I learned from former president of Hearst Magazines (that publishes global titles like Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Seventeen, etc.) Cathie Black’s book Basic Black: The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life) that it’s always nice to wear or use something from a brand when attending an event the said brand invites you to, which is all part of “dressing for the occasion.” It will help you leave a good impression on the people behind the brand and those who invited you. So when Burt’s Bees invited me to the opening of their first stand-alone brand store in the Philippines at Estancia Mall in Capitol Commons, Pasig last week, I used this as an excuse to use the super cute custom-made honeycomb-shaped box clutch the brand gave members of the press in another event last year.

Burt’s Bees Estancia store front. Photo courtesy of Burt’s Bees.

It was an intimate and casual affair, where the brand formally welcomed us to the store located at the third level of Estancia Mall, which allows Burt’s Bees fans, old and new, to fully experience the lifestyle and fresh take on skincare that it offers. It carries the entire local brand portfolio and all our favorite products—no need to hoard abroad!

Your Burt’s Bees favorites and the brand’s classics, plus its Baby line, welcome you upon entering the store. Photo courtesy of Burt’s Bees.

Since the event was in a mall and the clutch is tiny, I really had to edit the contents of the clutch to just the very bare essentials. For one, I had to do my makeup at home so I only had to bring items for retouch: eyeliner, lipstick, and Burt’s Bees lip balm (of course!). This was very challenging, but I survived the day with just the contents of my tiny clutch.

My custom-made honeycomb-shaped box clutch from Burt’s Bees 

Click a thumbnail to launch the gallery below and see what else I was able to put inside my Burt’s Bees clutch (complete with details and notes on some), including how I was able to fit all the contents there. Then, read on after the gallery for exciting things you can look forward to from the brand now that it finally opened a stand-alone store in Manila!

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To mark the opening of their first brand store, Burt’s Bees prepared a number of surprises for fans of the brand, whether you have been for long or have just recently jumped on the natural bandwagon:

• Burt’s Bees Estancia will be offering an exclusive loyalty card from July 1 to August 15, 2015. Loyalists, upon earning five bee stamps, will be treated like a queen with a nice tote bag filled with exciting Burt’s Bees goodies (I hope it’s as nice and definitely bigger than my clutch!).
• Burt’s Bees will hold a series of free workshops and counter events to spread the buzz on natural skincare and to get you started on the bee movement—using products with ingredients you can spell that promise nothing but the best for your skin. Stay tuned for event dates, which will be posted on their Facebook page.

Burt’s Bees products are also available at all Beauty Bar branches nationwide. Click here for my post about the new Beauty Bar look, which its Estancia Mall branch now has.

Product photos by Trixie Reyna

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