[I'm back in the U.S., but I'm going to finish posting about my Lancome trip to Asia with Michelle Phan!]
Michelle and I left our hotel in Beijing at FIVE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING. That's never fun, especially when you're not a morning person. Plus, we were very sad to leave our new friends in Beijing. We headed to the airport and caught our Air China flight to Hong Kong. The drive from the airport to our hotel was amazing. You leave the airport and all of a sudden there's the harbor and all these high rise buildings from out of nowhere. I was so sleepy that I forgot to take pictures, but trust me that it was lovely.
Hong Kong was as busy and bustling as everyone promised it would be. "It's the New York of Asia," said David, the head of PR for Lancome Worldwide. "You will love it." Parts of the city definitely felt like New York, but it was different in ways I couldn't quite put my finger on. At nighttime, with all the neon signs, side streets and alley ways, it felt slightly science fiction-y, like the Ridley Scott movie "Blade Runner."
Our wonderful hosts for the week, Nancy and Joyce from the PR team in Hong Kong, met us at our hotel and welcomed us to the city. We freshened up and headed to a photo studio on the other side of town. Once there, Michelle did her own makeup (using some of the Lancome Ultra Lavande Spring collection. You can see the Violet Groove color on her nails in one of the pictures above.) The hairstylist, whose name was Bowie, teased her hair into a wild ponytail for the second photo while the web crew from the magazine interviewed her for an online video.
We had a very nice dinner with the local Lancome team at a restaurant overlooking the water, but we didn't linger. The next few days were going to be quite busy: a personal appearance at the Lancome boutique in the biggest mall in town, two press events and several photo shoots. So it was back to the hotel and straight to bed. I emailed my friends and loved ones back home and snuck a peek at Facebook. (Facebook!!! China blocks most international digital media, so we were on a Facebook/Twitter/YouTube/Blogger diet back in Beijing.)
Truth be told, it was good to take a break from all things digital! You read it here. Digital detox. The next big thing. : )
PHOTOS: Michelle strikes a pose, Air China on-air breakfast, Michelle's doodle, at the photo shoot, doing makeup with the web crew, Michelle's Lancome products, fake lashes and silver lids.
