The Damage! (Or Dani's IMATS 2012 Haul) + Tips For The IMATS Newbie

And here we have the somewhat anticipated haul post!

I... Spent a lot of money this year... Though in my defense, I needed to get a lot of brushes for the two weddings I'm doing this weekend (eek!). I have 5 bridesmaids to make up in one of the weddings, so I'm sure you can all understand the necessity for buying as much as I did. At first, I briefly considered buying some online (Bdellium was my number one choice); but in the end, I decided against it and here's why: 1) I want to be able to feel the brush prior to purchasing. I'm particular with certain brushes: i.e. blending brushes have to be tapered and not be too stiff, while blush brushes have to be flatter and more tapered. Only I can be the judge of that, since what's tapered to me may not be tapered enough for someone else and vice versa. 2) I had put off purchasing brushes for so long that by the time I was seriously considering purchasing online, they wouldn't have arrived to me on time. And let's not even talk about what would've happened if the brush was not to my liking... I had some serious anxiety over this, you guys! :p

Long (and unnecessary) story short, I decided to purchase brushes at IMATS and I'm so glad I did. They make me happy and so have my other purchases... Speaking of which, here they are:

From Royal & Langnickel: 20-pc Brush Roll ($20 CAD), 4 MASTER Pro Blush brushes, 2 Brush Essentials Crease brushes, 5 Pointed Lip brushes, 3 SILK Pro Crease brushes, 3 SILK Pro Taklon Brow brushes, and 1 SILK Pro Concealer brush.

From Crown Brush: 4 Studio Line Angle Liner brushes, 3 Syntho Series Deluxe Medium Foundation brushes, 4 Italian Badge Series Angle Blush brushes, 3 Luna Series BK02 Unique Pointed Dome brushes, 3 Luna Series BK15 Large Chisel Fluff brushes.

I told you guys, I needed a lot of brushes!

I wasn't expecting to get that many blending brushes, but when I saw the ones from Royal & Langnickel's Brush Essentials line, I knew I had to have it. I've worked on some women who have such small lid spaces that my regular blending brushes would literally be too big on them. So having these small ones will be perfect for those clients.

Also, the Badger Line from Crown Brush came recommended by Arianne (a.k.a. The Glitter Geek).  I really can't wait to try these brushes out at the weddings I'm doing this weekend!

The prices were amazing, as well. The cheapest brushes I got were around $2.50, which were the eye brushes. Meanwhile, the face brushes ranged anywhere from $7-$14 each. I'm so glad I waited to get my brushes at IMATS.

From Ben Nye: 1 Fashion Rouge Palette ($32 CAD), 1 Ben Nye MediaPRO Sheer Foundation Palette ($49 CAD), and 2 Contour Powder Rouge powders (which were given to us free from the Ben Nye booth).

I was really excited to purchase these products from Ben Nye. I've wanted a foundation palette for some time now and I'm so excited for this new addition to my kit. As for the Fashion Rouge Palette -- I wasn't originally going to purchase it, but I just fell in love with all the shades. I'll be reviewing both these products in the blog soon... Well, at least I hope it'll be soon. :p

From Cover FX: Clear Prep FX ($23.50 CAD).

This face primer for oily and acne-prone skin was also recommended by Arianne (she's a fountain of makeup knowledge, that one). I only have one skin primer at this point, which is Make Up For Ever's HD primer, but it's caused breakouts for some people and I wanted something specifically for oily skin. 

From Naimie's Beauty Centre: 1 hot pink large Z Palette ($15 CAD) and 1 small mixing palette ($5.50 CAD).

From Nigel's Beauty Supply: A large, clear plastic bag for my kit ($8 CAD) and 1 larger mixing palette ($5.50 CAD).

I knew I wanted another Z palette and I like hot pink, so I obviously had to pick this one up. As for the mixing palettes -- I bought the Naimie's palette before I decided to brave the line at Nigel's. At first I considered returning the smaller palette at Naimie's, but then I thought it would be perfect for mixing lip products (the larger palette will be used for mixing foundation or concealer).

The large bag was a disappointment, though. I wanted a medium sized bag with a strap so that I could bring a few products with me for touchups when I do on location photoshoots (like the engagement shoot I did last week). However, I foolishly just grabbed this one instead of checking to see if it had a strap. I can still use it, obviously, but it wasn't the bag that I wanted. =/

From Nigel's Beauty Supply: Lashes galore! (7 for $15 CAD or 15 for $20 CAD)

Nigel's had an awesome deal for lashes, so this is a no-brainer, right? I kinda wish I got another 15 pairs, though. Makeup artists can go through lashes so quickly, so stocking up is always a good idea.

From Nigel's Beauty Supply: OCC Lip Tars in Queen, NSFW, and Demure ($9 CAD).

I was so excited to see that Nigel's was selling OCC Lip Tars! I've wanted to get some for so long, but I've always been hesitant because I wanted to swatch them myself and feel the consistency and texture firsthand. I'm really happy with my shade choices, too; I can't wait to take these babies out for a test drive!

From Make Up For Ever: 5 HD Foundations (5 for $130 CAD), 2 Aqua Brows ($6 CAD), 2 Mat Bronze Bronzing Powders ($22 CAD), and 2 eyeshadows (I believe they were $12 CAD each).

(L-R: 115, 127, 128, 140, & 153)

I wasn't completely convinced that I should get 5 of the foundations, but I decided that it was such a good deal and I needed to avail of it. I decided to stick to the light-medium spectrum of the range, as I foresee myself working on those skin tones quite a lot. I figured I'll purchase these shades now and then purchase other shades as needed (this is also where the foundation palette comes in). 

Now, I know the 3 shades in the middle look pretty similar, but if you look at these two photos of MUFE HD Foundation swatches from Karla Sugar, you will see that they look very different. In fact, I was so surprised at how vastly different 127 and 128 are from each other and they're right beside each other on the colour spectrum. 

These 5 foundations join the veterans of my kit: 120, 155, and 177. I think with 8 MUFE foundations, plus my Ben Nye foundation palette, my kit's pretty much stacked in terms of base products. 

(L-R: Metallic Taupe 127 & Iridescent Brown Black 139)

I wasn't originally intending on getting any eyeshadows, but I was just drawn to these two shades and I kind of fell in love with them. I've become a bit of a neutral lover in the past few months; plus, these will fit in nicely with my bridal palette.

(L-R: 30 & 40)

Another craymazing (crazy + amazing. It's a thing... Not a new thing, but it's a thing) deal from Make Up For Ever -- these new Aqua Brows were on sale for 50% off at IMATS and sold for $6 each. The Aqua Brows are pretty much the rebranded version of the Waterproof Eyebrow Correctors; they have the same formula, but there are more colours available (I believe there are 2-3 more colours available). I decided to stick to the 2 darkest shades as I feel like the bulk of my clients will be Asian women, at least at first (hence, sticking to the darker shades), but I'm kicking myself in the butt for not getting all the other shades now. >_<

(L-R: 20 Honey & 30 Cinnamon)

As I was making my list for IMATS, I realized that I didn't have a bronzer in my kit (shock horror!), so I decided to pick up 2 of the MUFE Mat Bronze Bronzing powders. I chose the two medium shades and they're both lovely.

And now, a few tips for the IMATS newb...


1) Get to know the vendors - Some booths will be beauty supply stores, therefore you wouldn't know right away what they will be selling. Each IMATS vendor that has a website will be linked to on the exhibitor list page on the IMATS website. Click on each link to see what products they offer, this will help you with the next point.

2) Make a shopping list - Some booths will be crazy busy, so sometimes it's better to get in and then get out right away. The combination of me coming early and me having made a list prior to going to IMATS meant that I was at the MUFE booth for less than 10 minutes (MUFE has a system in place where they give you a piece of paper for you to write your "order" on and they simply grab it all for you while you wait by the cash register to give your payment). It may not sound like a big deal, but you will appreciate it when you walk by the MUFE booth later on and you see the long ass line up.

3) Make a game plan - Make sure to get the busiest booths out of the way first, that way you can spend the rest of your time browsing the other booths at a more leisurely pace. I made the mistake of not going to Nigel's Beauty Emporium after MUFE and I ended up waiting in line for more than 30 minutes. But this will only really work if you come early, so...

4) Come early - Seriously, showing up half an hour before the doors opened made a world of difference! Did I mention that it only took me 10 minutes to go to the MUFE booth, pay for my purchases, and move on? Coming early is a good thing, yo!

And that concludes my IMATS posts... Can you believe I considered condensing it all into ONE? It would've been the post that never ends (yes it goes on and on, my friend)!

Anything catch your eye, lovelies?

IMATS Vancouver 2012! (Or Dani's Second IMATS Experience)

Ahhh, it seems like only yesterday that I went to IMATS for the very first time... A year later and my life has gone in a new direction -- that of makeup artistry. I was definitely much more prepared this time around. My decision to go to last year's IMATS was a bit of a whim, so I didn't do any research; I kind of just... went. 

Anyway... This year, I decided to show up 30 minutes before the doors opened, which was at 8:30am. I was probably one of the first 20 people there and I only had to wait about 20 minutes before going in.

I may be mistaken, but I think there were less exhibitors this year than there was last year. Vancouver gets less exhibitors than all the other cities, in general, so to have even less this year than last is really disappointing. There were a total of 28 exhibitors present this year and only 22 of them were selling merchandise. Some booths also didn't have a lot of products available for purchase, which was such a let down. Naimie's Beauty Centre and CoverFX were the biggest disappointments; I think they must've had maybe 15 products at their table and that was it. I was really looking forward to purchasing the Matte FX powders from Cover FX, but they were only available in a kit and it only came in one shade. From a logistical standpoint, is it really feasible for them to come to Vancouver if they're not selling much of their products?

I'm sure there are many reasons why a lot of the brands that are available in Toronto, New York, and LA aren't made available in Vancouver -- perhaps there's not enough people attending IMATS in Vancouver and brands can't justify coming all the way here. But as a beauty blogger and a (baby) makeup artist, I still can't help being disappointed. Hopefully, as the years go by, IMATS Vancouver will grow to be as amazing as the shows in other cities.

Still, I had a great time and it was most definitely worth it for me to come again. I was able to get nearly all of the products I wanted to get to stock my kit, namely -- BRUSHES (and a lot of them!). My biggest concern was getting to the Make Up For Ever booth, as it is always so busy (unless you're one of the first, which I was!); I wasn't even able to get anything from MUFE last year because I was too impatient to wait in line for ages. But I made sure to rectify that this time around!

It's always lovely seeing other artists work, so I make sure to stop and stare appreciate the workmanship that goes into each look that's being created. That last photo was definitely my favourite... That gentleman from Blanche Macdonald actually had a little audience gathered around him, watching him work. It's just so editorial and high fashion -- I can easily see this model walking down the runway at a Dior show. I wish I could've watched him work for longer, but the line to Nigel's Beauty Emporium took me around a corner and I couldn't see him.

This year, I decided to take advantage of some of the talks that were going on. I chose to go to the Once Upon A Time Discussion Panel because I wanted to hear more about what it's like to work as a makeup artist in the film & tv industry, and the Camera-Ready Beauty Make-up session with Courtney Frey because I wanted to see the Ben Nye MediaPRO HD Sheer Foundation Palette at work. Unfortunately, because the two sessions overlapped, I missed the part that I  was looking forward to the most :p.

The Once Upon A Time Discussion was... interesting. I'm toying with the idea of getting into film & tv eventually, so I was really looking forward to hearing about the makeup artist's experiences with working on that show. There were 3 makeup artists and 2 actors in the panel, so we got to hear about makeup artistry from two different perspectives. That said, one of the actors kind of hijacked the panel... Don't get me wrong; as a performer, it was definitely valuable for me to hear what it's like for him to be in the makeup chair for hours at a time. BUT, I was really there to hear what the makeup artists had to say, and I think that because makeup artists are not usually in front of an audience (and speaking into a mic, at that), they were probably unaccustomed to the experience and didn't feel comfortable taking control of the situation.

I also wished that there was a question and answer section at the panel. There were things that I wanted the makeup artists to touch on... What is the collaborative relationship between makeup artists, actors, and production staff like? How far ahead do you get scripts in order to conceptualize makeup designs? How do you experiment with new technologies, textures, and formulas before using it on set? How do you build rapport with the talent on your chair? These were all things that I wanted to know, and it would've been amazing if I had the chance to ask that.

As for the Camera-Ready Beauty Make-up session, it was kind of difficult to see what Courtney was doing on the model at times because of the set up. But that can't really be helped as she was onstage. There were monitors on stage right and stage left, but the clarity of the image onscreen was not that great. What I really liked though, was that Dana Nye (son of Ben Nye) was on hand to speak more in depth about the various products Courtney was using. Since Courtney was doing makeup on her model, she understandably could not put too much of her focus on talking about the products; so it was really awesome to have Dana there as well. Plus, they gave a little package of 2 contour powders to the people who went to the session. Huzza (and all that jazz)!

*Fun Fact: Ben Nye was a makeup artist on The Sound of Music. <fangirling> How flippin' cool is that?!? </fangirling>

And there you have my second IMATS experience in a... What's the opposite of nutshell? :p

If you made it through this unnecessarily long and ramble-y post, then I commend you!

Stay tuned for my haul post!

Have you ever been to IMATS?

My IMATS Haul!

If you saw my last post about IMATS, you would've noticed something completely lacking... What would that be? Why, my IMATS haul, of course!

I spent more than I intended to; but really, who can help themselves at IMATS? Certainly not me...

Large Z Palettes in Zebra & Fabulous Pink

Royal & Langnickel Kabuki & Baby Dome Brushes

Ben Nye Powder Rouge Refills in Golden Amber & Natural Blush

NYX Eyeshadows in Dune, Tropical, Root Beer (which I managed to completely MANGLE 
while de-potting last night. FML) & Jazzy Pink

NYX Rouge Cream Blush in Natural

NYX 10 Color Eyeshadow Palette in Velvet Rope

NYX Matte Nail Polish in Orange

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk

NYX Auto Eyebrow Pencil in Black

NYX High Definition Eyeshadow Base

NYX Studio Liquid Liner in Extreme Plum Purple

NYX Matte Lipstick in Angel

So there you have it, my very first IMATS Haul! I saw some pretty awesome train cases as well & was sorely tempted to buy one but then I remembered, I'm not a makeup artist. At least not yet! I actually plan on going to school for make up in January (unless other things come up). I mean, as my father says, "you might as well put your obsession with makeup to good use!" Haha! 

I've actually wanted to become a makeup artist for some time now and family members were even telling me that I should study to become one way before I considered it as an option. So hopefully, that'll be my career while I continue to pursue my dream of performing =).

Anyway, I can't wait to dig into these babies! But alas, I must wait til I can photograph them individually before I can even think about touching them. Ahh, the life of a beauty blogger...

Have you been to an IMATS yet?

IMATS Vancouver: My Very First IMATS Experience! (Warning: Photo Heavy)

So when I first heard about IMATS, it had already passed. I vowed then and there to make the next one... And I almost didn't. You see, I was supposed to go with my best friend but she had forgotten and booked a vacation (I asked her months in advance :p) so she was unable to go. I decided I wasn't going to go then, seeing as I really need to save up for a future trip to London. However, the day before I decided I wanted to go after all and was scrambling around looking for someone to come with. I wasn't able to find an IMATS buddy, so I decided to go alone and am I glad I did!

All in all, I had such a blast! I was there pretty early so I was able to miss part of the rush, which I'm so glad for because it was pretty packed by around 10:30. There were demo's going on everywhere and it was so awesome seeing professional makeup artists transform beautiful women into hot pink aliens or floral-skeletal-things.

For any make-up artist/junkie, IMATS was pretty much heaven. Glorious row upon glorious row of makeup products, all at discounted prices. I think the only thing that would've made my experience better was if:
1. The line to Make Up For Ever wasn't so damn long the whole time I was there! Same goes to Eve Pearl's booth.
2. CoverFX had more products on sale.
3. The Ben Nye booth actually sold their products. There were so many uh-may-zing eyeshadows that I would've loved to purchase!
4. In general, there were more brands present. Toronto has Embryolisse, FACE Atelier, M.A.C., Nars, OCC, & Stila. The Los Angeles exhibitor list is probably 3 times as long as the Vancouver one. I mean, I totally get that Vancouver isn't exactly a huge metropolitan hub, but we aren't called Hollywood North for nothing! Give us some more brands, IMATS! *hopeful face*

Anyway, lots of fun was had. And can I just say how awesome NYX's set up was at IMATS? It had four sides, with pretty much the same product present on opposite sides. They had 2 SA's manning each side with multiple SA's in the middle stocking the display or helping with cash. Speaking of cash, they had 2 registers and 2 lines going so the line moved quicker than you expected. Everybody at the NYX booth was super friendly, too! If there was any brand that thoroughly impressed me at IMATS, it was NYX.

So after I was done at IMATS, I decided to enjoy the beautiful Vancouver view since it was quite a beautiful day. Here's some photos from around the Convention Centre...

Have you been to an IMATS before?