February 2016 Keziah CONNECTIONS review by Kehryse Vanessa Johnson of @BarLDN Beauty Boutique

When I heard that Angie Greaves and Keziah CONNECTIONS were going to team up and be powered by IMAN cosmetics, I was delighted!

I mean WHAT A TRIPLE TREAT!

Natalie Clue with her exceptional people skills, love for Blackness and general #BlackGirlMagic, Angie Greaves with her humour, her bravery, and her strength to smash glass ceilings in the industry, and then IMAN, the classy way in which this brand of cosmetics beautifies any woman of colour and puts us first?

I mean WOW!   Tickets. In the. Basket.

The event was held at the Soho Hotel – a classy venue – and upon entry I was glad I wore my new red-bottomed shoes for the occasion.

I was directed to the bar by a concierge who seemed to know who I was and where I was going   Clearly this was a unique event for them – watching Black beauty upon Black beauty burst through their revolving doors, smiling hard and flushed with excitement!

I rounded the corner into the bar and was greeted by a glorious sight: sisters everywhere!

They were scattered on sofas, dotted on chairs, chatting together and with drinks in hand. The host welcomed me and took my coat. I joined a group nearby and joined in with their chatter about New Year’s Resolutions.  I shared my list of beauty resolutions.   As the first Keziah CONNECTIONS event of the year, this topic was the perfect icebreaker choice.

What I love about these events is that the networking portion is actually guided. You don’t have to sit there feeling awkward or stand alone looking at the floor hoping for someone to talk to you, oh no – Natalie is clear about her intentions for the night and she asks us to mingle, and challenges us to collect the contact details of three other people. It’s a little bit like speed-networking. You never ever leave without – you are always given your chance and to have your say.

The Key Note speaker Angie Greaves engaged a few of us in conversation even before her speech and I was amazed at how young-looking she was but not at all about how down-to-earth she was.  Her  speech was really something special.

The music in the bar was left playing the whole time but this was no deterrent for Angie, whose voice carried and went straight to heart.

She talked about our ability and right as Black women to recreate ourselves however we see fit and to have fun with the versatility of our beauty. Sitting there with my hair in Senegalese rope twists, I felt somewhat vindicated. I had attended the last event with my afro flying free which meant this time, some of the people I had met before didn’t really recognise me. But that doesn’t mean that I need to limit myself to being natural at all these beauty events all of the time, because Angie’s right, we all have licence to reinvent ourselves as whatever we feel and we don’t have to justify it or explain ourselves.

The Q&A section was my favourite part of the night.  Angie answered questions by returning questions to the audience – eliciting the ‘meat’ of her answers from us.  It was a very intimate setting and everyone was involved. And after her time centre stage, flanked by her two beautiful daughters, Angie posed for photos, introduced herself to attendees and spent time together with us all.  Quite a treat!

….and speaking of treats Ronke Adeyemi, the editor of Brown Beauty Talk, won the IMAN Hamper (I have finally stopped sulking hahaha!) worth over £200 pounds.

Lucky lady!

When I peeked into the bag I saw all sorts: creams, mascaras, pencils, glosses, shadows – and it’s no surprise that IMAN really knows how to make a Keziah CONNECTS chick feel special. “Wow, thank you!” said Ronke, dancing off into the sunset.

Thanks for partnering with @keziahconnects #Repost @imancosmeticsuk ・・・ We were in #london last night to meet the beautiful members of #keziahconnections @ondolady was our lucky winner with #IMANcosmetics goodies Thank you so much for the #IMANcosmeticsuk #blackbeauty #beautyforyourskintone

A photo posted by Nats (@beautypulselondon) on Feb 25, 2016 at 2:08am PST

 

But she wasn’t the only one spoilt by IMAN because everybody took home a generous goodie bag filled with foundations, powders and lippy treats for the ultimate bronzy look.  The foundations came in a range of shades so I’ve kept some of the deeper ones for myself to highlight and contour with, and given the rest of them to my caramel coloured younger sisters.

Sharing is caring!

So once again, I fully enjoyed the night, made some beautiful new connections and have already put Angie’s words into action. She’s absolutely right: you have to be your own kinda beautiful!

Thanks Keziah CONNECTIONS for once again delivering on a promise.

Bravo!

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Find out more about the @Bar London Beauty Boutique here

Images by Samantha Rigg-David of SRD  Photography and Design, view more images on the Keziah CONNECTIONS Pinterest page

You can now purchase IMAN cosmetics from their UK online store!