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| Image http://www.imats.net |
Going
to I.M.A.T.S (that's the 'International Make Up Artist Trade Show') was
something I've wanted to do for quite some time. At the end of last month I finally got the
chance to do just that.
IMATS
is a cosmetic based exhibition that takes place in different countries
including the UK. Many make up brands and artists provide live demonstrations
(both on stage and off) of special effect, theatrical and general make up. You
are presented with a plethora of make up brands to purchase products or
supplies from.
You
can buy tickets to and find information on all IMATS events via their website
http://www.imats.net
I
highly recommend purchasing a PRO Card if you are able to as it provides you
with a swift, easy entry to the event (avoid the queues! Hurrah!) aswell as
multiple member benefits and discounts.
You
can apply for or purchase a PRO Card here http://www.makeupmag.com/new/procard
★ Reviews (with swatches, more information and photos of ALL products) I purchased will be posted following this entry! ★
London's
most recent IMATS event took place in the Olympia Exhibition centre.
My
friend and I travelled to London. Once at our hotel I swiftly changed out of my
travel clothes into my outfit for the day. My wonderful friend did my hair for me using my Lee Stafford curling wand.
Saturdays #IMATSOOTD
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Mon Petit Cheri top from H+M
Black Skirt by Dorothy Perkins
Socks from Claire's Accessories
Shoes by New Look
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After
a swift entrance we ventured through the main hall. Excitement took over my
entire being as I saw make up brands I never had access to before.
Make
up is my passion in life. To see so many wonderful cosmetic products on display
filled me with happiness.
My
friend and I decided to split up to give each other a chance to explore the
entire hall for ourselves so we could look at or for the types of products we
both enjoyed.
I
walked by make up brand after make up brand. Section after section of make up,
cosmetic tools, special effect materials combined into an array of colours.
I
had three specific brands in mind that I wanted to visit. Make Up For Ever,
INGLOT and NYX Cosmetics.
Living
in the UK means the products from these brands are only available online. I
don't generally like buying make up online because it doesn't enable me to see
the true colour of the product or see/feel its real texture. Both of which are
important factors to me when buying make up.
Imagine
my delight when the opportunity to swatch products from these brands finally became a
possibility!
I
first explored Inglot. I'd often heard about and seen products from Inglot on
blogs and through Youtube. Their Freedom system products dominated most of
their stand. An enormous spread of
eye shadows, lip and contour products met the eyes.
I
swatched until the back of my hands resembled an artists' palette. I picked a number of eye shadows, a blush and
some re-fillable palettes. I also bought a pan lip product but decided to
return it the next day. I did look for a stick lipstick to replace it with but unfortunately didn't find a shade that resembled the pan lip product so decided to get a refund instead.
Moving
on to Make Up Forever, I began looking through their vibrant collection of
eye shadows. Having already bought Inglot eye shadows I decided I didn't really
wish to purchase any more so my focus re-aligned to their base make up.
Many
times had I heard bloggers and youtubers gushing over Make Up For Ever's
collection of foundations so I knew I HAD to get one. After asking the friendly
make up sales assistants a few general questions and taking swatches I chose my
foundation. The Matt Velvet+ in shade 20.
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| Saturday's purchases! |
Following
our day at IMATS myself and my friend travelled back to our hotel to rest the
day away and show each other our purchases. We dined on some awful chinese
takeaway food (seriously, don't ever order from Bamboo Baboom chinese) that
made me extremely ill the entire night and next morning!
Sunday's #IMATSOOTD
Apologies for the failure of blurriness that is the first photo but it's unfortunately the only one I have of the full outfit!
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| Black fitted waist coat jacket by New Look Dress F+F for Tesco Tights (Nude) by Boots Socks and shoes at New Look |
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| Black fitted waist coat jacket by New Look Dress F+F for Tesco |
Sunday concluded our entire trip. We explored IMATS once again, this time the
hall was a little more quiet and easier to navigate. I took this opportunity to
join the queue for the NYX cosmetics section. It was still a considerable wait
(the reason for the queue system, I believe, is to prevent overcrowding. The
NYX section is quite small so I imagine many people within that small space
would violate some kind of health and safety law...) and I don't normally queue
up for very long in general. But I made an exception for NYX because I
reeeeeally wanted some more of their jumbo eye pencils. I looove those things.
I got two online years ago (this was back when I would order make up online now
and again) and ever since have desparately wanted more but never been able to
buy them since NYX aren't sold here.
Once
I reached the NYX stand I took my time to look through all of their make up. I
knew I wanted more jumbo eye pencils from this brand. I ADORE those pencils,
they are amaze. They have fantastic functionality too as you can use them for
multiple purposes.
Sneak peek at the pencils I bought!
I
picked up a handful of those pencils along with a sharpener. I've bought
sharpeners for these pencils in the past but had yet to find one that was truly
suitable to use with them. When I saw they made a special sharpener for these
pencils I jumped on it.
Alongside
the pencils I picked up a GORGEOUS soft matte cream lip product. I wish I had picked
this up in other shades but this one just stood out to me most.
As my NYX experience finalised itself (you know, through the spending of yet more
of my money...tee hee) I ventured into the land of Royal and Langnickel
brushes. They had a magnificent stand at the entrance of the IMATS exhibition
and since I passed it each time I entered and left the building I decided to
take a closer look.
Predominantly
Royal and Langnickel sell make up brushes at a very reasonable price. If you'd like to see more from them you can visit their website here http://www.royalbrush.com/beauty/consumer/index.php
I was pleasantly surprised by how
affordable most of their brushes were. Most you could purchase in a set with a
brush holder or roll for under £30! And each holder or roll set contained
practically every brush you'd ever need for make up application.
I
loved the look of their Pink Essentials line the most. Their duo pink and black tones stood out to me. I adore colourful or decorative brushes but unfortunately most brushes like that are usually not structured
to my taste. (Many for example have overly stiff synthetic, flat face or eye brushes which I
don't like very much. I prefer rounded or dome shaped face and eye brushes with more 'movement' to the
bristles. A softer feel to them if you will.) However these brushes seemed to resemble the softer style I liked.
Upon
seeing how cheap the brushes themselves were I was tempted to buy a full set
with a brush roll. However the roll
itself had a pink (faux) snakeskin type of appearance and I am definitely not a
fan of this kind of pattern/style. Instead I decided to purchase the brushes
alone. I picked up quite a few, they were so reasonably priced and I'm very
excited to use them!
I have a sneak peek of the brushes for you here. Look out for a full review of them coming very soon!
The
sales assistants were extremely honest with me and informed me their cheaper
brushes were lesser quality than their more expensive ones. But that they were
also still good brushes. I have heard the same about ELF brushes and in all my
honesty I can say I've never had a problem with ELF brushes. So it's definitely
all down to personal experience. If all else fails some of the smaller brushes
I purchased were just £1 so if they only last a certain amount of time it isn't
a huge loss. And my sleeves do contain a large amount of fixery should any of
them fall apart. ;)
My
next entry will explore my trip to the Natural History museum that we visited
after IMATS during our London trip. There's a ton of awesome photos so go visit
my next entry! (Coming soon!)
Please remember you can keep up with me on my twitter and instagram for frequent updates from me, sneak peek photos, ootds, fotds and more! Click the logos below!
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