Saturday June 26 and Sunday June 27 at the Pasadena Convention Center.  Tickets available at the door.

The International Makeup Artist Trade Show (IMATS) is something I’d been wanting to do for awhile. I toyed with the idea of having a booth – but then figured I’d walk the floor since this was my first show and just get a lay of the land. WOW.  Overload. Tons of beauty junkies abounded from every industry, beauty and non-beauty industry alike.  My girlfriend and celebrity makeup artist Kenetia Lee got there right about when it opened @ 8:30 and told me it was crazee.  I arrived a couple of hours later and it was pretty much a madhouse, but in a good way.  Really exciting and the deals — man the deals were crazy.   It was also really cool to see makeup artistry at work, lots of fantasy and special events models working the show looking like this:

photo from www.imats.com

Here were some highlights for me:

Clairsonic Face Brush: $100 show special.  Yowza! They were giving away free facials and Lisa Marie was so sweet. She’s opening her own spa in Pasadena so stay tuned.

Makeup Brushes: Wow.  Brushes galore at every price point starting as low as $2.00. I bought an HD type brush for $16 from ADesign to try and recreate the look I got from a Sephora makeup application prior to the Miss USA pageant using the brush and Dior’s AirFlash Foundation. If you go tomorrow, see Shana and tell her Vanity Girl says “Hi.”

Foundation: Kind of obsessed right now with the idea of perfect skin.  I bought the Bio-Fond brand in Top-Chic ($10!) and already got a compliment on it when I went to my regular mani/pedi joint (Jackie’s Nails 323-656-1611) on Fairfax for my glowing skin. Was it the free Clairsonic mini-facial or the Bio-Fond Hmm.)  If you go tomorrow, Tom is great at finding the perfect match … tell him Vanity Girl says “Hi!”

Dinair AirBrushing: Airbrushing makeup looks so cool.  I really want to learn how to do this.

Volanic Ash: OMG. This body treatment out of Miami seriously made a diff when put on one hand.  I should have bought the show special at $59.  I already forgot the name and didn’t grab a card.  Boo for me.

MUA TV: All makeup artistry talk, all the time?  I talked with one of the producers about some possible cross promotion so stay tuned.

The colors, oh man, the colors: Everywhere.  And CHEAP.  Little pots and potions of glitter, foundations, blush, lipsticks at every price point. From tried and true brands like Makeup Forever, MAC, NYX and Urban Decay to brands only MUA’s would know … you could find any color under the sun.

Faux lashes: Everywhere.  From my favorite individual clusters to super dramatic colors and feathers etc.

QUICK TIPS:

1.  Comfy shoes. A must.  It’s not a huge show, but you will still want to be able to cruise it a couple of times.  You may want to wear closed toe shoes as it is crowded and is therefore a toe-stomping high risk area.

2.  Dress in Layers. Can get hot in there.

3.  Bring cash if you can. Most if not all people also take credit cards, but like the Swap Meet or the Medina in Morocco, cash is just easier in these situations.

4.  Pack those canvas Trader Joe’s bags. And put some of their nuts in your purse as a snack.  Maybe a little bottle of water.  The concession line looked pretty long to me.

5.  If you are in the industry, make sure to have LOTS of business cards.  WeHo Copy Center in West Hollywood 310-657-7210 can whip them out 250 for about $40 color, same day.

What about you gals?  What did you buy at IMATS?  Who are your favorite vendors and do you think we should have a booth next year?