IMATS 2013: Get them game faces on! |A Beautiful Zen

OK Team.

The mission: IMATS

The objective: Whatever your little makeup heart desires

Battle Plan: Get them game faces on....

Above was the line at about 7:50am. The doors open at 8:30am. 'Nuff said. Thankfully I got there around 7:30am so managed to get a good spot near the front.

General Tips

Go Early. We ain't got no time to stand around! Go early, get that lining up nonsense over with. The MUFE and MAC line seemed to get worse as the day progressed, the Nigel's Beauty Booth line petered out but some of there items were sold out by around 11am (the show started at 8:30). Not everything, just some. (Basically, if you really have your heart set on something, I'd go early. If you just want to leisurely stroll through or you're just going to take it easy, going before noon will be a great time to start getting in without having to line up.)

Partner up. You will need backup. Team: hit up two booths at the same time. Get through those entrance doors and GO GO GO! Divide and conquer!!!! Regroup later. Some booths have special prices if you buy more...splitting these deals with a friend makes for a better bargain. Unless you really need those 5 foundations all to yourself. Not judging....And who is going to tell you that shade of green is no good? a random? I. Think. Not.

Essentials. It's a battle. Ladies, get your infantry kits ready! It's not going to be do or die if you forget any of these things but it will definitely help during the day.

Cash! Some (I'd say most) booths except credit but you're going to be waiting in line to use the credit machine. Cash will make it go much faster.
A few make up remover wipes. You might be swatching a lot. Keep those hands clean.
Water/food/snack. They have a cafe but you're going to be a victim to high prices and so-so food.
Pen and your lists.
Wear comfortable clothes. We don't send soldiers with jungle camo, into the middle east. Just saying. Actually...i think we might have one time because the military was running low on supplies...can't find the article right now but THAT'S NOT THE POINT. Keep those 6in heels and heavy purses at home unless you are use to wearing them all day. You will be given a big paper shopping bag to carry all your purchases. There was a coat check. It was $3.
Your patience. No joke. My friend thought we'd be in and out in 1hr. I warned her but she didn't listen.

Plan your purchases. Know the terrain. I'll try and include as many prices as I can. There are some booths which are quite predictable. MUFE will have 40% off but the price shown will already include tax (some booths either don't charge or already include tax in the sticker price, some booths charge tax on top of the sticker). MAC will be 20% off unless you have a pro card in which case you get 40% off. Nail polishes will go for ~$5/bottle if you buy 5-6 of them. I didn't bother going to the Naked Cosmetics booth but the 6-stacks were 2/$30 last year. OCC Lip-tars were $12.50. Plan your purchases, stay on target. And by target, I mean your budget. It might be easy to get carried away if you don't.

If you can, write everything you want from each vendor on a sheet of paper so that you can hand it directly to a sales person. This will help you get in and out of there faster. This is particularly useful for the MUFE and MAC booth. Do your research beforehand. Don't spend time swatching when you didn't have to.

Ladies, I have prepared you the best I can. It's up to you to execute your plan with precision. I only expect SUCCESS from you (as any Asian tiger mom ought to)!

OK OK. I totally overemphasized the intensity of the event for the fun of writing this post. Just so you know and you don't get a heart attack trying to go next year.

General Info/Impressions

This was my second year at IMATS Toronto and before I had gone to my first one, I had done a lot of "research" on what to expect and how to go about it. Here I hope to provide my experiences and any helpful tips to prepare you for your IMATS experience.

This year the event was helped at the Toronto Metro Convention Centre. This was better than last year which was held at Toronto Congress Hall since that location didn't have good access to transit. Still, I managed to get late out the door and instead of chancing the not-so reliable King Street car, I called a cab and got there at around 7:30am. Already there were people waiting in line to collect their wristbands.

Deals were ok this year. I felt like there were as many exhibitors as last and there weren't anything that really stood out. I think if you are a make up artist/student, it will be worth going. Many booths are geared towards this audience and offer different types of material that everyday individuals wouldn't need in their make-up stash. I managed to get everything I wanted and helped Alicia from Funny Face Beauty pick up a few things too since she wasn't able to attend. I also ran into Aleeza from Stylish and Literate which was nice! Wish I could have bumped into a few more people but I probably didn't recognize them.

I was a bit surprised by how many young people were there. I mean, the 10-15year old crowd.....and also a few boyfriends too.

Haul post to come! If you have any questions please feel free to ask (even if you land on this page a months/whatever after the post date).