IMATS London 2016 – The Lowdown!

Hi guys

Hope your all having a great weekend!

I have a stinking cold now and it doesn’t help that I was up at the absolute crack of dawn yesterday morning! Why? I hear you cry?

Because I had to get down to IMATS 2016 as early as humanly possible (ok…. ok so I was actually pretty late and my mate Vicky was left waiting in the cold for me but that’s another story involving a bad winged liner and an unruly strip lash) Anyway, I digress- now for the  lowdown on what was hot (or not) at this years show!

What’s IMATS?

The International Make Up Artists Trade show, IMATS is a 3 day event, which takes place in various major cities across the world including NYC, LA, Sydney and Toronto. June 2016 was London’s turn. Let me tell you, if you are make up junkie addict or lover IMATS is the place to go for all your make up needs.It’s all about the weird and the wonderful, the beautiful and the bizarre!  Whatever style of make up your into and whatever stage in your career your at, IMATS will cater for you. It is for everyone, from student to seasoned pro, and has everything, from Prosthetics to Mac Cosmetics- all under one roof. 

When & Where 

This year IMATS London was held 3-5 of June at the fabulous London Olympia National!

What can I do there?

So many fabulous brands turned up this year. Brands from many countries in the world came to show and sell their products. It really was a feast for the eyes. There were some great prosthetics displays, works of art! there was also some great fantasy body painting displays and of course competitions for professionals and students to enter. There were also some great educational demos, talks and seminars with some industry leaders and experts. Most importantly visitors are able to test, try and buy all sorts of different make up products often at discounted and trade prices. 

What was hot this year?

Mermaid hair, dark lipstick, brows!!! Oh and NYX – which had a queue going round half the floor! I also saw a huge queue for a little tiny stand called Beauty B which was in the back but is great because it sells american brands which are hard to get hold of here. 

What was not so hot?

The huge queues to get in to the building (not really where you want to be stuck at 9am in the morning) and then when you do finally get in the huge queues around all the popular stands and products. Some of which I couldn’t face and to be honest I had to walk away from several purchases because I didn’t want to queue. Next year i will certainly go on pro day or get there even earlier than I did this year to buy more.

What did I buy?

 I made some new discoveries today guys- I decided to focus on buying from new and up and coming brands. I got to sample today is my first day discovery was a great little small stand in the back called EyeKandy Cosmetics, and they do glitters for the eyes! These are cosmetic grade, super pigmented and shiny! You know I love my glitters so I had to try some and they were doing a great show deal- six glitters for £28 and a glitter glue and a brush. I was able to than these dazzling beauties for my kit? What do you all think? Aren’t they cute? I think some of these will be great for Asian and traditional bridal looks and also prom make up.  Have a look- how cute is this?

Secondly I was able to finally get my hands on and sample and try the Stylepro at the fabulous PAM London stand- a great device from Inventor Tom (Apprentice winner) designed for ease of make up brush cleaning. Now, I hate hate hate cleaning my make up brushes and as soon as this was demoed I was sold! It really is effortless cleaning and to clean and dry a very filthy foundation brush takes about 30 seconds! They were doing an IMATS deal. You get the Styler with a free Cleanser for £49.99.

I also got to meet with the founder of a new U.K. Brand called Delilah Cosmetics  who were found on the Guru Make up stand. The brand has only been around for about 24 months and is very luxury. The packaging is gorgeous and the products range is fairly small at the moment however they do seem to have something for every skin type. I was able to sample the Farewell Colour Corrector & The Time Frame Foundation and they were both felt very nice on the skin and I am very tempted to go back and get the colour corrector at a later date. At the moment the brand is carried in lots of high end spas and a few high end retailers online and of course the wonderful Guru Make Up Emporium. Delilah is also carried in Space NK online also.

Finally my last purchase of the day was from a brand I hadnt heard of before. Fellow blogger- the lovely Beautybreakswithvicky pointed out the stand to me at the show -Artist of Make Up. Another great affordable, British brand created by Make up artist and Youtuber, Zukreat Nazar I was drawn to this stand because it appears the make up is designed with ethnic skin tones in mind. The foundations and the highlighters and very buttery and very yellow based. Anyone who has extremely yellow or olive undertones would get on well with this brand- and although its not a huge range the colours they do have go from very fair to very deep. The foundation I purchased was the Flawless HD cream in no 55 (with reference it’s equivalent to NC43-44 but more yellow), and it’s a fairly heavy coverage, but also creamy and nourishing with Shea butter added to the formula in order to treat and repair the skin. It comes in 8g refill pans and at the show I paid just £13.50 although full price is still only £15. I’m really excited about this brand because I have so much trouble finding decent foundations and I am eager to see its wearability and how it photographs.You can find more out about this brand website.

Check out some pics of my day here:

Look at the prosthetics and fantasy body painting and makeup!

The main stage.

Heres me and my friend Vicky half way through the day- You can’t see it but we are heavily laden with bags at this point!!!

Fancy Going? Here are some Hints and Tips:

Remember it’s a ticketed event and tickets cost £45.00 and tend to go on sale a good 8 months before the show which always takes place in June/July time. There are usually cheaper early bird tickets available too! 

If you are a professional working make up Artist I would actually try getting a Pro card which means you can then go on the pro evening (which is the on the Friday evening) and is ALOT quieter. There is also the opportunity to sign up for further pro discounts with brands directly at the show so bring your proofs and credentials with you! Also try and sign up for seminars and workshops with leading industry experts which are held on the main stage. This year was Alex Box among other names – too good to miss!

If your not a pro then I would suggest getting there very early on the Saturday. I’m talking 9am sharp (with coffee and banana in hand, your gonna need sustenance). The queues get in are quite long, and there are lots of deals to be had but things sell out quickly  Also this year, the Sunday tickets were dropped to half price a week or so before the event so it’s worth waiting for that or maybe even adding on an extra day if you fancy it! You can check out all the information, sign up for the pro card and buy your tickets for next year on the website.

Until next time………

Mwah!xxx