I am a month late with this post and almost didn't publish it for that reason, but rather than the 'been busy/ haven't had time' excuses I normally produce, I can be let off seeing as I had an eye op and had two weeks of complete eye rest so no phones, Internet or TV. Absolute torture if you ask me! Seeing as it has now healed well, I thought I'd better knuckle down and get this post written before having my other eye operated on..
Anyways, enough of eyes and back to the post. Today's post is a very exciting one for me as after much hesitation, it was my first time ever attending the International Makeup Artist Trade Show in London, or most commonly known as IMATS and it was even more exciting seeing as I had just qualified. For those of you that do not know much about IMATS, it is basically like the Ideal Home Exhibition except its all makeup, with many exhibitors offering discounted products, a chance to meet some well known artists and bloggers, key speakers and of course, a chance to swatch all the wonderful makeup!
Like myself, if you are fanatical about makeup then you know this is the place to be each year it takes place. Tickets cost approximately £40 for one day and this year it ran for a period of three days; I decided to attend Saturday 22nd of June at the National Grand Hall in Olympia.
Needless to say, it was going to be a long day. Up at 6am, out of the house by 7am, Starbucks in one hand and a brolly in the other (there was light rain, so polished straightened hair went out of the window!) with my little sister who kindly decided to accompany me seeing as though it was only the third day after my eye op and she didn't want me to travel alone, bless her! I must point out, she has no interest in makeup whatsoever nor any desire to spend her Saturday walking around countless makeup stands. As you can imagine, travelling with an eye patch on wasn't exactly the most ideal thing, I did feel as though I would take a drop at some point when walking down the stairs and on top of it, I had to insert eye drops in every two hours, so I suppose that's what you call dedication and passion for makeup!
First thoughts? Well, when we finally did get out of the what seemed like an hour queueing time, excitement kicked in at the realisation of actually being there, having put on a wrist band and being handed a string bag to load with goodies! Thought number two? It wasn't as big as what I imagined it to be but then again seeing as I hadn't been before, I didn't really know what to expect.
Once we actually got into the trade floor and arriving nice and early, I instantly familiarised myself with all the brands I knew of. After much ooiing and aahiingg, I rushed straight to the Crown Brush stand for fear of their lovely brushes being sold out, yet there was no chance of that happening as it was all nice and fully stocked with lots of lovely staff around to help. Of course, just before I started to grab a whole load of brushes, I was incredibly starstruck at seeing Karla Powell demonstrating her pop art look.
Once we actually got into the trade floor and arriving nice and early, I instantly familiarised myself with all the brands I knew of. After much ooiing and aahiingg, I rushed straight to the Crown Brush stand for fear of their lovely brushes being sold out, yet there was no chance of that happening as it was all nice and fully stocked with lots of lovely staff around to help. Of course, just before I started to grab a whole load of brushes, I was incredibly starstruck at seeing Karla Powell demonstrating her pop art look.
She was even more gorgeous in real life! What a lovely lady and an extremely talented one at that. Definitely the highlight of the day
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I have been closely following Artist Of Makeup Zukreat on her Instagram and Youtube Channel for the launch of her AOM range (see my interview with her here) and I was very eager to meet her and check out her products. What a lovely, genuine person and of course, her husband too. Again, very starstruck, (as was my sister!) and it was definitely another highlight of our day.
I don't think AOM Cosmetics anticipated just how busy they would be and sadly would have benefited from a larger booth. I was a little bit gutted, as expected, as many of their fantastic products sold out which meant that I had to order them. In the end, I opted for their six foundation palette which I am really looking forward to receiving. It was there that I also met the lovely Selina aka Miss Beauty Adikt as I had recognised her from her Youtube channel. She was just as lovely and down to earth as she appears on her makeup channel and blog. I would have loved to have met Wayne Goss too as I absolutely adore his work, but wasn't sure if he attended Saturday. Hopefully, next time though...
If I am honest, aside from Crown Brushes, the only other two stands that really stood out to me were Makeup Forever and Inglot. Why? Well, they both had discounts of some sort, were fully stocked, had products on the outside which we could swatch, we had to write down our orders on slips of paper that were given to us and then the staff, who were all INSIDE the whole square booth/ counter then processed our orders accordingly. Overall, both stands were very efficient and organised, and it showed
NARS on the other hand, was a bit of a disappointment to say the least. Firstly, their booth was very badly organised. They had a stand of all their permanent line, however, none of it was fully stocked which was a little frustrating as with a place like IMATS, people expect stock from their permanent line especially where a 60% discount was being offered. Also, I thought having a stand with their
most popular products such as the Orgasm Blush where people were repeatedly swatching them was a little misleading. You don't want to go to IMATS, swatch a product you like and then have to go to say John Lewis or Selfridges to buy it.
All the products that were being sold were all placed on one stand at the right of the booth so you can imagine just how crowded and badly organised it all was. Having
said that, though, I did manage to pick up a few bits and pieces from there.
said that, though, I did manage to pick up a few bits and pieces from there.
NYX again was a bit of a disappointment. Although, they were well stocked, not everything from their range was there and queuing time was up to an hour long. Of course, at a trade show like IMATS, you would expect shoppers to take photos just in general or for their blog/vlog/Youtube, only having being told by NYX staff that photos could only be taken if you were a blogger and had a business card of some sort! It was a bit of a shame especially since NYX cannot be purchased from an actual store here in the UK and is only available on line. Sadly, I didn't actually end up buying anything from NYX.
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By around midday, as you would expect, we were absolutely starving and broke and decided to make a move. We did manage to have a quick browse of everything and I also picked up a few Stargazer glitters and glue, the much hyped about Ben Nye Banana Powder, a small bottle of Makeup Brush Cleaner from Crown
and an Inglot customised palette.
If like myself, you will be attending the next IMATS for the first time or simply not so for the first time, here are a few simple do's and don'ts for the day.
DO:
- Do ensure you have plenty of cash as some exhibitors will not take payments via card, the queue for the cashpoint will be horrendous and can you imagine the horror if the cash machine decides to go out of order?!
- Do take some snacks and a bottle of water as you will be feeling peckish later on and the food prices in the hall will be sky high. Besides, who wants to waste time queueing up for food.
- Do take some handy wipes with you as you will be swatching loads and some of the exhibitors may not offer wipes.
DON'T:
- For the love of God, do not wear high heels and instead opt for your flats, you will be on your feet all day long and chances are, you will probably want to chop half your foot off rather than taking another step to walk. Why torture yourself.
- Do not wear any extra layers of clothes. It will be so hot and crowded in there, regardless of the weather outside, it will be uncomfortable.
- Do not bring any other valuables you will not be requiring. Nobody wants to be pick pocketed whilst swatching your favourite M AC lipstick. If possible, try and bring a bag that you can wear over yourself or place on your shoulder. It will definitely be much more comfortable.I didn't pick up as many products as I would have hoped but seeing as I was still recovering from my eye op, I didn't want to overdo it. I will however, definitely be attending again next year and hopefully meet lots more people and bloggers and of course pick up more goodies! All in all, we had a great day out and IMATS was a fantastic experience. Did you attend this year? Will you be attending next year? What did you buy?
xxx
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