Beauty | An Introduction to Kiehls | A Mess In A Dress

On Thursday, the premium beauty brand Kiehls launched a new counter in the Debenhams store in Leicester’s Highcross Shopping Centre.  To coincide with the launch, Kiehls also hosted a bloggers event, where local ladies could come along and learn more about the brand (and more importantly, try out some of the products)  Luckily for me, I was able to wangle an invitation and along with a few blogging buddies headed to Leicester to see what Kiehls is all about.

I have to admit that until recently I had never even heard of Kiehls, let alone used it.  Then suddenly it seemed to be all over my social media feeds – Instagram, Twitter, everywhere!  Everything I heard about it from other bloggers and influencers was over-whelmingly positive so I was very excited to see for myself.

The event actually started just outside of the Highcross Shopping Centre, where the Kiehls bus/van (call it what you will) took pride of place.  We all took our seats around the table and were introduced to Hannah and Saffia, our hosts for the evening.

Hannah and Saffia talked us through the history of Kiehls, which was founded in 1851 as an old world apothecary in New York.  According to their website, they do not test their products on animals and Hannah informed us that the majority of their products are suitable for vegans (There are a couple of products which use honey and milk so cannot be classed as vegan-friendly).

We were then shown a selection of the brand’s most popular products and samples were passed around so we could get a feel for them ourselves.

The only product I’d really heard of before the event was the Midnight Recovery Concentrate which is apparently Kiehls’ most popular product selling 1 every 10 seconds.  This is an oil which you use at night to help rejuvenate your skin.  It did feel incredible and the scent of the product reminded me of a spa treatment.  It was easy to see why this would be so popular.

Another favourite of the group was the Turmeric & Cranberry Seed Energizing Radiance Mask, which uses cranberry oils and seeds instead of the infamous microbeads – much better for the environment.  We were all given a bit of this to test on our hands and for the girls who left it on for the full 10 minutes there were clear results!  I can only imagine how good your face must feel after using it!

A popular product amongst the bloggers at the event was the Cactus Flower & Tibetan Ginseng Hydrating Mist.  This was a facial mist that you could lightly spray to boost moisture in tired skin.  I know a lot of girls were considering buying this after the event.

One product I was particularly tempted by was the Micro-Blur Skin Perfector which seemed like a great all-rounder product.  It’s recommended for mattifying, oil control, reducing pore sizer and can also double as a primer.  

As the event drew to a close we were all invited to visit the new counter in Debenhams to check out even more products.  The Kiehls section is beautiful, with nods to the original Apothecary store including a anatomical skeleton to replicate the original, Mr Bones, which is still standing in the flagship store.

We all enjoyed looking around the store and some of the ladies even picked up a few cheeky treats for themselves.  Sadly, my budget couldn’t quite stretch to this at the moment but I certainly have a list of products to add to my future wish lists.

Luckily for me (as I didn’t win the fabulous raffle prize!) we were all given a goody-bag filled with lots of lovely samples to try.  I was very excited to look through the products when I got home and can’t wait to try them out for myself.  I may even do a mini-review.

I’d like to say a massive thank you to Hannah for inviting me to this event, and to herself and Saffia for being the perfect hosts.  It was a lovely, fun-filled evening and as always, a great opportunity to get to know fellow local bloggers.

If you want more information on any of the Kiehls’ products, head to their website where you can also find your local store if you want to pop in for a more personal consultation!