2009 IMATS Toronto

IMATS was last weekend in downtown Toronto. Originally I wasn't sure I wanted to go, as I was certain I would be bored out of my mind. However seeing other bloggers buy the tickets made me more enthuasistic about it as at least we could still meet up and be bored together :P

I went Saturday, and met up with Rasilla first thing. That girl was dedicated and arrived there before it opened at 8.30am! My original plan was to get there at 8.30am too but I took forever to get up and get ready...so I got there almost at 9.30. Not to mention I couldn't find the location at first other wise I would've arrived 10 minutes earlier at 9.20am. We also met up with Babybubblz and her mom later, and Halifax as well. It was sooo much fun finally meeting and chatting about everything! :D

First thing I did at IMATS was to wait in line for Make Up For Ever's 40% off products. Thankfully Rasilla was kind enough to wait in line with me, and also hold my spot while I snagged some OCC. While we were waiting she was watching the Temptu demonstration:



(Yep the line for MUFE went all the way past the Temptu booth next to them.)

Here's product selections at Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics (OCC):

Nailpolish


Glitters


Pigments


Somehow in my brilliance I neglected to take a picture of the lip tars....even though those are probably the products that OCC are best known for.


Crown Brushes:



This was the most dangerous booth - the prices were so cheap and they sold so many things that it was hard not to stop everytime we walked by. They had all kinds of brushes, brush sets, brush rolls and belts, and the infamous 88 colour palettes. I definitely preferred buying from them over going through Coastal Scents (and paying their shipping prices!).


Yaby Cosmetics:

A Canadian brand based in Toronto, which seems to have gained a lot of popularity in the makeup industry.

Liquid foundations and correctors


Eyeshadow, blush and foundation palettes



Ben Nye products:




Back issues of Makeup Artist Magazine, the organizers:




There were a few body art models being painted around the show:



MUFE - The Butterfly


Royal Brush - The Amazonian Princess


Hers took the longest. I saw the artist start around 10am and he was still working at the time this picture was taken, around 2pm or so.


There were makeup classes too going on throughout the day. I missed most of them as I was too excited shopping and chatting with the others, but I did catch the one from MAC Senior Artist Melissa Gibson in the morning.



She used a lot of paint sticks (a pro product) on the face and a lot of blending to get the soft textures in this look:



Then she added some oomph with different coloured glitters. I found her technique of using glitters interesting. She said she wanted to go for a look where the glitters would be sitting on top of the skin so she had the model tip her head back while she sprinkled glitter off the brush onto the model's temples and cheekbones.



The end result:






There was also a student makeup competition with a gothic bride theme - these are the 2 contestants I really liked (that I managed to get pictures of).



The look on the right was the 1st prize winner:



I loved the creativity of the look on the left though, because the model had a speech bubble attached to her head:




Near the end of the day, I also caught the 2nd half of Youtube guru Enkore's presentation on Naked Cosmetics pigments. Pursebuzz was also onstage as his model:



They both look the same in real life as on camera, and have the same bubbly personalities! Koren had a few tips to share on using pigments too. He showed us how to make mineral mascara - by mixing black pigment with clear mascara, then applying with a lash fan brush.

I was a bit shy about approaching Elessa aka Pursebuzz but thankfully Halifax took care of that :D We each took pictures with her.



Elessa was super sweet and just as approachable in real life as on camera. She looked extremely busy at the show, but was still cheery and excited to talk to fans :)

Overall, the show was what I expected - smaller than the LA IMATS, but still some good stuff to be found. I didn't expect however for the products to sell out so quickly. I found that as the day went by more and more items were sold out and none of the companies were planning to bring new stock in for Sunday.

Lunch was also a big rip-off. There was only one counter selling food, which was cold salads and sandwiches. The selection was quite limited, and the prices jacked up. A basic caesar salad was $8 while a soggy wrap was $7. Even a bottle of Coke cost $3.50!

Anyway besides that setback IMATS was a lot of fun though. The shopping was good and the company was extremely fun, so I enjoyed myself thoroughly! :D

IMATS haul will be in my next post :)