In my nearly five year blogging career, I think that getting the opportunity to meet Tessa Virtue at the NIVEA Canada launch party has got to be the number one coolest thing I have ever done. I was star-struck, terrified and giddy all at the same time – my 35 year old self could barely handle what was happening! (I was a trainwreck, truly.) But let’s back up a little bit…

Shortly after the Olympics ended, NIVEA announced that their latest partnership (and first Canadian one at that) was going to be with Tessa Virtue. I freaked out. I had fallen so in love with Virtue and Moir during this Olympics that the thought of potentially meeting her was mindblowing. And since I live in Toronto, which is basically the center of all brand and product launches in Canada, I had a good chance of people invited to the event since I had also worked with the PR firm who handles NIVEA in Canada. In the end, I snagged myself an invitation and I was OVER THE FREAKING MOON.

I got to the event early (it was at Malaparte – 6th floor at the TIFF Lightbox in downtown Toronto), because I know how these beauty events go – no one shows up early as most people show up fashionably late. I knew my best shot at meeting Tessa was showing up right on time.

The photos with the good lighting were all taken by a professional photographer and before anyone was allowed into the event as she was busy doing interviews to promote NIVEA. However, around 6 pm we were let into the main event area and there was barely anyone there.

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Which is when she came up to me and the wonderful bloggers (Andy and Erica) I was standing with. I was floored – I didn’t think she’d be going around to people to chat with people one on one! Of course, my heart was racing and I felt ridiculous, but I told her that I was so nervous to meet her (hey, putting that out there is an icebreaker for me!) and that she had re-ignited my love for figure skating. I said I was sad that I had only just discovered her and Scott this past year and I wish I had been around for their whole journey over the years. I did say that my friend (hayyy Julie) and I were going to Stars On Ice and we were so excited to see them there. She seemed so happy to talk to us and asked me if I was still figure skating, at which point I laughed and said I was too old to be skating at this point (although that being said, I’ve now started looking into getting private lessons again). We chatted briefly about homeownership (thanks for saving me Andy – she pointed out that I had just bought a condo downtown when I started running out of things to say) – Tessa had bought a house in London but says she gets to spend so little time there (as they train in Montreal) that it feels like a “show house”.

I managed to ask her what lipstick she wore during Moulin Rouge (see that post here) and… that’s about all I can remember to be honest. We chatted for something like ten minutes and she was the sweetest person ever. She didn’t make us feel rushed, or that we were boring her, and she did her best to make sure all three of us were involved in the conversation.

Later on there was a sit down portion of the event where they discussed the partnership and how it came about (NIVEA had reached out to Tessa before the Olympics happened).

Tessa got up on stage and discussed a few things about the product – she loves the moisturizers because they’re not greasy and sticky, and she said that it’s Scott approved because she’s not sliding off of him during lifts and hand holds. She also mentioned fanfic, which had me dying – I was not expecting that at all! The context was that she’s sure there’s fanfic out there about the two of them (this was in relation to her skin and Scott comment). I’m fairly certain most of the audience was like “what on earth are you talking about?” but my eyes were like golfballs when I heard her say that because I know just how deep the #VirtueMoir fandom goes.

The brand eventually turned the microphone over to the audience and indicated they could ask Tessa whatever they wanted – be it NIVEA-based or otherwise (which I really appreciated). Most people asking question involving NIVEA, so I was the oddball out when I raised my hand. I had forgotten to ask her some questions while speaking to her personally, so I bit the bullet and raised my hand to ask her if she could do any skating jumps (I detest public speaking, but I wasn’t going to miss my last opportunity to ask her a question!). For those unaware, ice dancers are not allowed to perform jumps during their routines and I’ve always wondered if they keep up with any of the jumps that we’re all taught when we’re younger (when you start training, most people get pushed into singles skating which teaches you jumps and spins, ice dancing is generally secondary to jumps). She said that her and Scott can do beautiful synchronized axels, and she can do some doubles, but that when it came down to it, she just preferred twizzling and dancing instead of the jumps that came with singles or pairs skating.

So there we have it… my absolutely surreal experience meeting Tessa Virtue and I can’t thank NIVEA enough for it! Getting to meet someone who has rapidly become one of my favourite figure skaters of all time was a mindblowing experience and I couldn’t be happier!

NIVEA also sent us home with their latest round up of products! The NIVEA Care cream is the one that Tessa was talking about loving due to the non-greasy formula. My husband has been using the larger tub of the Care cream on his dry elbows which is impressive since usually he’s averse to creams with a scent (not that it’s strong, he just tends to avoid all scented moisturizing products). Tessa also indicated that the MicellAIR products are some of her favourites as well. They’re not pictured here, but the NIVEA Lip Butters are my absolute favourite product by the brand – I use them as my nightly lip balm and I’ve gone through about four pots over the years!

Want to pick up some NIVEA products to try out? For Canadians, check out well.ca or walmart.ca. For those in the US, check out ulta.com or walmart.com.

I was invited to the event and the products featured were given to me for consideration.