Last week Lisa Klein, Senior Vice President, CEW and Nicole Cardillo, Vice President, Marketing & Events, CEW and I were at QVC for their show were at QVC last week for their show featuring many of the products from our Beauty Insider Awards event. The beauty of our partnership with QVC is that everyone benefits. It offers companies a platform to tell their story to millions of QVC viewers. And, the QVC audience loves this show. So do I. There’s nothing more exciting than to watch beauty products being bought at almost the speed of light.

This year 25 brands were featured during the one-hour program, including Bareminerals, Becca Cosmetics, Clarisonic, Dyson, Farmacy Beauty, Hey Honey, IT Cosmetics, Living Proof and Wander Beauty.

In July I'm going on a cruise with Lisa Klein, SVP CEW, and her husband, Howard Klein. I love to travel but I hate to pack. I don't travel light. And that is an understatement. I don't leave anything behind. But I’ve found a few beauty products that will at least lighten up my makeup bag. They also happen to be winners of our recent Beauty Awards….

• I really like the new color line, trèStiQue. They were chosen as the QVC Beauty Quest Winner and will appear on QVC soon. I'm packing the Color & Contour Blush Stick. I can use it on my lips and cheeks. And since I’ll have some down time, I might even do a little contouring.

• My colorist, Louis Licari, is irreplaceable, but when I'm away I’ll touch up my grey with another Beauty Award winner, Color Wow, which took home the Indie Award. It comes with a two-sided application brush for light or heavy applications, and has a mirror in case I want to touch up while sitting on the Lido deck.

• I'm hopeless at doing my hair. Fortunately, our cruise ship has a hair salon, which I plan to be frequenting. In between I’ll use Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Dry Shampoo, which will get me through at least a day or two (or more.) This product won in the Hair Care category.

To get some inspiration for your beauty bag, take a look at CEW’s Beauty Insider Awards Digital Magazine. The interactive magazine features videos, beauty trend articles, and clickable icons to allow readers to purchase the products from retailers.

Last night’s CEW Beauty Insider Awards Product Demo broke records: the most attendees (2,300), the most products (820). I felt like I was having an out-of-body experience. Or was it sensory overload? Whatever! I perked up when on my way home I found a bag of Sabatino Tartufo truffle chips and a cupcake from Tonnie’s Minis to snack on. And yes, I’m writing this blog post the day after the demo in a beauty fog. I do have more to share: some of my favorite products, but stay tuned, the photos are on their way. For now, here are some of the people who attended our big beauty party and what they ate.