Unilever's Back To School Bash

I was recently invited to a "Back to School Bash" in NYC hosted by Unilever and PR firm Weber Shandwick. The party was a back-to-school fashion event for tween girls to promote Unilever's newest scent for Dove® gofresh(TM), Rebalance. I brought my daughter and my niece, who are both 11.

The company really went above and beyond to make the guests feel special and pampered. Servers circled the room with trays of delicious, finger foods like mini-hamburgers and tiny grilled cheese squares and fruity mixed drinks like pink lemonade and citrus punch. A fashion consultant introduced the girls to the newest trends in tween fashion, showing off racks of clothes and rows of shoes.

Parenting expert and author, Rosalind Wiseman gave back-to-school tips and signed free copies of her books Boys, Girls and Other Hazardous Materials and Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends and the New Realities of Girl World (the book that helped inspire the movie Mean Girls and personally helped me get through a tough situation with my daughter a few years ago).

Professional stylists did the girls' makeup and hair, before they had a fun photo shoot courtesy of Stardoll. Each guest went home with a copy of their best photograph in a picture frame decorated with stickers, jewels and pom-poms, a mini Caboodles makeup case, and free samples of gofresh Rebalance deodorant and body mist.

I have to say that the event was amazing... both of the girls had a great time.

The brand really made them feel special and grown-up and important. They couldn't stop gazing at their photographs - marveling at how pretty their hair and makeup was - and raving about how delicious everything tasted. On the ride home they both devoured the first two chapters of Wiseman's book and both mentioned that they can keep the mini deodorant sample in their lockers when they start middle school this September. 

Shortly after dropping my niece off at her house, I received a call from her mom thanking me again and again for bringing her, saying how she wouldn't shut up about what a great time she had.

The event was part of Unilever's "Don't Fret The Sweat" campaign, the mission of which is to help parents and children to "successfully navigate the tricky tween years". Unilever has aligned with community partners to provide parents with the tools they need to help build their tweens’ confidence during these critical years and help their children transition into confident and self-reliant teens.

Disclosure: There was no charge for this event. I was invited by a representative from Weber Shandwick. I was not compensated for this blog entry and all of the opinions stated in this blog entry are my own.