The 2011 IMATs (International Makeup Artist Trade Show) was held on November 12 and 13, 2011 at the Toronto Congress Centre. Brands like Make Up For Ever, MAC Pro, OCC, NYX Cosmetics, NARS, Cinema Secrets, FACE Atelier, Zuca and Yaby Cosmetics were there as well as a number of beauty product retailers.
Highlights for me included getting to swatch OCC Lip Tars, learning about Yaby palettes and Velour lashes, seeing the student competition in progress, people-watching (there was some crazy hair and makeup walking around) and the gorgeous and expensive squirrel and goat hair Hakuhodo brushes.
Here are some photos:
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| Lashes, lashes and more lashes. These were 7 for $10 |
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| Even more lashes! |
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| Crowds |
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| Hakuhodo USA brushes. The softest brushes EVER. |
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| NYX Professional. This is just a fraction of the products they had available. |
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| NARS lipsticks |
Here's my haul: |
| Brushes, Lip Tars and Lashes, oh my! |
Not a bad haul and I didn't spend too much money either!
I'm in love with the OCC Lip Tars I bought a few months ago and so I was eager to see them all at IMATS. Of course, I couldn't resist picking up two more. |
| Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tars |
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| OCC Lip Tars in Divine and Anime |
Divine is described as a bright pink flamingo and Anime is an intense, no-holds-barred neon pink. I love Divine and did a FOTD with it.  |
| Velour Lashes |
Velour Lashes is a brand new Toronto-based company. Their lashes are made from mink fur and come in nine varieties of upper lashes and two lower lashes. Check out the lovely packaging!
I chose You Complete Me and Doll Me Up lashes.  |
| Velour Lashes in You Complete Me and Doll Me Up |
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| Adorable packaging! |
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| Velour Lashes. Top: You Complete Me. Bottom: Doll Me Up. |
Bedellium brushes are high quality, antibacterial, well-made and very inexpensive. The most expensive brush I bought was the all-purpose blusher brush for $7. The least expensive brush was the flat top Kabuki brush for $1.
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| Bdellium Tools Brushes |
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| Bdellium Tools Brushes |
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| Bdellium Tools Flat Top Kabuki brush |
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| Bdellium Tools Flat Top Kabuki brush |
I was also tempted by the Yaby Cosmetics palettes (see some palette photos and swatches here) and a Make Up For Ever Aqualiner in Diamond Burgundy (it's the second swatch in the photo here).
This is certainly a show for makeup artists and it'd be easy to drop a lot of money here. Make Up For Ever had 40% off and there were deals in buying things in bulk. If you're a makeup artist just starting out, it's a great place to go to build a kit.
Here's my friend Lucky, head makeup artist at MTV Canada, being silly in the IMATS book booth. The talented and charming Ricky Boudreau was also with us. Follow them both on Twitter!
C.
