I arrived, checked in to the Sheraton, and went next door to the show venue and meet up with Phyrra and Crystal and Kristy, from BFTE Cosmetics, at their booth. BFTE had a good spot, not right by the main door but by the second set of doors that entered the show floor. I got to see the new colors: Phyrra's Poodle Pandemonium, and the gorgeous Lotus, Emerald Bliss, and Midnight Kisses (which wasn't new-for-the-show, but which I hadn't seen before.). Phyrra and I headed to scope out the show floor and see the booths before the show start. About 1/3 of the booths were open for pro hours on Friday, some were finishing their set-up, and there were about 1/3 that were prepped but shuttered. Those booths were ready for the show's official opening on Saturday morning, but anyone who was there for pro night didn't have a chance to talk to people from the company, ask about the products, or even see what would be available for demo or purchase. I did pick up some items on Friday: Too Faced's Snow Glow beauty balm, from Naimie's; the Stila palette; makeup remover cloths; a gel eyeliner from Makeup Geek. I

Day One - January 19
Saturday morning was sunny and pleasant. I waited in line, and got in line early enough that I was only about halfway around the building from the convention entrance. Once the doors opened, things moved…not necessarily rapidly, but I wasn't in line for two hours. (Dear IMATS: really, really, really think about going to barcode-cards for registration. DragonCon did, and their five-hour reg lines have shrunk to 30 minutes. Thanks much, another person who'd rather stand at the booths than stand outside the convention hall.) On Saturday I attended the New Retro seminar hosted by Mireille Bertrand, and got some techniques for 40s-50s style makeup looks. 40s makeup was somewhat minimal, since there was the post-war economic dip: strong brows, strong lips, naturalistic eyeshadow, little to no liner. The palettes were neutral and warmer shades, with more corals than pinks on the lips. Lip and cheek colors often matched exactly, because so many people would use the exact same product (save money, buy multitaskers…or make things into multitaskers.) Finishes were matte, with silver or gold highlights for evening or formal stylings - no shimmer finishes. I'd been applying white or metallic pink liner to my waterline for years, to brighten my eye; and with so many other people applying dark liner top and bottom to define and to make the whites of their eyes appear whiter by contrast, I thought I was just a bit weird for doing what I was doing. When Mireille mentioned applying white on the waterline to give models and clients an “alert/awake” look, I was surprised and pleased to get confirmation that my idea was actually fairly valid!

The second class I went to on Saturday was Alex Marsh's class on Proper Priming. Everything I know about makeup application I've learned on my own through trial and error (I've been teaching my mom about makeup!) and while it's fairly easy to work out how to apply foundation because you can see how well it matches your skintone, things like primer and contouring are still a little nebulous for me. The emphasis in this class was on prepping and priming the skin so that it looks utterly natural. The premise of the class sounded good, but I didn't get quite as much out of this class, other than reminders to moisturize before applying any primers, and to wait a bit between steps to allow the products time to absorb into and level out on the skin. That's definitely a valid point to remember, though: if you don't clean and moisturize before you prime and apply foundation, your final result may look flaky, patchy, or rough; and may get more uneven as the day goes by and the product doesn't stay on the skin as well. A good clean even canvas will make you so much happier with both the immediate results, and your makeup's longevity.

Another thing that I've been wanting to get for quite a while was red cream or gel eyeliner. Not pink not red-brown…but red. Fire-engine red, velvet-burgundy red. vampy red. I figured I'd have a better chance at a place like IMATS, where you have lots of theatrical makeup companies as well as end-consumer brands. I found what I was looking for at Makeup Geek (Poison). I knew that the line had launched a while ago, but I only saw the products on blogs and wanted to see them in person before I purchased. I ended up getting three eyeliners and three lipsticks as well. These lipsticks are seriously pigmented! I did get darker shades, so expected more color payoff; but when I apply them, I don't have to go over my lips more than once to get all the color payoff I could want. The tubes are nice, too: the top is a clear window, so you can see the color; and the sides of the tube are embossed with a subtle, glossy tone-on-tone design.

Day Two - January 20
On Sunday, the first session that I attended was Kevin Bennett's Fast and Fabulous Faces. I was interested in hearing tricks for more rapid, more effective and efficient makeup application. Before this class, I had no idea who Kevin J. Bennett was. After hearing him describe his work experience - doing makeup for soap operas, which film an episode a day, and the client may be in the chair for 15 minutes if you're lucky…I figured he'd definitely have information that I'd find useful. I got a lot of information from this seminar! I'll write it all up in a separate post, because I think that others may find it as valuable as I did. He did go through a step-by-step method for quickly changing a makeup look from nothing to basic camera-ready beauty; and from camera-ready to glam. If you ever get a chance to see Kevin's seminars, take it. He is high energy, he has lots of information that he'll sprinkle into the talk.

After this class, I headed back over to the Royal and Langenickel booth. I wanted to check out the new line that was being debuted, and I did end up getting three brushes from that collection. The [R]evolution line brushes are solidly constructed, and the handles are coated with a rubber-ish textured stuff so that you can keep a surer grip on your brush, even with damp hands, even when you're trying to move in fifty billion directions at once. I also ended up getting several brushes from their S*I*L*K* line, at the show discount. This, added to my repeated visits to Crown Brush (got my swatching brushes!!!) and a stop at the Hakuhodo booth, meant that I came home with perhaps a few too many makeup brushes! Along with the aforementioned “swatching brushes” (which I only use for swatching, so they need to apply evenly and wider area but I don't need precision, and which I clean far more often so the bristles go fuzzy after a while) I mostly got brushes for cream and gel liners, or brushes that I hoped would work for cream and gel liner application. Sigma did give away some of its Sigmax brushes to people who visited their booth, and I got a metal-toothed lash comb from the Revolution line.

The BFTE booth was right next to the Ardell Lash Boutique. I blame that on my decision to buy six pairs of false eyelashes, even though I've never ever worn false lashes before. There was another booth just down the row from BFTE (right next to Embryolisse, where Robyn from Purely Cosmetics was working) that was selling adhesive eyelash tape strips. They were developed by a woman with alopecia who had severe allergies to just about every type of lash glue she had tried, so developed this so that she could actually wear false lashes without the negative effects of the allergic reaction.

Along with the false lashes, I got a primary-color cream liner stack from Ben Nye; three duochrome iridescent glitter gels from Graftobian; two nail stamping plates and two eyeliner pencils from Shany Cosmetics; three cream eyeliners and two pigments from Inglot; Stila's Luxe Eyeshadow Palette, available at IMATS LA just before its public release; an organic mineral face peel from ORG Skincare; and a mini makeup palette and two gel liners from BH Cosmetics. I enjoyed seeing the makeup museum, where FX companies showcased past and present creations, including two replicas of Michonne's pet zombies from The Walking Dead. When I next go back, I plan on attending some other classes - I really appreciate going to those seminars and getting makeup-technique information from makeup professionals, though with all the crowds and other activity, my brain pretty much stops accepting input after two sessions per day.

I met so many people! I look forward to keeping in touch with them online and seeing them again at future events. I had a great time talking with three of the folks from Bellashoot, about the trials and travails of building, testing (and tweaking, and retesting, and retweaking, and retesting) a major online community platform. I liked the chats I had with the folks in the Sugarpill line on Sunday, and the woman who helped me figure out Inglot's booth system. I enjoyed seeing the various models walking around the show: the mermaid with fiber-optic hair, the pirate, the Doctor Seuss characters. I did have a great time, and I'm hoping to be able to back next year. I'd kind of like to attend the TMS Orlando show, and visit Phyrra and her family; but TMS is for industry professionals only and I don't know that I can qualify. (I also don't know how thrilled my job would be at me taking another weekend off so soon after DragonCon.)

If you're planning on attending your first IMATS (or TMS, or any other makeup expo), I offer the following tips:

• Bring a pen or two. Lots of booths have order forms for people to fill out, to help speed the lines; and if you have your own pen, you don't have to wait for them to provide one.
• You're going to be spending two days on your feet. Wear shoes that fit you well, that support your feet, and that don't pinch or rub. (You might want to get gel insoles just for the show weekend.)
• Pack a bottle of juice or water, and sip from it between booths and while waiting in line. Staying hydrated fights off fatigue, headaches, and general grumpiness.
• Bring a book bag. It will help you carry your purchases, but also your water bottle.
• If you're planning on attending any classes, bring a pad (either your iPad, or the dead-tree version of same) to take notes.
• Take an Aleve before you go to bed at night. That will keep you from having muscle aches the next day, and will let you go hit the booths that you missed the first time through.

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