EMA Awards in LA

I have been in Los Angeles for various press, customer and celebrity events happening here. The main event has been the Environmental Media Association awards, of which we are co-sponsors and the first British brand to be supporters of this prestigious Hollywood event. To help promote it, we held a beauty breakfast for the top ‘blogging’ beauty websites (a hugely growing part of the media in the States – and the UK too). We took over a stunning breakfast room right on the beach at Santa Monica, where I was able to tell the assembled writers a little more about us and also let them know about the EMA awards. Visit www.ema-online.org to find out more. Several of the beauty bloggers had already heard of us – one was a devotee of Cleanse & Polish already, so the word is certainly spreading Stateside. You can now read what one of the ‘bloggers’ had to say as a follow-up to our breakfast together – see www.beautyjunkiesunite.com

Getting ready for the celebrity-studded awards’ ceremony, I chose a British fashion designer, Temperley, and a really lovely green-gold evening gown, teamed with a gold vintage cardigan (very eco) and a metallic evening bag made entirely from recycled tin can ring-pulls and cotton crochet thread. These fabulous bags are made by a co-operative of women in Brazil and they really are amazing – lovely designs, practical and stylish too, yet very eco-friendly,  (and the money the women make goes back into their community projects too). Take a look at the website: www.bottletop.org

Walking down the ‘green carpet’ was slightly daunting as it was packed with TV stars, such as Nicole Richie and Ed Norton, news crews and paparazzi all jostling and hustling for the best shot or exclusive sound-bite. One of the reporters I spoke to, from CBS news, knew exactly who I was (unlike most of the others!) as both she and her sister are big fans of…Cleanse & Polish! So at least I didn’t have to explain to her what we do or how to use a muslin cloth. TV stars didn’t just walk the carpet though – some were driven down in Toyota’s hybrid Prius (very popular with the seen-to-be-greenies in Hollywood) while others made their point by riding a bicycle down the length of the carpet.

The EMA awards are held primarily to harness the power of the celebrity and the media to promote a more sustainable way of life – by giving out positive messages in films and TV shows – and are a valuable link between the entertainment industry and the eco-community. Nominated shows included Into the Wild (the new movie directed by Sean Penn), Boston Legal’s ‘Green Christmas’ episode and TV comedy 30 Rock’s ‘Greenzo’ episode. This last one was the show I voted for on the panel – and it won – so I felt lightly brushed with a little stardust magic.

After the awards, we all went into a beautifully  lit courtyard where many of the other sponsors, such as organic farms and restaurants, were offering canapés and delicious cocktails (antioxidant-enriched pomegranate mojitos were the drink of choice for many). Our own stand was next to Tiffany the jeweller, who were there promoting their ‘clean’ gold (mined with greater social responsibility) and , their ban on red coral and Burmese gemstones (more details on their website). As soon as the doors opened we were mobbed – with guests swarming 8-deep to our stand to receive a complimentary Cleanse & Polish kit, Superskin Moisturiser and Superskin Concentrate. The actress Wendie Malick stopped by with some of her girlfriends to rave about Cleanse & Polish – which she swears by every day - and special-achievement winner, actress Rosario Dawson spent quite a long time chatting with our team and was very interested in trying the range. 

We finally managed to slip away just after 11pm – a very late night by LA standards, where it is perfectly normal to be up and in the gym by 5am. Needless to say, we all had a little bit of a lie-in the following morning and woke-up to see images of the event being flashed around the world on the news-wire – some of which we can share with you here. Enjoy!

High-point: Meeting up with actress Wendie Malick on the ‘green carpet ’ and hearing her say “I’m just loving your Cleanse  & Polish – I use it every single day!” and then having her bring all her Hollywood chums to our stand at the EMA Awards.

Funny-point: Looking for a taxi and asking the driver if he was free? “No Ma-am,” he replied, “you have to pay.”

Info-point: Learning a new expression – “I need a 411 on that” - as in, dialling 411 for information.

US Trip

Hello I’m Tracy, Customer & Brand Relationship Manager, and I thought it would be great to share with you some ‘behind the scenes’ experiences from my recent trip to the US with Liz and the team. 

The trip started in LA, where we had a breakfast meeting with TotalBeauty.com – a network of beauty bloggers – held at the beautiful ‘Shutters on the Beach’ hotel in Santa Monica, which has a stunning view of the sea (not unlike the view from our home here on the Isle of Wight). Then came the really exciting Environmental Media Association Awards (also known as the EMAs), which honour those in the media and film industry who promote and increase awareness of environmental issues. This was a star-studded event where guests walked the green carpet to a stunning ceremony, before enjoying a VIP reception! 

Our day began early at 5am in order for us to prepare for the breakfast event by 8am. Following this we had just enough time for a quick meeting about a photo shoot in LA for Liz’s new book launching next year.  Then it was back to our hotel in Beverly Hills as we had to be dressed and ready to go by 3pm to set up our stand for the awards!  This was hard work as we had to open and empty dozens of boxes of products then arrange and display all the wonderful skincare goodies we were going to treat the guests to. Flat shoes were definitely order of the day and with temperatures of 80 degrees, it was hot! The night proved to be an amazing success with over 1,000 guests in attendance. A major highlight for us was Rosario Dawson stopping by our stand! Our Senior Press Officer, Louise presented Rosario with a Liz Earle Naturally Active Skincare gift bag while flash bulbs were going off all around us.
Although it was a very long and tiring day, we all left in very high spirits after meeting so many friendly and enthusiastic people.

Still buzzing from the EMA’s, we held two in-store customer events: the first was in Studio at Fred Segal, LA, where we celebrated the launch of our Christmas gifts, and where some of the team bumped into Marcia Cross (from Desperate Housewives fame) buying sunglasses!  Then we flew on to Miami for our 2nd anniversary party at Brownes Apothecary on Lincoln Road.  This evening event was organized with the Miami Beach Women’s Chamber of Commerce who were raising money for local charities.  It was a great opportunity to meet so many people and treat them to a relaxing hand & arm massage, which went down really well with all. We also took the opportunity to meet up with our friend, Kerry Gruson who lives in Miami and won this year’s Ladies Day award at Cowes Week here on the Isle of Wight. 

Meeting so many of our US customers (some from as far afield as Nebraska, Iowa and Wisconsin) was such a great experience. We’ve heard how much they love our products and especially how much they love the smell of them! Due to the constant sunshine and air-conditioning in many parts of the US, so many of the women I met had dry skin! Our Superskin range immediately became a real winner and a firm favourite.

Autumn’s Here!

Since I last wrote, I’ve had a fun mini break in Cornwall with my parents and Baby Isabel – my poor husband has just started an MBA, alongside his full time job, and couldn’t join us due to essay deadlines. It was delicious to have a break away, and I found the sea air so refreshing. Such a lovely part of England – it reminded me of the charm of the Isle of Wight in parts, with beautiful rugged coves and quaint villages tucked away. There is definitely something about being by the sea too – my skin really benefited from the relaxing beach walks (and catching up on sleep!)

It reminded me of how pretty the autumn is on the Island – do come and visit us. There is a lot to do locally in Ryde if you fancy a day trip – we’re only 10 minutes away from Portsmouth on the hovercraft. (You may even catch some of our team on the hover – we’re the ones always laughing and talking!) As well as some great coffee spots on Union High Street, where our original store ‘Union’ sits amongst the pretty Victorian buildings, the beach is only a stone’s throw away and there’s more than a handful of pretty shops to browse in, if you have a relaxing day to spare. If you ever want any advice, do let us know and we can recommend the best places – most of our team are from the island and are proud to share more about our beautiful, tranquil world here. And of course our Union team would be delighted to welcome you and help make your day very special.

So, with autumn, comes the dreaded onslaught on our skin! The central heating, the nip in the air and the car heating all combine to quickly dehydrate and unbalance the skin’s subtle equilibrium. I really notice the weather now, just by looking at my hands as I walk in the park with my baby. I like to think of Hand Repair (UK, US, Ireland) as an extra pair of velvety gloves - the days that I forget to pop on a quick application, I quickly live to regret! I wash my hands like never before and have really found the new hand wash helps combat dryness… but it’s the hard-working combination of the hand wash and the hand cream that keeps you totally protected.

Last week, I was pleased to join Alison Keenan on QVC for a special Christmas gifting show. Alison is a huge fan of Cleanse & Polish (particularly after those dreaded late shows, when you fall into bed at 4am), but also raved about the effectiveness of our hand cream. As many of you tell us, it really is such a ‘treatment’ product, much more than just a cream. And of course you now have different sizes to choose from – perfect for dotting all over the place, as a reminder to look after the hands. Like our faces, the skin on the hands really is exposed all the time so do take heed of the change in weather, keep Hand Repair to hand and don’t forget your mitts!

Look forward to speaking to you again on tomorrow’s QVC show, or if you miss that, look out for me on the ‘Gift of Great Skin’ QVC show on the 26^th November……. and thank you for all your positive feedback about the aromatic, hard-working new Orange Flower Hand Wash. We love hearing your stories.

How to make your Christmas just that little bit greener…

Much of my time as the company’s environmental advisor is spent researching and implementing new ideas for the company to lessen the impact we have on our environment. It’s progress, not perfection, but every new, more environmentally friendly thing we do helps to make a difference.

This Christmas for example, I have worked closely with our design team to ensure that our beautiful and award winning Christmas boxes are not only totally fabulous and a delight to open, but are also a little kinder to our world. We made the boxes slightly smaller, so that less packaging is needed inside to protect the products, plus they’re made completely from environmentally friendly 100% recycled board and the Sea Holly design is printed on to paper from a sustainable, FSC accredited source and has a biodegradable matt laminate finish.

I’ve also shared some tips on how you can reuse or recycle any of our Christmas packaging on our website (UK, US, Ireland).

Whilst Christmas is a time when we traditionally consume more than at any other time of year, celebrating doesn’t have to mean we should forget about the extra waste we generate. There are some positive actions we can all take to make the season that little bit greener without getting in the way of the Christmas spirit:

Before Christmas…

Christmas cards
Up to 1 billion Christmas cards could end up in bins across the UK this Christmas (estimate from www.wasteonline.org.uk).

What can we do?
Why not email your Christmas wishes to some of your friends and family? Cancer Research UK have a great festive selection of e-cards and you can donate the money that you would have spent on cards to a good cause! (www.sendandgive.org)

Christmas wrapping paper
Over Christmas, enough wrapping paper will be used to cover an area larger than Guernsey (estimate from www.wasteonline.org.uk). However, wrapping presents is part of the festive ritual and admittedly, it wouldn't be as much fun if you could see what you'd got as soon as you looked under the tree.

What can we do?
Why not use more gift bags and boxes, they look fantastic and can easily be reused. 100% recycled Christmas paper is a great idea too (www.guardianecostore.co.uk). Finally, try to reuse or recycle the Christmas paper you receive this year. To find out how visit: www.recyclenow.com

After Christmas…

Christmas cards
In the 12 years that the Woodland recycling scheme has been running, 600 million cards have been recycled. This has enabled the Woodland Trust to plant 141,000 trees, save 12,000 tonnes of paper from landfill and stop 16,000 tonnes of CO2 from going into the atmosphere – the equivalent to taking more than 5,000 cars off the road for a year. So it a really worthwhile thing to do!

What can we do?
Try to recycle all your cards. A great idea is to use some of your favourite cards to create unique gift tags for next year. You can also take your cards to one of the Woodland Trust collection sites, who will recycle the cards to help raise money to plant new trees (www.woodland-trust.org.uk/cards).

Wasted food
Did you know? Almost a third of food bought at Christmas is wasted by the average family (Friends of the Earth – www.foe.co.uk).

What can we do?
Think carefully this Christmas about what food you will need over the festive season. Why not take a list with you when you go shopping? You are less likely to be tempted to add things you don’t really need into your basket. (This saves money too!)

I’d also recommend popping a Compost Crock onto your Christmas list. These decorative ceramic crocks are the smart new way to collect kitchen scraps for the compost heap and are custom-made for kitchen waste destined for your compost bin (we use them here in our office kitchen!) Find out more from www.naturalcollection.com. If you would like further information on composting visit www.recyclenow.com.

I hope you find these tips useful. If you have any other ideas for making Christmas a little bit ‘greener’, why not share them on this blog – I’m always looking for new ideas.

Traveller’s Tales

I’ve been in Dublin’s fair city to celebrate our arrival in the new Wilde & Green store. Founded earlier this year by Denise Begley and Carmel O’Callaghan, this special food-store-and-more is a real find, stocking delicious homemade delicacies as well as local and organic produce. Both Carmel and Denise are big fans of our range so we were really delighted when they invited us to be the only beauty brand stocked in-store. Since their opening on 27th June, our little area has gone from strength to strength, growing in size until it now feels like stepping into a Liz Earle store within a store. We’ve just put our beautiful new Sea Holly Christmas boxes (UK, US, Ireland) in their windows and they look really spectacular. If you haven’t yet seen these stunning gift boxes, I’ll be showing them in more detail on QVC later on today. Of course, if you live in or near by Dublin, do go along and say hello to the Wilde & Green team – they’d love to see you.

As usual, the team and I managed to pack a lot into a short space of time, starting with a (very) early morning TV appearance on Ireland’s national breakfast show, Ireland AM, with Alan Hughes. We took our lovely model Debbie with us for the slot (you may recognise her from our QVC shows) and despite having to get up before dawn, she actually enjoyed a little more sleep than usual as she’s a new mum and going through the rigours of night feeds. Getting up before daybreak reminded me of the many years I spent as a contributor to GMTV, when it was usual to leave for the studios at 5am and be back home in time to get the children up for breakfast. The most gruelling schedule I can remember was being sent to LA for the Oscars, filming segments for the show all day, then keeping myself awake on a potent blend of expresso and adrenaline until 3am, when I would do a live satellite link back to Lorraine Kelly in the UK studio - falling into bed for a few hours sleep before getting up and doing it all over again, and again. After our QVC shows today I’m actually heading back over to Los Angeles, this time to take part in a very special awards ceremony, not just report from it. Instead of walking down a red carpet for the Oscars I’ll be treading the green carpet for the Environmental Media Awards. I’ll bring you more news from tinsel-town next week. Until then, I hope you’ll be able to catch some of our shows on QVC, or you can watch our launch on Ireland AM.