IMATS Los Angeles 2011 Part 1

This year I was given the opportunity to attend and cover IMATS Los Angeles 2011, which is actually in Pasadena, California. Every year I read blogs, and watch YouTube videos to see IMATS footage, so I was excited that for the first time I was able to attend the event myself.

What is IMATS?

IMATS stands for the International Make-Up Artist Trade Show. IMATS is open to the public and anyone who buys a ticket can attend. Some of the things available to IMATS attendees:

• Make-up companies unveil new products, and offer discounts on current products at their booths.
• Panel discussions
• Classes with professional make-up artist who work in beauty, television, theater, and movies.
• Student Competitions - This year the beauty/fantasy competitions theme was Tribal Beauty
• Celebrity make-up artist speakers - This year some of the speakers included Valente Frazier (artist to Tyra Banks, and Heidi Klum), Kandee Johnson (YouTube), Kevin James Bennett, David Hernandez (MUFE Artist, artist to Lady Gaga, Bijou Phillips, Tilda Swinton, etc), David Klasfeld (Creator/owner of Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics), and many more.

IMATS was a lot of fun, it is a great trade show. The vendors are amazing and to have them together under one roof is a little scary, one could go broke very easily. IMATS is well put together and professional, they do a wonderful job, everyone from vendors to security are nice and helpful. I was lucky and ran into the wonderful Stef Andrews and Tyna Werner creators of we heart this on Friday at the Royal & Langnickel event. We all were attending IMATS Friday Pro-Only Night which was open only to press and professional make-up artists. We ended up meeting Saturday at IMATS too. It was great not having to "do IMATS" alone, plus they are make-up fiends as well!

Enough chatter, onto the show!

Since I knew that Make Up For Ever would be the hardest booth to get to Saturday I decided to hit that booth on Friday Pro Night so that I could shop while it was empty. Waiting times for MUFE on Saturday & Sunday were between 1-3 hours!

See how easy it was shopping MUFE on Friday?

Next stop was Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics (OCC) where I got to meet David Klasfeld creator and owner of OCC. David is young, and was super nice, he knows his business and acknowledges the "power" of bloggers. He knew right away who my friend Stef was from seeing her badge, he knew her website and acknowledged how many people visit his website because of we heart this. I couldn't get over how down-to-earth he was.

OCC Cosmetic Glitter

OCC Lip Tar

OCC Loose Colour Concentrates

Napoleon Perdis was a sponsor this year at IMATS, they had a huge booth with products to purchase and artists doing mini makeovers. They had displays of their new Prismatic Eye Shadow Quads, Color Discs, Loose Eye Dusts, and Eye Pencils.

Once again, it was great seeing the booths on Friday, it was so easy to meet the artist and ask questions.

Another great stop at IMATS was to the Royal & Langnickel booth. I was on a brush kick and really wanted to see and purchase brushes. I attended a Royal & Langnickel event and was impressed with their presentation and concept on brushes. I was excited to hit their booth and see the other brushes in their line.

That is Miss Mexico on the left getting her makeup applied with Royal & Langnickel brushes.

This gorgeous Pink Brush Essentials Set comes with 13 brushes, in either a brush roll or zipper pouch. You can purchase the set with either Synthetic Hair, or Natural Hair. This set retails for $49.99.

This set is apart of Royal & Langnickel's SILK Green Line. This set comes with 12 brushes, has 100% Bamboo Handles, and comes in a cork case. This set is so cute, and great for any customers seeking Eco-friendly brushes.

MAC PRO was at IMATS again this year. Their booth was as busy was MUFE. I walked over there but thought it was way too crowded and not worth getting pushed and elbowed. I still snapped a few photos of the craziness at their booth. I noticed most of the people working the booths at IMATS were very nice, not stuck up, they made you feel comfortable asking questions, they explained their lines and what their brand was about. Even though they were also selling products I never felt pushed to buy something. They let you play, swatch, and take photos without expecting anything in return.

PART TWO IS HERE!