** This post was written by Fiona. She no longer blogs for Swatch And Learn. However, Mary still continues to blog and will be happy to reply to your comment. **

For those who may not know, IMATS is one big gathering of professionals, brands and beauty addicts – all in the name of makeup! Could you imagine that?!

Six lucky cities around the world get the chance to host the International Make-Up Artist Trade Show every year. And, of course, there wasn’t a chance in the makeup world that Mary and I would miss it. (I think we started planning in July.)

IMATS is the first trade show specifically designed for make-up artists, but you don’t have to be a professional to attend. You just need to love makeup!

There are many vendors there that provided great discounts on their products. We purchased quite a bit, and that offset the admission fee. But even if we didn’t buy so much, it’s totally worth going because of the seminars available. Plus, I was especially inspired by the looks created for the Student Competition. Stunning!

Take a look at some highlights:

NYX Cosmetics Booth

We went a little crazy here because of the selection! And the price – prices started at $2, and the most “expensive” items I got were $5. Imagine 4 gigantic walls filled with products all around.  (This corner only shows about 1/3 of a single wall.) We were in heavennnn.

Student Competition Winner

Wow. Check out this winning look that took home first place in the Student Competition. So stunning and beautiful!

Koren of EnKore Makeup

Here is Koren of EnKore Makeup giving a seminar on make-up application. The most memorable quote ever: “Who caked it on? Who caked it on? YOU did!” He was talking about applying foundation naturally. Some of his great tips include:

1. Apply moisturizer first & move onto the eye next, allowing your skin to absorb the hydration before putting on face makeup.
2. Find your eye crease by rolling a brush from your temple down. Wherever the brush dips in is where your crease is!
3. Apply all the colors first and blend your eye at the very end. This saves time because you’re not blending after each step.
4. If you put on too much blush or foundation, wet a sponge and wiggle it on your skin to take away some of the product.
5. Use short & light strokes when using a foundation brush to apply product to avoid streak marks.
6. Blush should go on the apple of your cheek and blended out where your highlighter & bronzer meet.
7. After you put on your face makeup, generously apply setting powder & leave it on for 5 minutes to set. Then use a large face brush to gently brush off excess.
8. Don’t ever pump your mascara as it injects air into the tube. Also, pull out the mascara until you just see the fibers and bend the wand down to create an L shape; this makes applying mascara on yourself easier. Bend the wand upwards when putting it back into the tube.
9. Clean shadows & powders off your eye lashes using a lash comb.

Mary’s Kabuki Decision

Here is Mary’s hand holding a small kabuki brush. She went back and forth a few times deciding whether to purchase it. (She didn’t.)

Fiona’s Haul

This is my haul. I kind of regret not getting more. Sigh. (I think it’s just the shopping addict in me talking though.) Mary’s haul includes brushes, eye palettes, eye liners and loose pigments.

We can’t wait for the next IMATS…the one in Los Angeles perhaps? One can only dream! We each got quite a few things (“It’s for the blog”), and I think we’re set for a while. We can’t wait to try what we got and give you our reviews. Stay tuned. 🙂