Myself and Mr Candy visited IMATS London last weekend, January 30 & 31st over Saturday and Sunday. We made a weekend out of it (I got my lashes and hair done whilst I was down there – reviews coming up!) and it was rather nice.
The Venue was lovely, scenic but for someone not very used to London it was a tad tricky. We actually got off at the wrong tube station and got 2 buses to end up at the right place!
I didn’t really think of the venue as being too small or too big – I think the stands (some of them) were too small, I thought the place was fine in comparison to other trade shows I’ve been to in the past.
I didn’t arrive til about 3pm on the Saturday so I didn’t see the manic crowds that were reported about. I looked on the counters without much fuss but I can confirm that I would have been quite agitated by any huge queues and shoving – I’m beyond fighting other people in order to buy a little make up.
I thought the selection of brands present was fine. I was there to buy brands that I can’t easily get in the UK – like Eve Pearl and OCC. MUFE had a great 35% discount but I didn’t need anything from them. I didn’t need any brushes either so a few stands were out of action for me. I would have loved to have discovered a few more unusual brands.
Stock levels is another thing mentioned. A lot of brands ran out of things – the only thing I noticed personally was of course, the OCC Lip Tars. When I went to the counter on Saturday, there were about 5 options left (blue…green…..yellow….you get the idea). I asked if they were restocking on Sunday and the answer was No, they did not bring anything else from the US.
However I was told on Sunday the Lip Tars, bar one, were back on display. Does this mean they were back in stock too? Can’t be 100% but I am guessing there’s no point displaying something they can’t sell. I didn’t even look at the OCC counter again because I believed the colours were not being restocked…annoying.
There’s some interesting prosthetic stands for make up students. Not enough exciting prosthetics out there for us to see I think, in comparison to the US IMATS shows that have things from the top shows, etc. (We could have Richard Hillman’s decaying body?)
I didn’t make it to any of the talks – too busy. I think I missed some of the counters completely – everything was a whirrrr of activity. That and I spent too much on Eve Pearl within 10 minutes.
The prices…for me I didn’t find many bargains. The brushes may have been a good deal but the brands I bought from like Eve Pearl and Yaby were not discounted. Do I regret these purchases? Hmmm. Lets see. I paid £32 for (yet another) foundation and £65 on a Yaby Palette (possibly more as they take your card info then convert it to Canadian Dollars….hmmm. I will be seriously pissed if an amount over £70 appears on my statement).
I’ve been too tired to even open the shopping bag!
Ooh! The professionals!…
On the plus side Mr Candy was great and took the photos for me. Guess who his new best buddy is? Enkore! He was very very sweet and even recognised Mr Candy the next day and stopped him for a chat.
Here is Eve Pearl at work. I wasn’t actually going to buy her HD foundation (I seriously have EIGHT brand new, sealed foundations to try out) but then she came over suddenly and declared I was a “medium”….how could I not buy it when her highness had bestowed her attention on me!? (I also bought her eyeshadow palette and trio blusher).
So there you go. No more make up for a million years.
Overall –
The event is not a cheap one to attend. At £45 on the door, I would suggest that you have a good look on the site beforehand and plan your day(s) well so you get the best out of it – speakers, stalls, shopping. To get your money’s worth I would suggest splitting PLANNING! (which coincidentally, I did very little of, hence, I didn’t even get off at the right tube stop!).
For make up students I can imagine its worth the money just to see the speakers and also to go and talk to the pros.
For make up fans like me – there were to killer bargains in my opinion, but there some brands I’ve wanted to try for a while. But I wouldn’t go thinking I would be picking up mega bargains to take home.
Note there is a lack of Nail products – I don’t even care for nail products and I noticed that, so I have an idea coming up in a post tomorrow….
Overall, it was a nice way to spend the weekend and if you like make up, then its certainly interesting to look around.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
amazing shot of enkore. loved the post!!! thank you
pff, shame on occ!, big time!!!
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Yeah OCC didn’t restocked by the time we got to their stand on sunday only 4(?) colours were available. The good ones were all gone…i hope they know next year to stock up loads! Their stall was quite big but was empty
I met Enkore too and wished i saw the Eve Pearl stand
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i suppose even if they couldnt sell the lip tars people would be interested in what they looked and felt like..so at least they could try them..and then buy online.
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Yeah, Koren is a sweetheart: I e-mailed him once to ask about Temptu shades and he got back to me in 24 hrs.
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Hi Lucky
Yep totally friendly guy, very polite
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