GIFTING LOUNGE: SECRET ROOM EVENTS’ RED CARPET BEAUTY RETREAT & GIFTING LOUNGE HONORING THE 2018 TELEVISION SEASON

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SECRET ROOM EVENTS’ RED CARPET BEAUTY RETREAT & GIFTING LOUNGE HONORING THE 2018 TELEVISION SEASON

Secret Room Events returned to what I think is their new favorite venue, Century City’s lovely Intercontinental Hotel. It’s like an oasis in such an otherwise busy area of town.

The staff is always the absolute nicest, from the valet parkers to the lobby workers to the bell captains to the bar servers. I love going there!

Photo by Karen Salkin.

Photo by Karen Salkin.

Anyone who really knows me understands that the two main things that I care about at events such as this one are beauty services and mystery gift bags with surprises in them. And this Secret Room Events lounge had both of those—in spades!!! Lucky us!

This was my contributing writer Roz’s first visit to a Secret Room event, and she loved it! She was impressed with the artistic set-up in a “beautiful room with elegant lighting that was mood-elevating.” She also made mention of the “soft window treatments” that prevented the “chatter” from becoming “ear-crushing,” as she finds it to be in many other locations.

But both of our favorite feature of this lounge is that, as Roz put it, “everyone was smiling and pleasant.” She lauds, “Good job, Secret Room!!!”

Guests getting manis. Photo by Karen Salkin.

Guests getting manis. Photo by Karen Salkin.

As we were entering the room where it was held on the lobby level of the hotel, we immediately noticed girls doing mini-manis for the guests! So, we rushed through everything else just to be able to get that pampering when we were done.

Speaking of pampering, Toni & Guy was not only providing the nail techs, but they were doing hair and make-up, as well. We had arrived camera-ready, but, after treating herself to the coffee and biscotti from the provided snack bar, Roz was very happy to get a lipstick touch-up from them, so she could exit looking as glam as she did on her way in! www.toniguy.com

Here are the highlights of the on-site gifts:

Photo by Karen Salkin.

Photo by Karen Salkin.

Herbal Life—This company had a wellness doctor on-site to explain all their nutrition and weight management products to us. I listened to it all, but I had eyes for only their nutrition bars, in flavors so attractive to me, (chocolate chip cookie and brownie!,) that I had to have one right then and there!  Athletic Roz stated of the other items in their great mini-duffels, “The powered protein drink is exactly what an active tennis player and swimmer such as myself can use after a hearty work-out. And it’s perfect to store in an earthquake-preparedness bag since you need only a little water or juice to make the shake. When the ‘big one’ hits, we’ll all need long-lasting dry goods to have on hand, so these products are especially appreciated for their far-off expiration dates.”  www.herbalife.com

Photo by Karen Salkin.

Photo by Karen Salkin.

Contigo Water Bottles—This company had a gorgeous display which featured attractive stainless steel bottles from their Couture Collection, which they gifted in elegant boxes. That little bit of extra is always so welcome. Roz said, “As water bottles go, these are tall, dark, and handsome.” (I guess she likes her bottles like she likes her men!) She continued, “The vessels are also thoughtfully-designed to help reduce plastic water bottle usage. Their motto is ‘Choose to Reuse.’ Good idea.” www.gocontigo.com

Photo by Karen Salkin.

Photo by Karen Salkin.

Crisscross Intimates—There were so many different types of items on this table that I didn’t know where to look first! It’s really mainly an intimate apparel company, but they were gifting colorful little wallets this time. www.crisscrossintimates.com

Trips—This is one of the features that Secret Room Events is most known for. They gift the VIPs a three-night stay at one of a variety of fabulous destinations. I noticed one for Elite Island Resorts in the Caribbean! It’s what everyone needs after this jam-packed awards season!

IMG_3041Board Games—There was a table that had my name all over it! Guests were invited to choose from a variety of board games. There were so many that I don’t know how they decided! (But I was drawn to one titled True Colors because I have a Crayon Room in my house!) Roz perused them all and said they’re all excellent for “family time.

Karen Salkin showing off her new mani! Photo by Roz Wolf.

Karen Salkin showing off her new mani! Photo by Roz Wolf.

We saved the manis for last, so that we would be done shaking hands for the day. Roz thought so, too, commenting, “It was very thoughtful of Secret Room to provide that service at the beginning or end of the whole experience so people could handle their packages better when they were leaving. Especially, if they had no time to do it at the start.” The two nail techs, Stephanie and Laura, were adorable and pleasant, which is always appreciated. And we loved the new light pink color that we both chose!

The giant duffel bag full of gifts! Photo by Karen Salkin.

The giant duffel bag full of gifts! Photo by Karen Salkin.

But the absolute highlight of Secret Room Events, which is their hallmark, is always their incredible gift bags that the VIPs receive as they exit the lounge. Since we were time-constrained in this uber-busy Emmys week, Roz and I rushed through the actual event, (with that stop for the manis, of course!,) so that we could take a peek inside one of those juicy duffel bags from Wrangler. We knew going through all those fabulous gifts would take a long time, and we were absolutely correct. This one may have been their juiciest one ever!

Here are the highlights of the gift bag items:

Just some of the gift bag items. Photo by Karen Salkin.

Just some of the gift bag items. Photo by Karen Salkin.

Huawei Technologies’ absolutely gorgeous Android smart watch!; an overwhelming number of beauty products, including blush, lipsticks, highlighter, and Modern Renaissance eye shadow palette from ultra-famous Anastasia of Beverly Hills; a beautiful yoga outfit from Jill Yoga;  Winning Moves’ cutest “Pass the Pigs” game, which features tiny pigs as the dice!; pretty pink panties from Eveden; Punch Gunk pain relief cream, (which I need on an hourly basis!,); a “creativity” card game called Brainspin, which I’d love to play when I have writer’s block!; Aveeno’s “pre-tox” mask, a great idea that I’ve never even heard of before; Obagi’s simply-monikered “Retinol 1.0,” which everyone in the world needs nowadays; natural sweetener products from Sweetleaf, (whose “Water Drops” taste so much better than the more known brand!); and a DNA test from Ancestry.com, (which will hopefully show me that I’m not really related to my siblings!!!)  How’s all that for juicy?! (And remember—those are just the highlights!)

On top of all that goodness for the guests, this event benefited OmicsLIVE, which is a non-profit internship program dedicated to showing the youngsters how to curate custom live, remote, and pop-up experiences. They could not ask for a better organization from which to learn those skills than Secret Room Events!

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