Event Recap: IMATS Toronto 2017 Tips + Haul

Hi friends! Hope everyone is having a great weekend! I had the pleasure of attending the IMATS (International Makeup Artist Trade Show) in Toronto and had a wonderful time as always. This isn’t my first time at IMATS (you can check out my 2015 IMATS post here) so there are some definite tips I can offer up someone thinking of joining in on the fun! I also have a haul of all the items I decided pick up at this year’s show!

Just a quick disclaimer, my experience is only based on IMATS Toronto. IMATS also has shows in New York, LA, Vancouver, London, and Sydney.

1. Get. There. Early

This is non-negotiable in my opinion. This show gets crazy and to guarantee you’re not waiting in lots of lines when you get into the show, you have to start your day early. This year I felt was a lot slower than last year. For those with general admission (no pro card, press pass, or exhibitor pass) you have to wait in line to get in. Prior years, they had show workers going through the line to check ID (you need to be 17 years or older to attend IMATS) and ticket to give you a wristband. This year they did not do that and only began checking tickets at 9am and giving wristbands. This meant it was another half an hour to an hour after the start time before folks in the middle of the line were getting in. Go early so you can run to those busy booths first!

2. Go to Morphe First

Another golden rule of IMATS Toronto: go to Morphe fast (like real fast). There are lots of busy booths at IMATS but Morphe takes the cake. From beginning to end, this booth is a popular choice just because us Canadians don’t have much access to Morphe. If you plan to get any brushes or palettes from Morphe, heed tip 1 (go early) and rush your butt to Morphe! Otherwise you can be stuck waiting in a line that lasts all day (not an exaggeration).

3. Check out the Makeup Museum and Student Competition

As IMATS is a show that’s directed towards pros, they have a lot of really amazing displays and competitions happening. Their Makeup Museum is filled with different pieces of work that have been used in TV or movies. All of them are usually centered around the horror genre, so if you’re a bit squeamish, this might not be a great idea. I always like taking a quick look just because it’s really incredible to see what people can do with prosthetics and makeup.

Another incredible thing to check out is the student competition. This year’s theme was Guardian’s of the Galaxy. The students work on their submissions throughout the day and near the end of Saturday they announce the winners. It’s really incredible to see these talented people at work!

4. Bring Cash and Credit

You need to bring both to the show or you could be out of luck or paying a lot more for something. For example Kat von D is credit only. Things were priced in Canadian though, so you could get a pretty good idea of what you’d be spending. Royal and Langnickel in comparison has their prices in Canadian if you pay cash, or US if you pay card. As you might know, the conversion makes a big difference.

6. Bring a Pen

Some booths have an associate help you out to grab your items (like MAC, pictured above), but others such as Kat Von D don’t give you a pen for your hand written order form until you reach the front. It’s best just to keep a pen in your purse in case you require it. I was able to skip the line just because I knew exactly what I wanted and could write down my order.

Haul

Now to what I actually picked up from the show:

Kat Von D

• Everlasting Lipstick in Beloved ($20) ($24 at Sephora)
• Everlasting Lipstick in Mother ($20) ($24 at Sephora)
• Everlasting Glimmer Veil in Razzle ($24) ($30 at Sephora)
• Everlasting Glimmer Veil in Rocker ($24) ($30 at Sephora)

Lit Cosmetics

$25 cash total for:

• Lit Metals in Nudity and Tease (both Silver based) ($19 each on the Lit Cosmetics website)
• 4 mL Glitter Base ($10 on the Lit Cosmetics website)

Inglot

• HD Perfect Coverup Foundation in 43 ($41.60) ($52 on Inglot’s website)
• AMC Eyeliner Gel in 86 and 88 ($15.20 each) ($22 each on Inglot’s website)

Royal and Langnickel

• MODA Metallic Shader M19 ($4) ($6.49 USD on R&L website)
• MODA Metallic Contour M03 ($6) ($8.99 USD on R&L website)
• MODA Metallic Domed Shadow M13 ($5) ($7.49 USD on the R&L website)
• MODA Metallic Small Eye Shader M14 ($8) ($5.99 USD on R&L website)

Total Spent: $180.40

Total Value: $280.96 (not including the conversion for the R&L brushes)

Total Saved: $100.56 (not including the conversion for the R&L brushes)

I was able to attend this year’s IMATS show with a press pass (my first year!) so my ticket was complimentary. You can see though, if you plan to spend over $100 I would say, this show is worth the ticket price. I believe early bird tickets to Toronto’s show are around $50? I saved over $100 so if I did buy a ticket this year, it would have been worth it for me.

Thanks for reading! Did you go to IMATS too? Link me your hauls or overviews below, I’d love to see what you got!

*Press pass provided by IMATS complimentary. All other purchases were made with my own money.