Be Well Expo 2013 Recap and Photos

It’s been a while since I’ve been to an expo and I’m so happy I was invited to come to the Be Well Expo that was as the Pasadena Convention Center, this past weekend.  It was a two day event that allowed attendees to learn more about healthy, eco-beauty conscious companies and even get to try out some of their services all day long.  Yoga classes ran most of the day back to back, while beauty treatments were offered at many of the booths. It was really fun and I wonder what there will be to see next year .  But for now, let me share with you all the goodies I got from going to this event.

We got there pretty early so that we’d have a chance to get to (hopefully) try everything we wanted to.  We knew we wanted a tan, a manicure, a yoga class, and our brows done. I’ve been to the makeup expo before and I could barely get to the counters. We were extremely lucky to do everything and then some on our lists and left at 4:30 with a Santa Claus Bag full of products we were given to try. There was also an extra swag bag given to press   that had its own assortment of items for me to try.

We first treated ourselves to a nice back massage from Premier Wellness Chiropractic.  While my friends got their massages Dr. Raffi Iknadossian gave me a posture assessment and it turns out I’m doing ok!  And who doesn’t love a nice relaxing massage? It was an awesome way to start the day. But how bout a little exercise too? Have you ever heard of whole body vibration?

DZT Fitness makes this interesting little machine that you stand on for about 10 minutes a day, and you get full body workout while improving metabolism, and fighting osteoporosis.  I was really interested in this machine before coming to the expo because the office I work for uses technology such as mechanical vibration to speed up ortho treatments.  It sounded like the same thing, kinda, and after checking it out in person it sounds like the same idea used for helping with osteoporosis.  Its a pretty neat thing that a machine that just vibrates with no waves, lasers, or anything crazy can help bones grow. Neat, right? I like the idea of these machines and wonder why I haven’t seen any in person before.

We stopped at the Chella Booth for our complimentary brow treatment where I met Makeup Artist, Ann Beckett. I was explained a variety of tools that was used which I of course ended up buying the highlighter and Razors which make clean up super easy.

 

Bon Bliss was a two year new company that had really cute products that I had to buy. They had little tins of single use candy wrapped hand scrubs so you can wash, scrub, and moisturize your hands in super yummy scents.  The body truffles that can give a full body scrub and also come in cute packaging. Their products are a lot of fun and would be perfect as gifts for all your girlfriends, or stocking stuffers.

 

Suntegrity Skincare is a natural and healthy line of sunscreens.  They specifically use physical blockers of UV light in their product as opposed to chemical blockers all without unnecessary nano-technology. Some chemical UV blockers are considered toxic and linked to forms of cancer down the road. No thanks!  I really liked the brand reps there, I really liked what they had to say about their line and got to test out their 5 in 1 tinted sunscreen. I liked that they encouraged my friends and I to check out the EWG page for ingredients in the products we use. How many brands do that? My coworker bought sunscreen for her little girl and will definitely stay on my radar in the future.

 

Plain Jane Beauty/Lotus Moon Beauty were there and I was lucky enough to be gifted their sheer translucent finishing powder.  Using safe and simple ingredients in their product,the brands skincare and Makeup line impressed my friends who bought some color correcting sticks to be used as concealers. Their makeup line looked pretty with natural colors and tones that enhance everyone’s natural beauty.

One of the funnier things we got at the expo was free Hugs from the Tree at the Eminence Booth. LOL! We couldn’t resist getting at least one photo in. Turn the corner and you get to meet the other cutest booth I’ve ever seen– the Feeling Smitten Booth.  I could not stop OOing and Ahhing over their deliciously sweet looking bath bombs and scrubs.  They had body scrubs in rich, vivid colors like turquoise, lime green and pink.  The bath bombs look like real cupcakes with sprinkles and whipped cream.  I think if I bought any I wouldn’t want to use it and just admire it, lol. They were seriously cute and I wanted everything.

 

Chrome Girl Nails is based out here in L.A and is a five-free nail polish brand.  five free guys!  And vegan!  The bottles had a good squarish shape to them and appeared to give a real glossy rich look when applied.  I immediately fell in love with some of the purples and a nude called no tan lines.  You see that photo below? There is about 13 colors I could have easily chosen there.  I haven’t tried the nail polish yet but plan to check them out soon.

We also got our lashes done by the fabulous artists at the Makeup By Mandy LashX  booth.  Totally fell in love with the girls there, and found out there are lashes you can have glued on for a week! A week!? I opted for the one nighters, but would love to get the week long ones which can be done at their West Hollywood Studio.  I’m definitely going to do the week long ones because lets face it, those lashes were pretty damn hot.  I did not want to wash my face at the end of the day. I’m on their mailing list now and plan to book when I have some extra bonus cash to blow on looking gorgeous. The are opening up  new location in Newport Beach I believe and if you live in that area keep an eye out. These ladies know how to make your eyes look better than you can imagine.

Naturally in our walks, my coworkers and I discussed that the men in our lives and how they could use some product too. Lucky for us there was a men specific line, Turo Skincare was there to help us check that one off the list.  Physician developed, and clinically proven to help in improving the appearance of aging skin and overall skin quality.  MesoEstetic was very welcoming coming all the way from Barcelona Spain, specializing in anti-aging and reducing hyperpigmentation.  The before and afters were pretty impressive and look forward to trying the samples I got.  Anything I cant try goes to the boyfriend and coworkers.

 

Near the end of the day we got our complimentary spray tans courtesy of Tan In the Raw. I love their formula. I got a nice deep tan at the end of 8 hours and didn’t stink like a spray tan.  I’m kicking myself now for not buying it at their wholesale price when I was there, but they have an all over ultra drying body shimmer they dust on you after your spray tan that makes you look pretty damn hot and smelling like a dessert. Not a bad combo if you ask me.  It was a little strange stripping down to nothing and hoping that the little 5 foot tent I was in was not going to suddenly tip over for any reason.  I was very naked for about 10 minutes there.  You are suddenly girlfriends with your spray tan tech because she having you do awkward positions to get the best tan.  They hands down know how to give  good spray tan and I’ve been complimented on it all week.  Even if you don’t tan, you should check out their body shimmer. I know I’m going to want more after I run out of my little containers I got after getting my tan.

 

LaserAway was there to explain a ton of procedure they offer like laser hair removal, cellulite treatments, skin tightening and injectables. They have a skincare line of their own that I was sent to try and my two friends won a free laser hair removal treatment that they’ve already booked for.

Bio Seaweed Gel is one of the last booths we stopped at and I made sure we visited this one after I saw all the photos on instagram of the awesome manicures that people were given at the expo. Their line of gel polish sets without the need of UV lamps, or leaving an staining.  I’ve always been scared of gel manis. For one, I like to change my polish way too often, but two, I don’t like the idea of frying my hands under lamps. Its bad. Although they did try to sell me on the fact that it isn’t as bad as it seems….I’ve seen enough articles about what UV damage does.  Their polishes run around $18 a bottle and ship from Canada. They have about 5 billion colors, and is said to last 2-3 weeks.  I opted for the coral reef color and find myself admiring my mani a lot since I got it. So if I ever plan to do gel polish, this is the brand I would look to first.

Intimina was the cherry on my day of sunday funday.  This women oriented personal care line had products like PMS patches, Kegel Balls, and ahem…personal massagers.  Naturally we saw some items out on the counter that were questionable in our mind. Like what the heck a kegel ball was. And what was THAT over there??!?!/!? Immediately the immature child came out in me snickering at half of what we were talking about.  However, I was gifted pretty much almost their entire line of products and have spent the rest of the week checking out what else was in the gift bag.  We laughed in the car at what was in there and have since gifted some friends.  We found a few thumbs up products from them!

Ever since this past weekend my office has been enjoying our beauty enhancing tea from Bija Body.  I mostly taste lemongrass and the smell of ginger, and like mine slightly sweetened with stevia. The tea was loose so we made little baggies out of coffee filters but intend to have our daily cup of beauty tea that promotes collagen production while reducing inflammation.  I also have daily body serum to give a whirl. I could see my office buying this tea again.

 

I think you can tell I had a lot of fun at this expo.  There were really a ton more brands there that I got to meet and could seriously write an encyclopedia if I broke it down for each one I meet.  I encourage you check out this expo when it hits your town next year.  The daily pass is totally worth it.

Were you at this years expo?  What brands were your favorite?  What did you get done?  Share in the comments below!

 

XOXO

 

Claudia