My IMATS Toronto 2013 Experience

IMATS Toronto!

Makeup mischief, managed!

This past weekend, I was able to attend IMATS Toronto 2013 with two of my girl friends for the first time. I’ve heard about IMATS before mostly via YouTube or beauty blogs and ended up researching earlier on this year about the one taking place in Toronto. Before the show, I read previous experiences from a few bloggers to get an idea of the exhibitors and the discounts as well as how busy it can get. I also tried to make a list of things I wanted to get so that I stay on budget… which I managed to stick to! What a miracle.

From what I’ve read, a few people mentioned to get there early in order to avoid the crowd or a huge lineup. I heard that there was a lineup before the doors opened, but when we got there at around 10:30am, there was no lineup at all to check in and get our wristbands for the day.

MUFE Booth Makeup MagicAlmost done...

Full-body Makeup Work at the Make Up For Ever booth. Amazing!

The booth where I was definitely expecting a lineup was the Make Up For Ever booth and sure enough, there were a bunch of people standing to the side of the booth waiting for their names to be called in order to pay for their purchases. Thankfully, I read about this before going on Saturday and made sure I knew which products I wanted to get so that I wouldn’t have to wait as long or wait around to try the products out. Even still, it was about a 20 minute wait to get your products called out. So if you’re planning to attend in the future, be prepared for this! They had a few promo packages available and I think their IMATS discount was about 30% less compared to Sephora prices. It ended up being cheaper than the VIB 20% discount, so I’m glad I waited to purchase my items from the show. While I was waiting I also saw Maria [well… more like she saw me], which was awesome because we haven’t run into each other for a while. It’s always nice to see friends during events like these!

We also saw a lot of great prosthetic and character makeup work while walking around the show:

Futuristic GeishaMuscle ManThe Shining TwinsFlying Monkey

A futuristic geisha, muscle man, the twins from The Shining and the flying monkey from Oz.

We missed Eve Pearl‘s keynote earlier on that day since it took place before we arrived, but we ended up spending some time at her booth since my friend got her makeup done by Eve using a palette she was interested in purchasing. Eve was very nice and we learned a lot about her products and techniques when she was doing the demo.

Eve Pearl ProductsEve Pearl Demo

Eve Pearl Products 5-Time Emmy Award Winner and Celebrity Makeup Artist Eve Pearl working her magic!

We also ended up getting a few pairs of lashes from Velour. Mabel and Angela were there with an awesome team who helped us pick out which lashes to get and they also offered a complimentary lash fitting after purchase. My friends were looking for good brush sets and ended up getting theirs at Bdellium Tools [the ‘B’ is silent!]. I was tempted to check out the OPI/China Glaze/Essie polishes at the show, but managed to hold out since I did just buy a bunch of new shades recently. I also finally got to check out OCC Lip Tars and got my very first one! I did a pretty good job sticking to my list and only ended up buying one thing which wasn’t on it… it was only $8 and I was still doing well in terms of my budget so I went for it. Not bad at all.

Velour Mink LashesBdellium ToolsOCC Lip Tars

Velour Mink Lashes Bdellium Tools Brush Sets OCC Lip Tars

Overall, it was a good first experience at IMATS Toronto. I wish other brands such as NYX, Lime Crime and Sigma also had booths at the Toronto show, though. The discounts were pretty awesome, mostly ranging from 30%-50%. It’s definitely worth it to buy the early bird ticket, since it’s only $30 and goes up to $50 at the door once the pre-sale tickets sell out or ends. I definitely recommend taking a look at the exhibitor list before attending to get an idea of what will be available and also to make a list of what you want to get at the show. I completely forgot to check for the Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentré though… oops. Also, bring cash! The lineup for the ATM machine can get pretty long and just in case there’s a booth that doesn’t accept debit or credit, you’ll be prepared. I’ll be writing up a haul post soon to share what I got at the show.

Did you attend IMATS this year? What did you end up getting? If you have a blog entry or a video about your IMATS Toronto experience, let me know below!