IMATS London Show Coverage

 So it's all over for another year, I traveled down to London for the day on Saturday to go to my seconds IMATS. With over 50 exhibitors showcasing their products, offering discounts and several scheduled talks on each of the stages within Olympia, IMATS really is a haven for anyone who loves makeup. The exhibitors were very similar to last year with a few new ones popping up and a few old faces taking up a little more floor space. I met up with Laura, Gemma and Kat and spent the day with them (tip: if you want to be restrained with purchases at IMATS, do not meet up with other like-minded individuals, you spend a LOT more!).

  The view from the upper gallery; a great place to get away from the hustle and bustle for a few minutes

So much colour at the Stargazer stand

Crown brushes were there on their usual large stand

NARS and Bobbi Brown had a fairly small stand in 2013 but because last years show was so successful they obviously decided to get a bigger pitch; this made it so much easier to browse the stands. NARS was offering a 30% discount and some really good value gift sets at £15 each, I noticed that Bobbi Brown were doing their popular Gel Eyeliner for a fraction of the normal price at just £9. As a whole I noticed the show was less crowded but as usual, the NYX queue was mental which for the life of me I cannot understand why! There were also some new faces there like Sugarpill and Violet Voss who were very popular with the neon & glitter fanatics in the room! 

The ladies from Cinema Makeup School working on their model.

This was one of the models which fascinated me the most, I genuinely couldn't work out what was real and what wasn't until the model opened their eyes! This amazing creation was by an artist from Arts University Bournmouth.

This is Zoe Newlove creating her superhero on the Crown Brush stand

The Charles Fox/Kryolan model in progress 

Terminator-esque model walking around the show

  I really enjoyed walking around the show and seeing all the different exhibitors, I still say that if I had the money I would take some kind of course in professional makeup application! I managed to catch the end of the Pablo Rodrigues talk on the main stage which was showing all the key runway trends for this coming autumn; he's a real inspiration to any makeup artist! If I went again I would try and plan my day a little better so I could cram in more of the speakers.

This year was actually quite different to 2013 in the fact that I could tell that the show was aimed more at makeup artists than last year. Last year I think it had become a little bit like a meeting place for YouTube fan girls (with the likes of Fleur de Force making an appearance and being hounded at the front door), whereas this year they upped the entry age to over 18s only and the speakers were aimed at those in the industry and for those seriously interested in makeup. I actually found that the feel of the show was much better because of this, even though the Saturday show was sold out it was much less crowded on the whole and it was just a lot more 'grown up'.

  Although the discounts didn't seem to be as good as last year, I could see how the show had changed for the better this year and I really hope they keep it the same for next year. As much as I love meeting other bloggers, it shouldn't be the main reason why you visit IMATS; it's primarily for makeup artists and I think they kind of lost sight of that a little last year.

Overall, I really enjoyed my second experience at IMATS. I know lots of you were disappointed when you couldn't get hold of Saturday tickets this year, so my advice would be to buy early next year if you really want to go (you usually get a discount if you buy before a certain date). I would also make sure you plan your day properly so you can make sure you don't miss out on any of the exciting speakers because at the end of the day IMATS isn't just an opportunity to shop till you drop, you also might learn something!