Hey guys! Sorry for the lack of posts the past the two weeks! The past two weeks have been crazy with school and then Thanksgiving and then midterms. But now it’s reading week! I am hoping to create a lot of content this week 🙂 For today’s post I am sharing my experience going to IMATS Toronto!
IMATS stands for International Make-up Artist Trade Show. If you didn’t know, I am from Toronto so that’s why I went to that one. I have heard of other conventions like BeautyCon and Gen Beauty. Those events don’t come to Toronto, but when I heard about IMATS I thought it would be similar. Spoiler alert: I was wrong.
IMATS is for makeup artists. Beauty enthusiasts like myself can go, but it’s meant for working makeup artists. Many booths were selling SFX makeup and pigment palettes. The demonstrations were also meant for makeup artists – but more on that later.
I was surprised me was how small the event was. There were about about 15 to 20 vendors at the event. That sounds like a lot, but to put that into perceptive BeautyCon has over 200 vendors. There were a few brand names like Benefit, Makeup Forever, NARS and Beauty Blender. There were a few brush vendors – the only one I knew was Royal and Langnickel. There were also a bunch of indie brands as well. Most of the vendors had sales, ranging from 20-40% off retail price. There were no free samples or goodie bags.
I purchased four items. First I got the Benefit Precisely My Brow Eyebrow Pencil. You guys know I am a die-hard ABH Brow Wiz fan, but I have never tried any of the Benefit brow products before. So I decided to pick up the pencil since it was on sale. I purchased two brushes from the brand Stilazzi – the S203 and S302. Finally from Clionadh Cosmetics – a small Canadian Indie brand – I got one single shadow. I got the shade Sand Blast, and while it wasn’t cheap I have never seen a shadow like it before.
Now the speaker I saw was probably the best part of the whole event. I saw Kevin James Bennett speak. I didn’t even know was an award-winning makeup artist until after the event when I looked him up! He provided so much information. He talked about brushes – which ones to buy and to use. A big tip he had was to use synthetic brushes since they can be used wet and dry. I could have sat all day and listened to him!
So what are my overall thoughts on IMATS? While I loved seeing the demonstrations from makeup artists, I would not recommend going if you are an average beauty enthusiast. The deals and selection were not that great. If you want to learn from a professional it would be better to go to a masterclass instead of this event. I had fun and I was glad I went, but I don’t think I would go next year. Have you guys ever been to a makeup convention before? Let me know in the comments!
xoxo
Lea
Leave it to Lea 