Pretty In Bronze: September 2019

September 13, 2019 BY Amy Sousa 0 Comments

Hello!

Last year was the first time I attended the Indie Expo in Toronto as a press member and it was pretty exciting! It was the second year that the event has been happening in Canada, but the first year it was in Toronto. I was invited back as press this year and I gladly agreed so this post is all about my experience there. I'll also be showing you what I got for free for being a press member, and what I purchased myself!

This event happens every summer at the Hyatt Regency hotel and is amazing for those of you who want to support indie brands that make great quality products. Nail polish is definitely the most popular product you will find from the brands so if you're into that, you need to check it out next year! You can't easily find products from most of these brands unless you're ordering online, so this event is a great chance to stock up on whatever you need and seeing it beforehand. Most booths had amazing deals running only for those making purchases at the event, so it's also a great way to save money.

If you're someone who likes to use natural products, or has a hard time finding cruelty free or vegan products, there's also a great variety of products across the brands that cater towards you. I personally prefer skincare to be as simple and natural as possible and indie brands are definitely the way to go. There are also many workshops you can attend before or after and you'll get to meet a lot of amazing people!

As Press, I got into the event about an hour before the doors opened to everyone who purchased a ticket. This allowed me to go around and take pictures of every booth and chat to those running the booths (often the owners or their employees) and ask whatever questions I had about particular products. Some of the booths had free gifts for press members so I got to bring a few goodies home with me aside from what I purchased.

These are all of the products I received for free as press this year! Last year the VIP bags were free for press so I had a lot more, but this year it was not and because my wedding is happening in the near future, I couldn't afford to purchase it.

Cuter Cuticles has this new Cutie Care Cream for your cuticles that is similar to their Barrier Butter—I received one last year—and this new version does the same thing, but absorbs even faster! There is a non-scented version as well as a bunch of scents to pick from on their website!

Bees Knees Lacquer gave me a baggie with a lovely teal nail polish named 'Colossal Claude' as well as a sample of their Meringue in the scent 'Lure' and their Cuticle Butter in 'Sand Snakes.'

While at the Cuter Cuticles booth, I was raving to the owners about how much I loved the lip gloss and cuticle oil from the free pr samples from last year, but sadly learned that they no longer have the lip gloss available. I was very pleased that they located one of the old press bags and ran across the room to give it to me! It was very lovely so THANK YOU again if you're reading this. It was very sweet and I really appreciate it! Now I don't have to nurse that lip gloss and have tons of cuticle products to last me through the next few years.

Here's a pictures of all of the Bees Knees Lacquer goodies! The nail polish is in the shade 'Colossal Claude," that doesn't seem to exist on their website. I'm not sure if it was a special limited shade for the event or part of a previous or future collection, but if you like the look of it, 'No Gods No Kings' is the most similar one I could find on their site! Their polishes are 5 free, which means it's way better for your nails since they don't contain the normal harsh ingredients. I'm wearing the nail polish a few pics down so you can see how pretty it is! Their Cuticle Butter in 'Sand Snakes' has a very tropical scent, while 'Lure' is a fresh scent is inspired by Sirens from Greek mythology. The cuticle butter also came with a nail polish applicator to make applying it easier and mess free.

Now for my purchases! My budget was very minimal ($30 at most) because of my crazy wedding saving so I knew I had to focus on things I really wanted to try and value. One thing I cannot go a day without is lip balm so I run out of them at an alarming rate. I also want to get into nail polish more and learning now to do designs and figured it was about time that I got myself a stamper.

When I saw these Cuter Cuticles lip balms were only $2 each and offered so many different flavours, I couldn't pass them up. I honestly thought about getting one of each flavour, but that would've placed me above budget so I restrained myself (it was hard) and only picked up my top three favourite scents for lip balms. I'm currently using the Watermelon one and I'm thoroughly enjoying it! The scent isn't like watermelon candy (one of my favourite smells), but it's still really nice and you get a tiny waft of it once in a while. These are SO nice and are just as good as my other favourite lip balms (which are all also natural). I figure the three will last me a year and then I'll have to buy more in other scents if they're still around! As of right now I can't find them on the website, but I'm holding out hope!

While I still don't own the other items required to do nail stamping art, I'm very happy I picked this stamper up from Hit the Bottle. This has two stampers in one, which means I saved money and it will last me a lot longer. I have yet to purchase stamping polishes or the little design thing that you put the nail polish on in the first place, but once I do I will jump into nail art and will hopefully learn quickly! This was under $15 and it seems like it's very good quality, but I haven't used it yet due to not having the other required materials. Once I do have them and start playing around with it, I'll let you know how good it is!

I posted stories on my Instagram the entire time showing every booth, some of the products and some great deals so head on over and watch my Indie Expo highlight on my page to see it all!