Friday, May 04, 2007

Inside InStyle on the Beach


The Inside InStyle event last weekend was one of those things that looks great on paper, and it even looked great in person, but actually experiencing it was quite an ordeal. It was just. So. Hot. Like a hot flash descending upon a frustrated woman in her 50's, Miami's unbearably steamy summer foisted its humid glory on this city's unforgiving population with a fierce slap. So billowing white cabana tents errected on the beach at Ocean Drive and 11th may have sounded fantastic, but, memo to the organizers: do it in the winter. Despite the heat, the 500 sweating ladies were actually quite cordial, waiting in long lines for custom made Havaiana flip-flops and oodles of haircare products from Redken.

The Redken tent was the torturous cabana of the day because while the generous folks at the salon-worthy shampoo company were giving out full-size bottles of products, event-goers had to endure a lengthy product consultation before exiting with the goods.

Imagine 300 hot and bothered women waiting while women discuss how "sometimes my hair is frizzy, but also sometime it's not, so...do you have a product for that kind of hair?" You get the pic. Firebeams were shooting from every pair of eyes. I almost used up this bucket of coconut-scented Secret deodorant.

You think they're trying to appeal to the ethnic market with these? The only saving grace of the day were these fine young men serving champagne in the bridal tent.

These girls are not smiling on the inside. That's because they're too busy sweating. The LAST thing I want to think about when living in a sauna is wearing a wedding dress.

3 comments:

Christina said...

I had friends in town the weekend of this event. It was their first visit to Miami. We were eating a very late lunch at one of Ocean Drive’s sidewalk cafes and kept seeing girls pass by with the In Style bags. Finally we inquired and got the scoop, but arrived at the tents too late. Aside from the misery involved, did you go home with plenty of useful loot? What I really want to know is can I redeem myself as my friends’ vacation planner by relaying to them that the goods weren’t really that good?

sara said...

Actually, the gift bags were packed with good stuff - lipgloss from Stila, Redken products, a wooden hanger, a nalgene-type water bottle and other little things. Everything except for the blazing sun was great.

Christina said...

Boo. I'm sad we missed it.