How is it that it’s the final day of LMFF already? It just seems like last week that I received that fateful email that told me I was selected as one of L’Oreal Paris’ Official Bloggers for 2013 and I did that dance. Seems like yesterday that I was completely freaking out on the first day because I didn’t really know what I was doing. Where did the time go?!

Day 7 was pretty free and easy for me. In the afternoon, we were allowed backstage again and this time, we had the opportunity to do a proper interview with Rae Morris. During the week, she was so busy working that she wasn’t able to answer many of our questions. This time, she kindly allotted some of her precious free time to us and we bombarded her with questions. 🙂

This woman really is a mountain of knowledge. She was so excited to get our questions and happily answered all of them (and then some). I asked her questions about choosing the right bronzer shade for contouring, how to use concealer properly and more. As it was a group interview, there were lots of questions asked so I’ll do a separate write-up on the interview very soon.

Amanda (Style Hunter) getting tips on using concealer from Rae

Truth be told, I was pretty exhausted by the time day 7 came along and didn’t manage to take much runway shots for the final L’Oreal Paris Runway Show. The designers featured on the final L’Oreal Paris runway were Gorman, Jolet, Karen Walker, Kuwaii, Leonard St, Limedrop and Secret South.

The show was presented by Frankie and there were bits and pieces of what I think is hay strategically placed on the runway. The models had to walk around these plant-y bits, which made taking pictures with the phone (at least, from where I was sitting) very difficult. In the end, ALL of my photos were blur. The phone’s camera kept focusing on the hay! Yep, this is what happens when you try to take pictures with the phone instead of a proper camera. Grrr. No amount of editing could fix the blurriness hence the lack of the images from the final runway. To say I was disappointed was an understatement. I almost cried when I came back to the hotel and went through all of my images. Anyway, for pictures of the Frankie runway show, please visit their website.

See what I mean? Sigh.

This time, I stayed behind with the rest of the bloggers for drinks. Usually I’d rush back to the hotel to charge the phone to gear up for the next runway show, but this time, heck I thought I’d just have drinks and a good chat with them. By the time the next and final runway show (the Independent Runway) began, my phone’s battery just about drained off. For the first time, I just sat back, relax and enjoyed the show properly. Before, it was “snap a photo, look down at the phone, quickly post it on Instagram and look up again”, hence missing every other model who walked past us. This time, I could savour every model and piece of clothing. Ahhhh …

After the runway shows, there was an after-party of drinks and merriment at the Woolshed. It felt pretty damn awesome rocking up to the VIP table :P. I had a glass of pink bubbly and a good time with everyone else. The whole makeup artist team joined us as well; it was good to see them let their hair down and finally be able to relax after a very long week.

Just like that, LMFF is over. Oh what a week! 😀

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My LMFF Highlights

There were so many highlights of the week for me. Since it was my very first time at a fashion week, everything was new to me. It was such an experience and great exposure for me as a beauty blogger in the fashion world. I can’t even begin to tell you how high I felt all week.

In no particular order, here are some of my highlights:

• Meeting Megan Gale and having the opportunity to interview her. I was so nervous; thank God I didn’t throw up in her face or something. Such a gorgeous lady.
• Meeting Barbara Palvin and being able to interview her. Many a time, you see a lot of pictures of her on the Internet, newspapers and magazines. The makeup and clothing made her appear older and perhaps more intimidating than she really is. However, meeting her in person and getting the opportunity to have a chat with her was mighty refreshing because she’s young and more beautiful in person.

• Backstage access to fashion shows. Being able to see what goes on behind the scenes, how each runway look was created, the buzz in the room and so on are unforgettable highlights of the week for me.

• Front row seats at the runway shows. It still tickles and shocks me at the same time when the press called it “front row elite”. I was like, ooooh I was at the front row! Elite! ME! 😛 Oh, and according to Emma and Mel, I had my 2 seconds of fame when my mug appeared on the Channel Ten news on their coverage of the LMFF. Hah! 😛
• Watching Rae Morris doing the makeup for the models was like watching a craftswoman at work. Having the opportunity to pick her brains on makeup tips and tricks. Hearing her stories on how she started off as a makeup artist (she was originally a hairdresser), the people she met, how Kelly Rowland asked for her autograph (oh yeah, Kelly Rowland went to Dymocks, bought Rae’s book and asked Rae for her autograph), etc.

• Rae Morris telling me she likes my blog on Twitter. BIG highlight. When I caught up with her at the LMFF after-party, she introduced me to someone else AND she remembered my name! I almost melted right there and then. 😛
• Meeting people in the fashion industry and some of the fashion bloggers whom I follow online. My business cards went out like wildfire this week.
• Your positive response to my coverage of the LMFF. To be honest, I wasn’t sure what the response would be as 1) I’ve never covered fashion events before and 2) not everyone’s into fashion week. I’ve been receiving so many positive comments and encouragement from you that it humbles me. It really does. It’s such an honour to hear comments like “great LMFF reporter” or “you covered it so well!” from you. Okay I’m tearing up now so I’ll stop. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you.

That’s a wrap, folks! I really hope you’ve enjoyed my coverage on the L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival the past 7 days on the blog, Twitter, Facebook and/or Instagram. Thank you, L’Oreal Paris, for allowing me this wonderful opportunity to experience LMFF and cover the week for you. Words alone can’t express how much this experience means to me. Thank you, dear readers, for joining me on my adventure at fashion week.

I couldn’t have done it without you. 🙂