IMATS NYC 2011 OVERVIEW!

IMATS NYC 2011 OVERVIEW!

As you all may know, I attended IMATS NYC 2011 on April 9th and of course I have to do a re-cap of the show!

VENUE:
The venue was just okay and suit the size of the show since after all....it was quite small. But I was bothered by the stairs we had to climb. The entrance was on the 1st floor with all the preparation area for the student competitors, some great FX displays and the Main and Mercer Stages for demonstrations. Then you had to march up 2 long flights of stairs to get to the exhibitors in all their (subdued) glory and the additional stages. There was also a temperamental elevator if you preferred.

The main floor for the exhibitors were split into three partitions with exhibitors distributed through-out. The main exhibitors were located in the two largest partitions but you may have missed the 3rd partition (from the entrance) because the line for INGLOT was blocking the doorway. Hahahaha! I must say that the restrooms were quite nice for such a setup.

The venue was small compared to The Makeup Show and the likes of the Jacob Javitts Center. But alas, this was the first year for IMATS in NYC and the exhibitor list was scanty so I guess they were playing it safe with the space they needed. I am sure next year will be much much larger and more impressive!

PARKING:
Ohhhh! I was LATE! Which is typical of me...but this was compounded by the parking situation. I had to drive in since I live on Long Island plus I had plans after. There was NO parking available. If you know NYC then you know parking is always a problem but geez! I spent 1 hour just trying to find a spot and then gave up and parked in a garage for $41!!! What a pain!

EXHIBITORS:
The exhibitor was disappointing to say the least. Crown Brush and Shadow Shields were no shows...they both dropped out apparently. There was no MAC or Make Up For Ever which was a downer but all-in-all it was a good show. There were lots of makeup brushes, eyelashes and artsist supplies! This was a great place to build a kit for makeup artists. For regular makeup enthusiasts there was INGLOT (the star of the show), Stila, Yaby, OCC, etc. Personally, I don't think there were many options for the regular cosmetics consumer.

By far the star of the show was INGLOT! The crowd was massive around that booth....with good reason. Inglot is a great brand with great products and they offered a 30% discount on all their products. To add to that, the sales reps. were super helpful and sweet even though I know they must have been overwhelmed! I didn't touch this booth until the end of the day when the crowds had left so I avoided the commotion.

As suspected, many of the smaller booths only accepted CASH which may have dampened some moods. But you can't say I didn't warn you. : )

Also, some of the exhibitors didn't offer ANY discounts and if they did it was minuscule! Hello, Graftobian I mean you! A measly 10% really? INGLOT offered 30% off which is higher than the usual 20% off for PROs. Stila also offered 20-30% off but this is lower than the PRO discount.

There were also some deals being offered such as bulk purchases. Miss Adoro lashes were $24 for 12 pairs. Blinc sold their mascaras and brow mousses for $12 each. Alcone had lashes for $10 (7 pairs) and $5 (3 pairs). Alcone had the market on artist supplies with bulk disposable items - sponge wedges/applicators/mascara wands/lip brushes/etc., Embryolisse products, Beauty Blender Sponges, cosmetic bags and so on.

I enjoyed seeing Eye Kandy with their shimmer and sparkles (yes Amy I bought glitter...LoL!). OCC Makeup was in the house with their attitudes and poor customer service - I went, I saw, Got Attitude and LEFT! Glamcor was also there with their new lighting setups and cases and even their brushes....but $40 for a stippling brush? I think not! Onwards!

There was also a great (cheap) brush booth, Royal & Langnickel, with super soft brushes of decent quality so Crown Brush was not missed.

MY HAUL: Brushes, Lashes and glitter! : )

HIGHLIGHTS:
The highlight of the show for me was meeting some great subscribers and fellow YouTubers/Bloggers! It was nice to see Koren (Enkore Makeup) and he was super sweet. I saw JulieG who was just gorgeous in person but a lot smaller than I expected. I also glimpsed Nikkie (NikkieTutorials) from behind - she was a super tall glamazon with ice blond hair. Didn't actually see Nikkie up close nor did I see Lauren (QueenOfBlending). Oh well, next time!

But onto the good stuff!

Hey to Amy (AmbientBlu) - she kept me in the loop with texts while I was driving in and gave me the scoop once I finally arrive. Girl you need to tell me what you got!

Shout out to Jenine (may be spelling that wrong) with her fierce color block makeup on..going to work! LOL! Girl excuse me for trying to peek into your shopping bag. I'm obsessed like that!

Andrea luv, who I met the day before at MAC but forgot to ask her name because I am un-mannerly, was on a shopping spree! Every booth I went to I saw you girl. I know you got a lot of stuff! How is that Candy-Yum-Yum lipstick working out?

Hey hey hey to Megan, La-Shawn (one of my best friends' names) and Lisa! You guys were all in a rush to get your makeup! Hahahahaa! But thanks for saying hi! it was nice to meet you all!

And we cannot forget my girl, Diva (Welcome2DivasWorld) and her great friends! Girl you are too crazy! Luv ya boo! Diva recorded my demo with Roque Cozzette (details coming up). I can't THANK YOU enough girl! She is fierce and down to earth! Loving her!

If you saw me let me know! Send me pics too if you have any - thefancyface@hotmail.com! YAY!

Tina, Camille, Erika (Mz. More) and Diva Lisa!

And who did I meet but Roque Cozzette! Oh my! The IT guy for airbrushing, brush designer and former MAC makeup artist. He also works closely with Kett Cosmetics and is by far the sweetest guy you will meet! So here's the story...I was walking around when I saw the Cozzette Inc. brush booth with beautiful purple handles and designs. I was intrigued! The brushes are all vegan and synthetic so I started playing around with them. Needless to say I fell in love! They are so soft and well made plus they had some unique shapes.

So I asked to purchase two of the brushes that I was about to die for and Roque comes up and flatters the heck out of me : ). And he asks me what I'm doing in about a hour because he needed a model for his makeup demo. His thanks to me would be the brushes I wanted! Of course I said I would do it! Even without the brushes! How often do you get asked to model for a well-known makeup artist? Hello!

So I prance onstage (I was missing MIA from the floor for about 2 hours - minor sacrifice) and got airbrushed and 'beat' by Roque Cozzette! My new lover (LOL) Diva filmed some on the demo so I will share that with you guys coming up. Thanks again girl! Roque made me a drag superstar and it was so much fun! I looked like a stiff corpse for the most part but ah well. The best part is...he gave me ALL his brushes! ALL of them!! OMG! I thought I would get the two I wanted but he gave me a full set! And let me tell you...these are luxury, great quality brush ($18-$40 a pop). That made my WHOLE DAY, NIGHT, WEEK, MONTH!

After Roque 'dragged' me out! : )

Tina and Roque Cozzette! 

(But what is going on with my cone t!ts? Geez!)

Tina, Roque Cozzette and Felisha (my cousin and my date)!

(But what is going on with my cone t!ts? Geez!)

THE STUDENT COMPETITION:

This was also a highlight for me because it showcased so much talent. The funny thing is I was thinking I could do most of what I saw. There was a lot of face-painting but I guess this is what makeup is about these days!

Winner

  

Winner

SPECIAL FX:

WOW! I will tell you right now that I was grossed out and amazed at the same time. I touched the Jake Gyllenhaal corpse and screamed for no reason! Silly girl!