So Belated | NYC IMATS 2014 Haul

 Your eyes do not deceive you! There is actually a new post up on my blog. Never thought you'd see the day, did you? I'm back. I've missed this- I've missed you guys! Hopefully, you've missed me and all my roundabout ramblings :) That's all I'm going to say about my return because I've discovered that the longer my "I'm back!" shpeals are, the less likely I am to actually have another post up that week. Alright, IMATS! I figured I'd start with this post because who doesn't love a haul? Regardless of the fact that it's about a month and a half over due... A haul is a haul, amiright? I picked up some things this time around that aren't usual to an standard IMATS haul because I've already got so much that it didn't really seem like I needed anything else (but obviously, I did ;) ) So here's what I got:

• Sigma Brush Cleansing Glove :: This was SUCH a spur of the moment purchase. I've seen this all over the beauty community and probably like you're doing now, I just laughed. Who needs a giant oven mitt to wash their brushes?! UHM, ME, it turns out. I got it in blue (of course) and it's seriously become such a life saver. Seriously, I spend less of my life cleaning brushes now because it does such a brilliant job of thoroughly and quickly, cleaning all my brushes. No regrets here. I'll be writing a review on it soon that'll make you regret laughing!
• Kryolan Aquacolor Dayglow Palette :: Ah, UV makeup. My obsession of the year that probably spurred from my upcoming trip to Vegas and that one episode of Teen Wolf where everyone is at party and body painted with this stuff. I still haven't had a chance to properly play around with it because I don't yet have a backlight to make the magical effects work, but soon I will! I couldn't believe they had the palette of 6 at IMATS for the amount it would cost to buy the 3 colors I had wanted. Sure, I may not get the most use out of these, but they will be a cherished part of my collection, for sure!
• Sigma Brushes (E50, E39, F05, x2 E25, x2 E05) :: Sigma were handing out these shopping bags all day that were full of samples (the best being the brush samples!) My mom and sister managed to snag a bunch even though we didn't wait on that long line (my friend waited her whole time at IMATS there!!) Seriously, I don't even mind the shorter handles, I feel like I've gotten two amazing full size brushes with the small E25 blending and E05 liner brushes. The E25 is AMAZING and so incredibly soft. I'm going to write a more in-depth review on the other brushes I got because I feel like since I've been able to use them I can ramble on forever in this post, so stay tuned for that!
• Lit Cosmetics Glitters in Champagne Wishes, Wonder Woman, and Goober Grape :: Believe it or not, I actually wasn't going to stop by the Lit booth this time around, but, as my luck would have it, that's where Andrea from From Inside My Closet and Coco from The Beauty Milk were when I finally showed up to the show and that's where I met up with them. Their hands (especially Coco's) was covered in glitter and my little mermaid heart just could not resist! I love the colors I got this time, and again, a more in depth review is coming on my whole collection of Lit glitters! Prepare yourselves!
• Sugarpill Elektrocute Pigment in Supercharged :: I have been obsessed with Sugarpill without every actually having purchased any products from them. The colors and pigmentation and just creativity behind some of the products is enough to make you so proud to find these in your collection. I picked up an Elektrocute pigment on a whim. I was originally going to get the Lumi pigment, but alas, it was sold out. So, having just one product from this brand didn't seem enough to walk away with so I charged up my current obsession with neons and picked up this bright and glittery beauty. Still haven't worked out the kinks (or touched it, really) but it's a pigment unlike I've ever seen before. Bright colors, amazing pay off, and glitter?! I was quite happy with that purchase ;)
• Sugarpill Pressed Pigment in Tako :: This is the one eyeshadow I have been dying to get my hands on for ages. It's the most pigmented, most matte, and truest white that I ever did see. I've been pulling it out non-stop for highlighting the brow bone and the inner corners of my eyes. It's brilliant and deserves some sort of makeup award for all the amazingness that it is. It's also quite fitting that it's named 'tako' which is my most beloved food to eat, LOL!
• Eldora Lashes :: Last but not least, lashes! I was going to originally stop by Ardelle and pick up some lashes for "you never know" occasions but I was contacted by Eldora to receive a goody bag full of their lashes! They were generous enough to give me four pairs of a variety of lashes that I can't wait to play around with for makeup looks I want to do for the blog! There's one pair that looks like little daddy long legs feet are attached to the band, haha, which freak me out and make them so cool all at the same time!

So there you (finally) have it! My IMATS haul that seems almost ancient! It was a really great time and I was so happy to get to see Andrea again and meet Coco! I can't wait to see these girls again (well, I saw Andrea at Beauty Con, haha ;) ) If there's anything you'd like to see a more in-depth review on lickety split, let me know and I'll get on it. Hopefully, this shan't be the last you see of me again and I won't be taking another month long hiatus. I forgot about how much fun I have blogging! I'll see you all soon!

Would you guys try a brush cleansing glove shaped after an oven mitt? Do you think you'd be able to resist the amazingness of glitter and UV makeup? Haha, let me know!

My (Surprisingly Small) IMATS Wishlist

Hallo, everyone! You're seeing my face less and less on this lovely neck of the web, aren't you? I blame school. I blame sheer laziness after coming home from school and then work. I also blame this mental weather. When the sky looks sad, I become sad. BUT there's always a silver lining and that is that in less than two weeks time I'll be on my way to IMATS in NYC (and then Jamaica *self high-five*)! This'll be my third year going and it's so fun to see how this show is growing in my lovely city. This year super amazing brands like Make Up For Ever, Lime Crime, and even SugarPill Cosmetics are going to be there! It's starting to get so good that the want for LA IMATS is diminishing. Usually I go cuckoo bananas planning a wish list but this year it's on the "smaller" side, for me at least. It's a mix of things I need, like a nice contour blush, a pigmented white shadow, and some new brushes. A lipstick that I don't really need but it's a gorgeous color and c'mon? There's a super holographic unicorn on the casing! Then there's always the glitter and duo chrome shininess (can't seem to pull away from the glitter, gotsa have it!) and the most wacky thing - UV make up, which isn't so wacky because it does happen to be on my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days! I'd only be obliging my own wishes!

Make Up For Ever Glitters // NYX Powder Blush in Taupe // Lime Crime Opaque Lipstick in Geradium // Sugarpill Cosmetics Loose Eyeshadow in Lumi // Sugarpill Cosmetics Pressed Eyeshadow in Tako // Sigma Beauty Brushes // Kryolan Aqua Color UV-Dayglow in Green, Blue, and Pink

So I'm really excited for the day of the event! I'm going with my mama, her best friend, and her daughter! I'm also gonna get to see my friend Andrea from FromInsideMyCloset and meet Coco from TheBeautyMilk, who's also going! It's all very exciting especially when I get the chance to hang out with fellow #bbloggers! I think this time around I'll be doing more ogling and watching than shopping. I know, I know, crazy right? I've been very good with my money as of late when it comes to spending it on makeup and randomness because I'm trying to save up for a gift for my mama and then, of course, my trip to Vegas ;) Anyhway, I've digressed! Are any of you going to IMATS NYC? What's at the top of your wish list? With so many exciting brands to see this year it's going to be hard to choose which line to get on first!

Haul | #IMATSNYC

As many of you lovely readers know, last weekend I went to this magical event called IMATS. I talk about my experience in this post right here so if you want to see how I liked it (LOVED it) and some snaps from the event itself. Today's post is all about my haul and I have to say it's a pretty impressive and exciting haul; my best one yet! For some reason there was so much more to find at this year's IMATS or maybe I was just more open to trying new brands because I came away with a hefty haul (hefty, hefty, hefty!) With not much else to say, here's what I got from IMATS!

• INGLOT | I got a two-pan eye shadow palette and two eyeshadows to put in it. The coral/orange shade is 407 and the deep plum/purple is 446. I thought these colors would look really nice together in an eye look for a summer night and if not, they're totally gorgeous on their own!
• Hakuhodo | I couldn't resist leaving this booth without something. These are the softest brushes that I've ever touched and I'm really happy my mom was generous enough buy me a blush brush (I don't have any, gasp*) and one from Hakuhodo no less! I still don't have the cajones to use it. It's too awesome!
• Morphe | Funnily enough I didn't get any brushes at Morphe, although I should have because I heard they were seriously cheap. No, I ended up getting make up removing wipes that smell like apricots. Boy, oh boy, they really do smell like apricots! They'll be fun "summer" wipes, haha!
• Lit Cosmetics | I'm going to curse right now. I lost my shit at this booth. All the glitters were just so overwhelmingly beautiful! I was pretty sure I was only going to get one glitter at this booth but no. I walked away with a Lit Kit (came with two brushes, a huge fan, a duster, and liquid glitter base) and SIX, yes, SIX glitters! I would have walked away with more but I need something to look forward to buying next year, haha! The colors I ended up getting were Margarita, Nightlife, California Soul, Peacock, Cowgirl, and Soul Sister. You can see the colors more clearly in my video below!
• Jesse's Girl Cosmetics | I really wanted to get nail polishes at this booth to stock my personal collection with colors I didn't already have but I felt guilty after getting a Hakuhodo brush and then SIX glitters. So I ended up getting 3 nail polishes instead of my intended 6. The colors are Mermaids Tale, Oh Em Gee, and Cupcakes & Castles.
• Hawaiin Moon Aloe | I left this product out of my video because I rambled on and on about it in a way that was un-editable. Basically this is a cream that is 100% aloe that's also paraben free and free of any fancy minerals and oils. It's meant to be used as a hand, body, and face cream to really rejuvenate the skin and get the circulation going. It's amazing stuff and my new moisturizer! I had a severe reaction from a facial I got earlier that week and it managed to clear all my spots in a 48 hours. To say I am impressed would be an understatement! This big bottle is going to last m a very long time!
• Ardell | The Ardell booth was the scariest of them all but I did manage to get the lashes I wanted. One of the pairs was for my mom, another for my sister and the last two were for me. The ones I chose were a pair called 'Romantic' that has crisscrossed lashes and little dabs of glitter on them (of course) and then this really beautiful pair called, well, 'Beautiful' that had lashes of different sizes (they look like little empire state buildings) and then two sets of three-triangle rhinestones on each corner. I really want to wear these to Disney World because they remind me of Mickey Mouse!
• Alcone | At the Alcone booth I was hoping to get a Beauty Blender but they were sold out. I ended up just getting a Large Black Z-Palette so my depotted Urban Decay 15th Anniversary shadows finally have somewhere to go (they've been sort of laying around since I depotted them, haha!) 

So that's all I got at IMATS NYC this year! I'm really pleased with every single thing I got and that I finally hauled and share with you all because it means I can go play with them now! I'm already looking forward to next year and if next year's haul is half as good as this one I'll be a delighted peach! Reviews of all these products will be coming soon so make sure to stay tuned for those!

Have a great weekend!

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#IMATSNYC 2013

IMATS: International Makeup Artist Trade Show

IMATS. The magical land of make up brands, products, and discounts galore. There is not a single beauty girl I know who knows about IMATS and doesn't at least dream of going. IMATS has been an event I have been looking forward to for months and I honestly can't believe it's already over. A lot of you may not know this but IMATS is what inspired me to create this blog. The event itself, and all the products and experiences I'd get to share with people. So now excuse me whilst I have #IMATSwithdrawal. 

The IMATS that I attended was in NYC. This year I couldn't go with my BIF (Best Internet Friend) Julia, but I did get to go with my mom and I had a FANTASTIC time! I got to discover an amazing new brand that before IMATS I didn't even know existed (BTW, why don't more people talk about this brand? I'm in freakin' love with it!) and that brand is Lit Cosmetics. But I'm going to save my rave of them for a separate occasion or else this train will go completely off track. Unlike last year, I was completely prepared this year with comfy shoes, pre-IMATS coffee, and the confidence to take my time and push my way through clusters of humans. It ended up being super fun! My mom and I were running from booth to booth playing with anything we could lay our hands on (and then running over to the make up wipe booths to clean our slates, haha!). It was great to see my mom excited for the events and booths as well (she was a bit naughty with her purchases!). She bumped into a free standing sign and almost knocked it over which was hilarious. She was also disturbed and in awe of all the make up artistry taking place around her which was so cute to watch, haha!

I didn't get a chance to whip out my camera a lot and whenever I did my flash would not pop up and just shut down my whole camera. I did manage to get a few shots though and thought I'd share some with you all!

The INGLOT booth was my first stop! Had to get in there before the crowd around it would start thickening. I knew exactly what I wanted so luckily I didn't have to push through to the eyeshadows and start swatching in a squish.

 Lit Cosmetics. My next stop and my new holy land.

 We waited on line for 40 minutes to get to this point and see all the gorgeous glitters! The girl helping out and dolled out in makeup was just the absolute sweetest to us as we went about swatching almost every glitter. The girls behind us weren't so kind, haha!

 I grabbed this pic off of Lit Cosmetics' Instagram. There was a (very entertaining) woman (who I think was the creator of this company!) glitterfying people's make up looks. She had every glitter laid out in front of her and just by looking at it you can imagine there would be crowding around this gem. I could stare at this for ages!

 The Battle of the Brushes models. The one on the far right was my favorite. I don't think she won though ):

 Took a photo with this lovely flower! She sort of reminded me of my Marc Jacobs Daisy Sunshine perfume bottle, haha! She also made me wish it was actually springy outside. It was freezing that morning!

We visited the little museum they had on the sides and look what I found! Doctor Who creations! 

My second year at IMATS was amazing and is only making me that much more excited for my next one. I may or may not try to get myself to LA in January 2014, but no promises (to myself). I had a really fun experience and came away with some amazing new goodies to play with (I'll share those soon in another post ;)). I'm glad I got to experience this with my mom and I'm already awaiting for IMATS NYC 2014! For now, I think I'll live vicariously through the #IMATSNYC tag on Instagram. (so pathetic, right?) LOL, oh well :)

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NOTD | 'Geeked' Out for IMATS

If you guys don't follow me on twitter you probably haven't totally picked up on how stoked I am that IMATS is this weekend. I've already half planned my outfit and done my nails out of sheer excitement so I thought I'd share them with you today! Over the the weekend I went to see the movie Spring Breakers with my dude friends and Rico Suave and while that movie was just the weirdest spit I've ever seen, I managed to get some nail-spiration. Vanessa Hudgens sported a two-nail accent manicure (you couldn't miss it as she kept forming a gun with her hands to fake shoot things) and for some reason it stood out to me. It looked really cool! Her index finger and thumb were accented in one color and the rest were painted in another! The shirt I'm wearing to IMATS is my GEEK shirt from TopShop so I pulled the blue and maroon colors as inspiration. I used Essie's Turquoise & Caicos for the blue and the Free Press Power Plum for the maroon shade. I didn't have an exact color match for the maroon, but it was close! I'm really happy with the end result. I feel very cool (which is so lame that it makes me uncool, but whatever!!! hahaha) I can't wait to sport these nails with my complete outfit at IMATS, swatching and handing over credit cards and cash in exchange for awesome new toys! (Beauty products are my toys, shhh!)

I'm just honestly so excited for IMATS! It's the second most wonderful time of the year ... okay, third, (holidays, my birthday, IMATS ...). I'll probably have nothing to tweet about once it's over which is sad, but oh well! I also did the IMATS tag, which was really fun (although I recommend you lower your volume, my voice gets a tad squeaky from the get go) and I'd love it if you guys would watch it! 

Have any of you lovelies ever gone to IMATS? Would you ever to go?

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Retail Therapy: NYC IMATS 2012

Walking into IMATS, for any beauty enthusiast (professionals and amateurs alike), is like walking into a candy store. All of the various companies set up so nicely ready for you to 'ooh' and 'ahh' at their latest and greatest. They pull you in with colors set out so you can go forth and play. I was no exception to this clever trap.

I'd like to think that I picked up a nice amount of things at IMATS; nothing more than what I came there to get. But I can assure you all that next year my wallet with loathe me.

NYC IMATS Haul

Naked pigments

IMATS

1. NYX Cosmetics
• 4 single panned eyeshadows (Light Green, Lanikai, Hot Pink, and Lagoon Sparkle)
• Cream blush in Glow
• Powder blush in Terra Cotta
• Aqua Shimmer eye liner
• Roll on Shimmer Green
2. Kandy Cosmetics
• Liquid Sugar
• 3 eye glitters (Chiclet, Tiny Tart, and Peach Fizz)
3. Naked Cosmetics
• Tropical pigment stack

This entire haul set me back about $100 which is CAH-RAZY considering I was ready to spend about $300. The prices were insanely low and I know, knowing that, I will go insane next time. I'll be sure to review and swatch them as I begin to use them! 

NYC IMATS 2012

I heard about IMATS through my best internet bud Julia. We both like to obsess over very similar things and one day she asked if I knew what IMATS was. All I could think was that it was some sort of brush company, but soon discover the majesty of what IMATS truly is.

IMATS: International Make-up Artistry Trade Show

Although I’m sure many of you already know, it’s a convention for those who want to appreciate the artistry of make-up and also drop a dime on some great discounted finds on some favorite make-up brands. 

Julia and I went together and it was the most magical day of my life. Almost as magical as Disney, but there were no characters walking around. Just well dressed people with absolutely brilliant make-up. We got there pretty early, around 9:15 am, and it was slightly packed. Trying to get a swatch of any NYX blushes was a trek in itself. There was so much to ogle at and so much to swatch! My arm is still stained from the various cream blushes and eyeliners I had played around with. 

INGLOT was just the craziest booth that I had seen that day. Okay, I’m a little biased because I did have to wait an hour and 15 minutes to get jumbled service and ended up walking away with nothing. I’m happy to report that the show did redeem itself. The Naked Cosmetics booth was amazing. The pigments are seriously to DIE for! I can see why xsparkage adores them and owns every stack! 

Things started to pick up (and by that I mean the lines) around noon when all the youtube beauty gurus had arrived and everyone was flocking to meet them. Julia and I were excited to know they were there (she screamed “I LOVE YOU” to Fleur and then ran away, hahaha!) but we were just SO exhausted that our energy level completely crashed and we left after having just glanced at every booth. 

We walked away with pretty decent hauls and I’ll be sure to post here what I got as well as swatch and review them as well! Don’t know too many people with my skin tone who swatch, so if you’re severely pale, welcome! I think you’re going to like it here!

All in all, I would say that IMATS, as my first ever IMATS, was a success. I didn’t overspend and I didn’t feel like I walked away without getting everything I would want. I also came away with a lot of tips for next time to make it more enjoyable and not as strenuous!

If anyone went hope you had a great time! Can’t wait till next year ;)