Every year I look forward to attending the International Makeup Artists Trade Show in Pasadena. This is an amazing opportunity for beauty enthusiasts and makeup artists to bond over contour, highlight and all things beauty related.
Other than the beauty sales, I love walking around and watching students from the makeup schools create monsters and show off their AMAZING skills. I have an obsession with these monsters, every year I try to take pictures of the creations. Mainly because I admire the skill set and when I first started out in the makeup business I wanted to focus on special effects makeup. So I truly love and appreciate the hard work and talent that these students bring to every show. Below are a few photos from the trade show.
Also—Do you people know about Sir John? Sir John is Beyonce’s makeup artist… Need I say more? On top of the shopping and creations, IMATS provides classes and seminars to members who want to learn more about the industry or about makeup tricks in general. I picked up a few things from Sir John that I will take with me and to all my clients in the future. I CAN’T WAIT!
Below is a picture of me and my cousin (and fellow makeup artist) Adrianne whom I attend IMATS with each year. For a product breakdown of my makeup, I've listed it below.
Product Breakdown:
Foundation: NARS All day Luminous Weightless Foundation in Syracuse
Concealer: NARS radiant creamy concealer in Ginger mixed with Cover FX cream concealer in N-Medium
Spot Concealer: MAC Studio Finish concealer in NC42
Setting Powder: Laura Mercier Translucent loose setting powder mixed with little Ben Nye Banana powder
Hourglass Ambient Lighting powder in Radiant Light
Contour: Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour palette in Medium to Tan, The Balm - Bahama Mama Bronzer
Blush: Milani Luminoso blush mixed with NYX Foreplay baked blush
Highlight: Anastasia Beverly Hills, Peach Nectar mixed with Becca Prosecco Pop
Eyeshadow: Urban Decay: Burnout, Buzz and Dust, MAC: Soft Brown, Brun and Samoa Silk
Liner: Tarte Tartist liquid eyeliner
Lashes: House of Lashes – Featherette
Mascara: Marc Jacobs Beauty Velvet Noir
Brows: Benefit Brows in #4, Colourpop brow pencil in Dope Taupe
Lips: Dose of Colors: a mix of Poise and Soft Touch with MAC Springbean lipgloss (Oldie but goodie)
Ok so onto the Haul. I bought a lot of refills for my kit so a lot of my purchases are for my kit—and as exciting as those are, I still had a handful of things that I am currently obsessed with.
LASHES:
Don’t let the small set of lashes in the photo fool you, I purchased maybe 20 pairs of lashes from House of Lashes, 15 pairs from Koko Lashes and another 10-15 from Frends Lashes. With as many weddings that I’ve been working on, these lashes will last me until July lol.
BRUSHES:
SMITH BRUSHES.. Ladies, can we get into formation real quick? Can WE?! I deem these brushes my 2017 pick for #newbae. I purchased the 230, 232, 235 & 253 brushes. And Oh My Goodness these brushes feel and deposit pigment like room temperature BUTTER. Don’t sleep on it pls.
Beauty Blender: I have 2 beauty blenders in my kit—and what’s odd is that I realized that I needed 2-3 more beauty blenders because eventually these beauty blenders lose their density and sometimes when you’re working with 2+ people on a tight timeline, you need more than 2 beauty blenders. Also, Beauty Blender came out with a blender cleanser solid PRO in 5.3 oz. This. Is. Everything. It’s an extra-large solid that will last me all year, because if I have 6 beauty blenders—I will need a cleanser 6x the original size (Thank you Beauty Blender—you really know your audience).
Silicone foundation blender: On social media people have been loving this silicone foundation blender—I haven’t used it yet, but I will let you all know how it works haha.
LIPSTICKS:
Jeffree Star: So there being a Jeffree Star booth with Beautylish was a surprise to me. And when I found out—I almost cried because Jeffree Star and Dose of Colors are my two favorite foundation formulas. This meant that all my liquid lipstick dreams would come true J I picked up: Leo, Deceased & Pussy Whipped.. EEEE!!!!
Dose of Colors: This booth was the first booth I stayed in line for and I replenished a lot of my colors, but the BEST nude on me, is Dose Poise. And I have maybe—3 of them? I purchased one more because I would DIE if they ever discontinued that color. DIE. And then I purchased Supernatural, Bellini and Undressed as new colors. As a side note, I purchased the Gold is the new Black highlighter and it’s beautiful for my skin tone! It’s now one of my personal favies
Z Palettes:
I purchased two z-palettes mainly for my bronzers and blushes—now I can organize more of my palettes and shadows.
Face Masks:
Now this was new—but I’ve never seen more sheet masks for sale at IMATS. I know that this is a new trend, but I am very happy that they were available. For my brides I like to put a hydrating or brightening sheet mask on their skin before I apply their makeup. #Clutchtastic
BROWS:
Chella Brows – I purchased 2 colors of the Chella brow pencils—their formula seems less waxy and pigmented enough where I can get that perfect gray shade to my brows.
INGLOT:
Inglot has (in my opinion) hands down the best liquid eyeliners in the game. So I replenished 2 of my liquid liners and I can rest assured that I will won’t be out of product by the end of the summer.
Moisturizer & Setting Spray:
2 staples I have in my makeup kit: Embryolisse Lait Crème and Cinema Secrets setting spray. My two favorite things that I cannot live without.
LIGHTING:
So now—THIS is why I came to IMATS. I needed a portable lighting system that was easy to carry, high quality and came with warm and cool lights. In walks GLAMCOR. The Glamcor lighting system provides you with both warm and cool LED lights to support all your lighting needs. I’ve used this in a few of my gigs—and Holy Hell has it changed the world I live in. Lighting is better, makeup application is better and my clients feel special and SLAYED when taking selfies. This purchase was definitely my most expensive, but also worth Every. Single. GATDAMN penny.
End Note:
I truly enjoy attending IMATS every year. I'm surrounded by my peers who love and admire all things beauty related. Every year I go, I fall deeper and deeper in love with the industry and cannot wait for the next 12 months to pass by so I can do it all over again.