Below are some photos of artists demonstrating makeup effects that would be used in movies.
I did a bit of shopping while I was there because I was on the hunt for some good makeup brushes. There were so many vendors there selling brushes so it was a little overwhelming, but I ended up getting some from "Bdellium Tools," "OuterBeauty Cosmetics" and "Crown Brushs." The company that I was the most impressed with though is OuterBeauty Cosmetics. Their brushes were soooooo soft and felt like the most amazing quality, and to me they felt exactly like Sigma brushes. I mentioned this to the woman who worked there and she said that they are made in the same factory as Sigma brushes so they're basically the exact same brushes. The best part is that these brushes were only $10.00 each. I ended up getting 2 face brushes, a round topped kabuki and a tapered kabuki brush. Looking back though I wish I had purchased the set of 4 that they had because it was only $38.00 and the brushes are honestly AMAZING. I have used these two brushes every single day since I purchased them, and the round top kabuki blends foundation into your skin better than anythink i've ever used (even my beauty blender!). It just makes your foundation have the most flawless airbrushed finish. If you are interested in checking out these brushes you can order them online at http://www.outerbeautycosmetics.com. The brushes might be a little more online then they were selling them for at IMATS, but they are still a great deal.
Below are all the brushes that I purchased while at IMATS
Face Brushes:
The first two brushes are from OuterBeauty Cosmetics and were $12.00 each. One is a tapered kabuki and the other is round topped.
The third brush is an all over face brush that was $4.50 (don't remember the company).
The fourth brush is from real techniques and it is the powder brush. I like this one because it is really dense. It cost $15.00
Eye Brushes:
The first brush was $1.00 and it is a straight edged brush (don't remember the company)
The second is a fan brush and it was $2.50 (don't remember the company)
The last three brushes are from Bdellium tools and they were around $6.00 each. I got a blending brush, a tapered crease brush, and a big flat shadow brush to pack product on the lid.
I also ended up picking up a few other things. There was a vendor called "Makeup Mansion Cosmetics" who had a bunch of makeup from NYX, ELF, The Balm, and BH Cosmetics. I had never seen BH Cosmetics being sold in stores near me so I was excited to be able to purchase items from them. I ended up getting a natural eyeshadow and blush palette from them, as well as the Galaxy Chic baked eyeshadow palette. These were $20.00 each. The Galaxy Chic palette is absolutely gorgeous, and after swatching it I knew I had to have it. The shadows are so pigmented and swatch so smoothly. The shades are also really pretty and are unlike any other shadows that I have in my collection. The shadows look a little scary in the palette, but when swatched on your skin they are very wearable. BH Cosmetics is having a holiday sale on their website right now and this palette is on sale for $14.95. I think that is a great deal, so if you are interested in checking out this product I will leave the link to their website below. I will do a blog post with swatches for all the shadows in this palette so you can see how gorgeous it is. I have used this palette a few times since I bought it and I absolutely love it.
http://www.bhcosmetics.com/products/eyes/galaxy-chic
"Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics" also had a booth and they were selling their lip tars for $12.00 instead of the $22.00 that they are at Sephora. I thought this was a good deal so I decided to pick up 2 in some of their more neutral shades. I got one in the shade Anikka which is a light coral colour. The second one I got is in the shade Hush and it is a pinky nude colour. I haven't tried these yet so I am not able to give you a detailed review of them, but they have a reputation for being very long wearing, and I know a lot of people who like them. I have swatched both shades below so you can see more clearly what they look like. 
The last item that I purchased was a set of ten fake lashes by "Wink". I am not someone who wears fake lashes very often, but I wanted a few pairs that were more natural looking incase I ever wanted to wear them out at night. The package that I purchased was $10.00 and came with ten sets of lashes. Each set you can probably wear two or three times if you are careful with them, so I thought this was a good deal. They also had other vendors such as "Velour Lashes" and "Minked Lashes" who sold single sets of lashes that could be worn up to 25 times each. These retailed for between $20.00 - $30.00 for one pair. I didn't think I would use the lashes enough to make it worth spending over $20.00 on one pair though, so that is why I got the cheaper "one time use" lashes.
Anyway, this is everything I purchased while I was at IMATS. My budget was $150.00, so I think I got quite a bit of stuff for that amount of money. I cannot wait to go next year and am already secretly planning my shopping list now that I know the kind of vendors that are there. There were many other vendors there such as MAC, NARS, and Makeup Forever, but the lines for these vendors were probably over an hour long, so I didn't think it was worth it. The NARS products had no discount and at the time Sephora was having their 20% off sale, so I figured I would wait and buy any NARS products that I wanted there. The MAC discount was 20% off, but again the line was so long, and they only had one cash register, so I didn't think it was worth it. I am not sure how much the Makeup Forever items were discounted, but my friend purchased the Matte Velvet Plus foundation from there for $28.00 and it is normally $42.00 at Sephora, so their discount was pretty good.
My tips for people who are going to IMATS this year, or who missed it but are planning on attending next year are the following:
1. Go early! IMATS opened at 8:30 am and I got there at 9:00 am and there were already lines for the popular makeup vendors
2. Bring cash! A lot of the smaller places did not have debit and credit machines.
3. Wear comfy shoes. I wore little heeled booties and although I looked cute, after 3 hours I wanted to cry because my feet hurt so bad. This made shopping a little less fun.
4. Find out your colour shade for NARS, Makeup Forever, and MAC ahead of time. The lines are huge and the employees are so busy that there isn't time for a professional to colour match you while you are there. Make sure you go to Sephora or a Department store and get matched for a foundation before you go if you think that that is something you can see yourself buying.
5. Go the first day they open! In Toronto IMATS took place on both Saturday and Sunday, but by noon on saturday alot of the items were picked over, and the popular shades of foundation, etc. were gone.
6. Make a shopping list of the things you need before you go. There is nothing worse then getting home from a shopping trip and realizing that you forgot a couple things, especially when you could have gotten them at a discounted price.
7. Check out the vendors a head of time and decide which ones you want to go to first. This will help you to get your "must see" places out of the way so you don't miss out on any of your favourites later when the lines are larger. This will also prevent you from wondering around aimlessly.
8. Bring water or snacks if you think you will be there a long time. I didn't see any vending machines or food vendors while I was there, so if you get hungry or thirsty you might be out of luck
These are a few things that I wish I knew before I went, so I thought that I would share them with you.
Let me know in the comments below if you're going to IMATS this year and the kind of things you are thinking of buying. It might give me ideas for what to add to my mental list for next year.
xoxo Jess
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