioli. I would 100% go back and really recommend it.
The Plaza Food Hall // For lunch after the spa we were told we were “just going for some salad and sandwiches” so we weren’t expecting much. I’m not even a big salad fan but OMG these salads were incredible. We also had sweet potato fries and amazing gnocchi with Bolognese to share.
Beauty & Essex // On the Friday night the London girls had a bit of a night out and it all started with dinner at Beauty & Essex. I had ribs, they were delicious and Anna’s burger looked really good too! The cocktails were great but what made the night was the atmosphere. Don’t go if you hate loud music whilst eating, us on the other hand, we were pretty much singing all the 90s tunes at the top of our voices and dancing at our table. Such a fun night!
Buddakan // Remember the scene in the Sex and the City film where Carrie and Big have their pre-wedding dinner and Steve turns up to talk to Miranda? That was at this restaurant!! *life made* The decor is pretty crazy and extravagant, but the Asian food is simple and delicious. We ate more ribs and these were even better than the night before, we also shared some calamari, scallops and noodles. It was all so good!
Outside of our planned meals the girls and I also went to Shake Shack and Carnegie Deli, two of my favourite places to visit for lunch in NYC.
I had the best time and can’t thank Birchbox enough for taking me! If you enjoyed hearing about the trip, don’t forget to check out my vlogs. I vlogged every day whilst I was there, so click here to watch day 1, click here to watch day 2 and click here to watch day 3.
