Independence day with Murad UK

Last Thursday it was July 4^th or Independence Day. Being English, it doesn’t really have much significance to me, however to all American’s it’s a big deal. So when Murad (An American company) invited me to attend their first store opening outside of London on Independence day, I put on my best American Accent, swigged back some Kool-Aid and headed off to Leeds.

If your a beauty blog reader you might be familiar with Murad already, as they’ve gained quite a cult following with those pretty, young things. I’ve never managed to try their products myself before, so I was intrigued to change that.

I met up with the lovely Grace and Gemma, as it is always better to know a familiar face in the sea of people. I think I may have fallen in love with Grace’s trousers and you’ll never guess where she got them from? Primark! Never!

Being Independence day and an American brand I thought id show my loyalty with my new I love NY Tshirt, Nessa had brought back from her trip to New York with the boyfriend. My skirt was a old one from Topshop and the belt again from the far corners of my wardrobe. Of course this being me, it is always about the crazy heels!

We were swiftly handed glasses of wine and gladly shown where the American nibbles were. It has become a running joke that at every event I am photographed with a cupcake, so here is the obligatory photo...

We then delved into all things skin care. Murad differs from other brands on the market, so they are a ‘Cosmeceutical brand’ Yes a totally made up word, but it’s basically an amalgamation of Cosmetic and Pharmaceutical, as Murad was founded by Dr Murad a pharmacist and dermatologist. His philosophy is that beauty is more than what is on the surface, as while you can paint over the cracks in the short term, in the long run, you need to cure the problem underneath the skin. That’s why all of Murad’s products are pharmaceutical grade rather than just cosmetic.

I had a little chat about my skin needs, and how after too much drinking and partying, my skin was looking rather worse for wear. Immediately I was sussed that I didn’t use a night cream (guilty!) and that the best thing for me was Vitamin C (too much student food not enough fruit in my diet of late).

As it was the first store opening outside of London, it had gained quite a bit of attention, and the Mayor came along to show his support.

As did Clare Cooper aka Jacqui McQueen from Hollyoaks, who is a big fan of Murad.

After some more schmoozing and wine drinking (what did they say about feeding my skin healthy nutrients?) we got down to the nitty gritty science- under the skin face scans. A special camera read what was going under the skin, similar to those face scans that show sun damage. This way you can get the exact right product for your skin type- no more guessing if you actually have dry or combination skin! Phew.

I left armed with a few goodies, so I'm going to finally try and see if it really does live up to the hype.

*Also the lovely Zoe from Murad has kindly offered to do a Q&A for all your skin care woes, so if you have any questions at all about what is the best foods to make your skin brighter, to when should I start using anti aging cream, pop a question below, and I will do a skincare Q&A post soon.*

I hope everyone had a fab Independence day, how do you celebrate it in America?

Click here to enter my Thomas Sabo Giveaway? - ends 5th August. 

Tweet

Beauty, Heels, Leeds, lifestyle, Murad, MuradUK