GIFTING SUITE: GBK LUXURY GIFT LOUNGE HONORING THE GOLDEN GLOBES 2013

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GBK LUXURY GIFT LOUNGE HONORING THE GOLDEN GLOBES 2013

 

I love that GBK often does their events in actual suites at a hotel. This time, it was at the beautiful L’Ermitage Hotel in Beverly Hills. It took place on the roof, and also in two other suites off the lobby, giving all newbies (not I, of course) to the venue the chance to see it all!

All photos by Karen Salkin.

Having DJ eTunes spinning in the rooftop lounge really added pep to everyone’s step up there, and helped to warm us up from the weirdo cold weather L.A.’s been having.

GBK is known for attracting the most celebrities, and I had a fun chance meeting with Tony Award-winning actress Laura Benanti, who’s as pretty in person as she is on TV. (She’s on Go On this season.) She first started talking to me on the stairway down from the roof because she saw that I was struggling a bit with my packages, and asked if I was okay. (I was, of course; it was just a tad difficult due to my back issues because it’s hard to carry even a small purse now.) But we bonded over the fact that we’ve both worked with diva Patti Lupone in our careers! Laura played Gypsy to Patti’s Mama Rose on Broadway a few years back, (with them both winning Tonys,) and I played Patty’s co-worker in the office of Jerry Berkson (played by Ray Buktenica) on Life Goes On. Guess which of us Patti liked working with more? (I’ll give you a clue–it wasn’t me.)

Now to the gifts, since this is a gifting suite, after all! There are perhaps no repeat sponsors I look forward to more than these first two, due to their generosity to all, and their always-lovely personnel:

Revitalash–as I think everyone knows by now, I’ve long used this whole ever-growing line of beauty-enhancement products.  I switch up which ones from time to time, but I never go without their lash serum and the new-ish highlighter pencil.  Now that the girls at the suite told me how to use their fine line eraser properly, I’ll be starting on that one right away, too.  Can’t wait! (And for the girls, and guys, who want to try to have as much hair as I do, there’s always their hair conditioning treatment.) www.revitalash.com

The Artisan Group—this group of very talented artisans from around the country always have a gift bag of goodies ready for the VIPs. It’s like a mini-Xmas! You get to open each package and discover their fun contents, which are always a surprise. This time, I received a few beautiful pairs of earrings, a bracelet with a tiny dog footprint on the side, an adorable pink and black wristlet, invigorating soap, and a crocheted purse. And every single item is homemade! I highly recommend that whenever you need unique gifts, their website is the perfect one-stop shop! www.theartisangroup.org

Here are the highlights of the rest of the gifts:

Organic Skincare—they were gifting Heaven Bee Venom Mask. If it makes my skin look as great as that of their rep at the suite, I’ll bathe in the stuff!  www.organicskincareus.com

Glysom and Capsiate–the former helps with sleep, and the latter with weight loss.  Was this company created just for moi?  It sure seems that way. I can’t wait to get started on both solutions!!! www.ajinomoto.com

Toy State–this toy car company gifted tiny model cars that are controlled by a watch-looking remote control wristband.  Some little boy I know will be lucky, if I can bear to part with it!  www.toystate.com

I always love a suite with services, and I received two fun ones here.  They actually started my birthday week-end off the right way!

First, the girls from Burke Williams Spa, Claire Massey and Marissa Baldwin, massaged my hands, arms, and shoulders, which is exactly what a hard-at-work writer needs!  Every second of every day!  And I received Stem Cell Serum from their new line, H2V, that I didn’t even know existed before! www.burkewilliamsspa.com

Karen Salkin's before-and-after nails. The blue ones on the right are the ones she came in with, and the sparkly ones on the left are the stick-ons that were done at the suite.

The best part of the day for me was the last part; a “sticker” manicure from the ever-pleasant Tina V’lanomelle, using Kiss Nail press-ons.  I had actually met Tina twice before, once being when she did a pal’s nails at an upscale boutique a few years back.  She was just as sweet now, and I was thrilled to see her rocking the most stunning engagement ring I’ve ever seen!  As I told her, it made me almost want to get engaged myself!

I have one more fun encounter to tell you about.  As many of you know, I can write about only gifts that I actually receive because I need time to work with them, so I can give you guys an accurate impression of them.  I obviously can’t tell you about something I haven’t used myself.  Duh.  But on the way out of this suite, I decided to stop by the Jetson E-Bike booth, even though I was sure they weren’t gifting something so major, because I don’t like to leave anyone out.  When I found-out the rep is from New Jersey, of course I had to tell him I’m from Brooklyn.  And guess what?  The guy lives two blocks away from me there!!!!  I was so excited by that fact that I stayed with that group of people for another fifteen minutes!  That conversation made me leave the suite practically skipping along like a Peanuts character!!! And what exit could be better than that?

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