Beauty Tour_ MECCALAND _ Sydney, Australia

Welcome to Mecca Land, the great big beauty festival hosted by Australia's leading beauty retailer, Mecca. I was lucky enough to be invited to the launch party to experience the festival before 15,000 fans visited over the weekend. Time to head inside. What exactly is Mecca Land? A beauty lover's dream? An Instagrammer's paradise? In the words of Mecca's founder and CEO, Jo Horgan, it's the ultimate beauty junkies beauty festival. Inside, there were five different worlds with 40 brands to discover. It really was like a fairground or theme park with stalls, entertainment, guests, food, plenty of photo opportunities, even some rides. With 40 brands exhibiting, you could get up close and personal with products, shop up a storm and talk to industry experts, influencers and brand founders. Let's see who you can spot in the crowd. There were also several exclusives like a brand new shade of hourglass ambient lighting blush and lip gloss made just for Mecca Land and a custom palette station to build your own color combinations at By Terry. Plus some pre-launched products that will arrive in store soon. If you needed a break from the hustle and bustle, you could book in for a salon session or one of several facial treatments along the way. More than 300,000 samples were given out over the weekend, but for me, the highlight was the main stage. During masterclasses, panel discussions and makeup artist challenges, a star-studded list of beauty bosses from around the world shared their experiences and tips and tricks. We love Zoe Foster-Blake down under, but there was one guest in particular people couldn't wait to catch a glimpse of. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, the British model and self-confessed beauty lover and expert celebrity makeup artist, made their way to the main stage for a masterclass with bare minerals. The room was buzzing so I couldn't capture any audio, but Nikki's fresh-faced makeup tips include starting with nice hydrated skin, using a light hand with your under eye concealer, blending contour with quick pushing motions and highlighting along the sides of the nose for a perfect photo. Here's hoping Mecca Land will be back in 2020 to spread more beauty joy. This one's going to be hard to beat.