IMATS London 2011

Hello!

The word on everyone's lips this weekend has been IMATS, and what a weekend it has been! I was up at a thoroughly indecent hour on Saturday so I could get ready and make my way down to London town for what promised to be one of the best days of the year in the make up world. This post is full of photos - you have been warned!

I think I'm cursed when it comes to public transport! My train was delayed by half an hour and then my tube ticket didn't work, but I finally made it to Wood Green to meet Leanne and Laura and we headed up to Alexandra Palace where we came across Charlotte, Yinka and Becca.

When the doors opened we were eager to get in and start shopping. I was lucky enough to get a press pass this year so I was inside the exhibition pretty quickly. After spotting the gorgeous Sam & Nic Chapman aka Pixiwoo! I felt a little starstruck!

Once we were inside, we headed straight for Crown Brush before it got too overcrowded. I accidentally did a bit more damage than previously intended to my IMATS fund but I'm sure it'll be worth it! After we'd finished at Crown we had a good wander around the different exhibitors. I was amazed at some of the fantastic things we saw throughout the day, especially the amazing prosthetics companies.

Check out the amazing work being done on this model at Brushstroke.

I stood and watched at the amazing craftsmanship taking place at Cinema Makeup School.

The amazing prosthetic makeup display in the centre of the exhibition hall.

Inglot was crazily busy all day! Considering they're not widely available, and I heard many people saying they were better than MAC, I'm hardly surprised.

This was a brand that I was really excited to have a good look at. I've heard nothing but great things about them so I was eager to try their products out. I was swatching away and I'll show you what I bought in my haul post.

Inglot large round shadows - they really do have every colour imaginable!

Inglot pigments.

Inglot's stunning collection of false lashes.

Just look at Inglot's incredible collection of nail polishes! I didn't buy any because my collection is big enough as it is, and I'm incredibly indecisive. I would have been there all afternoon!

Another brand that I couldn't wait to check out was Illamasqua. Upon arriving we realised that they weren't selling their full range, which was a little disappointing, but they were selling some great items which I may have parted good money for! I'd also like to say a huge thank you to the staff there who were really lovely and helpful.

Everyone wanted to check out the discounts on Make Up For Ever so we had a look at PAM and from there, we mooched down to Guru Makeup Emporium to take advantage of their generous 35% discount. I'll be posting a separate haul post, otherwise you will be here reading for ages!

Leanne suggested we head over to Charles Fox so I had a good nosey there and picked up a few items.

As I said earlier, there really were some great things to see walking around the hall, as you can see here at the Academy of Freelance Makeup. I was incredibly impressed and I picked up their book, which I'll show you at a later date.

Speaking of impressive things, mid afternoon Leanne and I took a tea break and headed over to the Student Competition. This year there was a tribal theme, and there were some amazing entries. All of the models looked fantastic. 

We caught up with a couple of the models from the competition later on and I couldn't resist photographing them - they looked incredible!

This was the winning look by Loren Huckin from West Thames College! She's certainly a talented lady!

After the student competition, I had a quick glance at Paperself - they make false paper eyelashes. Not being a falsies aficionado, I gave them a miss but they had some really pretty designs.

We passed by Naked Cosmetics. Whilst their pigments looked amazing, I don't tend to use them often so I passed up the opportunity to part ways with my cash.

I popped by the Sleek stand to have a quick nosey but nothing really took my fancy. I did notice however that they have a new iDivine Primer Palette out which has 10 different coloured creamy primers in. I couldn't get close enough to get decent photos and it's not on the website, so keep an eye out if it's something that might appeal to you :)

Ben Nye products

Face Atelier

Other stands that I paid a visit to for browsing or purchasing purposes included Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics, NYX, Make Up Studio, Dermalogica, Eve Pearl, Royal & Langnickel, and many many more.

I was lucky enough to meet Koren, Pursebuzz, Sinead & Georgie! It was also incredibly lovely to see Leanne and Klaire again! Overall, IMATS was a fantastic experience, and I will definitely be going next year and I shall be making a weekend of it. Best get saving then ;)

Well done if you got to the end of this post, and if you'd like to see what I bought at IMATS, stay tuned as I'll be posting it in the next couple of days.

Did you go to IMATS this weekend? Did you have a good time and pick up some bargains?