On November 6th and 7th IMATS (International Makeup Artist Trade Show) took place in Toronto Canada. This was the second year that IMATS has come to Toronto and I was so excited to attend again! This year the event took place at the Toronto Congress Centre which was much more convenient for people like me who come from outside the city then last years venue!
This year there were even more exciting vendors taking part in the event such as NYX who had lots of great deals to take advantage of. There were also many great artists sharing their talent in free classes throughout the two day event such as Tom Savini and Eve Pearl.
Photo by Trason Fernandes
I was so happy that I could make it to the show this year as it meant that I needed to take my 3 week old son with me! All you new moms out there I am sure can understand what a feat it was to make it to the show with a newborn, but I am so glad that I did!
Seeing that I had a stroller in tow it really did give me a different perspective as last year I was free to move about and this year it was much harder to me to navigate the crowds of the show. I did feel that they layout of the show was much better this year, but I did feel that some of the vendors did not take into account people with strollers or those who required wheelchairs etc as once you found what you wanted getting close enough to pay was really quite difficult!
Photo by Trason Fernandes
Food was much better this year and the cafe had a lot of seating which was a huge improvement over last year! I know most people do not go to the show to eat but it was nice that they put a little more thought into this year because a full tummy means more shopping!
Photo by Trason Fernandes
My main mission was brushes! Seeing as I am taking a little time off for baby I really didn't want to stock up on too much makeup but brushes at IMATS are always a draw for me! The two big vendors for brushes are Crown and Royal so I visited both right away! I bought a selection of brushes and if you are interested in my purchases let me know and I may do a post at a later date! I think the savings that the brush vendors offer are amazing and for makeup artists who require several of each of our favourite brushes savings are always welcomed!
Photo by Trason Fernandes
There was also the student competitions which is always a huge draw during the two day event. It is amazing the new talent on the horizon and I love seeing these amazing artists at work creating such beautiful work.
Photo by Trason Fernandes
I was so excited that MAC was at the event but I was extremely disappointed to see that they had no makeup at the show. They were only offered a small booth where you could apply for a MAC Pro card. I really feel like at a show such as IMATS being product to the event is a much better decision!
Photo by Trason Fernandes
NYX was at the event this year and I was so looking forward to making some purchases. They were offering some great deals and I was really hoping to stock up on Jumbo Pencils in Milk as they are not sold in Canada. Unfortunately with my stroller this booth was much too busy and seeing as there were only narrow openings to get into the area for paying ( meaning my stroller would have to stay outside in the hall) it just didn't happen for me! I am hoping that next year I will be able to better take advantage and dive in to all the great product!
Overall this was another great year for IMATS Toronto. I can only imagine what next years show will offer and what new vendors may take part! If you are a makeup enthusiast you need to make IMATS a must next year!
