IMATS LA 2013 Haul!

Hello, hello!

Here's the IMATS haul I promised in my last post. :)

This was my fourth time going to IMATS LA, and I felt like this year was the best out of all four.  Last year was good because there were a lot of the bigger brands, like Urban Decay and NYX, who weren't there this year.  But I don't know...something about this year made it more fun.  I wasn't as overwhelmed and stressed about lines, and I think that's because my cousins, K and C, and I did things a little differently this year.

Usually, we would get there early, around 8 AM, and wait in a crazy long line to register and get our wristbands.  Then, we would go inside and wait in crazy long lines to buy stuff.  Most of our time was waiting in those lines!  So this year, we got there around 11 AM (not planned), and there was no line to register!  Yay!  Then we went inside the Exhibit Hall and there were TONS of people.  We decided to just go up and down all the aisles to see everything and then go to booths we liked.

I don't remember all the booths we went to, but I'll go in order of what we purchased.

After going through all the aisles, we went to OCC, where my cousins bought a couple of lip tars.  I was thinking of getting some polishes, but ended up with none because they raised the price from last year's IMATS ($8 compared to the $5 I paid 6 months ago) and there weren't any colors I needed (wanted, but not needed...lol).  Most of the ones I wanted I was sure I had dupes for, but here are the ones I was thinking of getting:

Looking at it again, I'm really liking Strumpet, Starling, and Radiate.  Don't Black Dahlia and Vintage look almost exactly the same?  But I was still tempted to get both!  lol

I also didn't get any lip tars because I still haven't used up the ones I have and I have a ton of other lip products that need to be used up too.  So while K waited in line to pay at OCC, C and I went to wait in the crazy long Sigma Beauty line:

After K joined us in the Sigma line, we decided it wasn't worth it to wait and went to look for brushes elsewhere.  We ended up at the bdellium tools booth because a friend had recommended the brushes to me.

As you can see, I ended up with quite a few brushes and they're pink!  I bought 2 of the 777 (shadow), 780 (pencil), 781 (crease), and 785 (tapered blending), and bought 1 of the 716 (smoky eyeliner), 945 (face contour), and 992 (bronzer).  The eye brushes were all $5, contour brush was $8, and the bronzer brush was $12.  These are from their Pink Bambu line, which is a new product line (not available on the site yet).  They have handles made from sustainable bamboo and the bristles are super soft synthetic vegan bristles.  These also came in green and yellow.  In addition to this Bambu line, bdellium has a brush line that has bristles treated with an antibacterial agent.  I was thinking of getting some of those, but couldn't pass up on the pink.  Maybe next time!  And there will definitely be a next time, because I'm kind of in love with these.

After bdellium, we walked around a bit and ended up at the Naked Cosmetics booth.  I didn't end up getting anything, but we did get a demo of all the products and C picked up their primer.  I was debating whether to get some pigment stacks, but decided to think on it and come back later if I really wanted it.

Lime Crime was next.  I had wanted to try some of their nail polish, especially their blue one, Once in a Blue Mousse,but it was out of stock! :(  I still ended up with some goodies: 2 nail polishes and an eyeliner.

nail polish in milky ways and peaches♥cream; eyeliner in quill

Then, we ended up at Saucebox Cosmetics.  Can't really remember if we stopped by any other booths before that though.  I really, really liked the palettes at Saucebox Cosmetics, and so that was added to the debate.  Naked Cosmetics or Saucebox?  Once again, decided to think on it, so we went to a class by Gregory Arlt, the Director of Make-up Artistry for M.A.C. Cosmetics.  He's quite the funny guy, and his class made me want to go out and buy some M.A.C. stuff, haha.  But we were hungry, so decided to have lunch...finally.

By the time we got back from lunch, there was only one hour left to get in our last minute shopping.  We decided to jump in the Sigma line because it was way shorter this time.  I ended up with the Synthetic Precision Kit, which I have totally been lemming.  At first I was only going to get 3 out of the 5 brushes, because Sigma was selling individual brushes this time around.  But then I calculated it and decided it was more worth it to just get the kit. xD

After Sigma, we looked around some more and I finally decided which eyeshadow thing I was going to get...

Decided to go with the Midnight Blossoms palette from Saucebox Cosmetics!  This palette is a new product and was being sold at IMATS for $50 and came with a free primer and mascara.  It is now on their website being sold for the same price, but I'm not sure if it comes with a free primer and mascara too.  I'm also not sure how long the sale will last, because they told me this will retail for $65.

These shadows are quite pigmented and they swatched beautifully!  I played with this palette today, and can't wait to play more!  I will definitely be doing swatches and a review in another post, so watch out for that!  Side note, these specific shades are not sold individually; they're only available in this palette.

And that's it!  That was my last purchase.  Tried to go to MAC near the end, but didn't make it in time.  It was my first time staying 'til closing!

Overall, a great experience, though I do have some regrets.  I regret not buying some Naked Cosmetics stacks! lol  For sure next year!  I've already started a list of stuff to check out for next year. xD


Hope you enjoyed this post!  I really like seeing what other people got, so if you went and have a haul posted somewhere, please let me know in the comments!  I would love to check it out.  Gives me ideas to add to my list, haha.

BTW, here are some TIPS if you want to go to/plan on going to IMATS LA in the future:
- Buy your tickets ahead of time online!  If you buy before a certain date (which they will post on the website), you get a bit of a discount.  Also, there's no guarantee that tickets will be sold at the door.  The past two years, IMATS LA has sold out of tickets before the show date even arrived.
- Check out the exhibitor list and make a plan.  Rank which ones are your musts and which ones are maybes.  Then make your plan of attack!  Take into consideration wait time/lines.  The bigger brands, such as MAC and Sigma, have crazyyy lines (see above) that could take over an two hours to wait in.
- Bring a buddy, if you can.  This will help with the waiting in line.  You can wait together or you can take turns waiting and take turns looking around, so that you can make the most of your time.
- Bring BOTH cash and credit/debit.  Some places only take one or the other.  Better safe than sorry!

Hope that helps!  If I think of any more, I will definitely add it here. :)

P.S. IMATS is always fun, and I definitely say go, if you can.  In addition to buying makeup at discounted prices, you can attend classes and also see great make-up art like this:

And you can also see work from movies and shows, like this from The Walking Dead:
(picture under the break due to "gore", in case someone doesn't want to see it.)