Have you been to a makeup trade show before? What was it like? Did you enjoy it?
I went to IMATS several years ago, and I’ve also been to Cosmoprof. Cosmoprof is huge! IMATS is more navigable, and since I’m more into color cosmetics, IMATS also has more booths that interested me. I get overwhelmed, though!
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Unfortunately, no.
I was supposed to go to IMATS this weekend after moving to California, but the person that I was going to live with kind of screwed me over, so here I am another year…
No, but I think it would be fun!
I’ve never had the privilege but would LOVE to go one day! From what I’ve read you get to buy new great products at a discount. I would love to see makeup demonstrations and meet makeup / beauty bloggers.And shopping with a room full of makeup enthusiast would be so much fun!! I’d go in a heartbeat if I could!
No, but so, so desperate to go to IMATS in London.
I would love to go to IMATS, but I don’t really feel like I’d want to go to something like that alone, and I don’t have anyone who would care to go to something like that.
I’d would LOVE to go with you!!! I’m not a pro, so I don’t have the creeds to get in. I would SO LOVE to go to a trade show!!!!
I wish. The makeup sounds like heaven but the crowds sound like hell. I was at Inglot in Newport the day before IMATS and was talking to the MUA about it because he had to commute from OC to LA and I do the reverse commute regularly for school. Wish he could have snuck me in as his clueless assistant.
No, but I’d love to! I’ve been to some cool conferences in my field of study, though, and I like the conference vibe 🙂
I’ve always wanted to go to IMATS, and I almost went (to Londen) last year. Didn’t end up going though, and I still kind of regret it. Maybe next time.
I went to one day of IMATS in 2009 for my 15th birthday. It was so much fun even though I didn’t bring a camera, wear any makeup, or dress up, and I was just a kid wandering around an unfamiliar convention center. There were amazing SFX makeups and the founder of OCC is an interesting guy. And of course, I got discounted makeup, ha ha.
I haven’t but have been following NYX on instagram and it looks as thought it will blow your mind. Would love to go to one.
I get overwhelmed at most types of shows like that that sell whatever I am interested in. And it leads to poor purchase decision making. I am still trying to come upon a strategy that helps me have a good time, while not accidentally passing up great items in favor of so-so gimmicky things.
No, I haven’t and it’s probably a good thing because (a) I hate crowds and (b), (c) and (d) right through to (z), I would probably lose what little self control I have and buy way too much stuff I don’t really need and spend way too much money.
I have gone to an industry trade show here in South Florida. Even though some of the booths are great (Inglot, Clarisonic), overall there are a lot of booths with products and equipment that I don’t have much use for.
What was the name of the trade show? I live in florida too and want to google about it online to see if its something im interested in attending this year
I would love to go to one, but I haven’t had the opportunity.
I went to IMATS Toronto, and compared to what I’ve seen of IMATS LA or New York, it was really small and kind of underwhelming! There were a few interesting booths, but a lot of the big names from LA/NY weren’t there.
Not yet! I was planning to go to IMATS this weekend but everything just went left lol. I would love to go in April but I think I’m pulling a fast one and moving to Georgia. Deciding to take a leap of faith! I do hope you consider going back to IMATS in the future though. So many people would love to meet you!
I’ve never been to IMATS .. would love to go though .. sigh, one day.
Monica
The closest I’ve been was to a hair show some 25 years ago. I was a demonstration model, so I was mostly “working”, but it was an interesting experience. There wasn’t too much in the way of makeup, but there were a ton of hair products, which I wasn’t too excited about.
I’ve been to IMATS and to PHAMExpo.
On the one hand, the discounts can be great. On the other and, you have to spend a ton of money to make the discounts worthwhile and the lines to pay at the big booths like MAC, MUFE, NYX and Sugarpill are freaking insane on public admission day. I also wish there would be more nail polish companies that went to these!
I consider myself a make-up fan, but I don’t think I’m hardcore enough to go back!
Sadly no 🙁 My also beauty crazed friend and I wanted to go to IMATS NY in April but I don’t think it’ll be possible because of school work, but it’s still in my future plans!
I am hoping to go to The Makeup Show in Chicago this year 🙂
No. I would have to leave my bank card in lockup.
No, I’d love to go. I have been to the big jewelry trade shows.
Not yet. Been wanting to go to IMATS for the last few years but the Toronto show always seems so …meh. Definitely not nearly the amount of brands I see advertised for the LA, New York or London one. I couldn’t justify going if I was just gonna go see 2 booths I’m interested in. I really really want some Hakuhodo brushes though so next year I might go just for that.
I went to Imats NYC 2 years ago. It was cheaper then by almost half. I can’t believe the price increase. No kids rate either. All in all I probably broke even. I got 30% off inglot. I bought some hahuhodo brushes a a couple other things. My daughter went with me. We went very early, but the lines were still long. Later in the day it was downright dangerous it was so crowded. I wish they had more vendors. LA has Mac and mufe, which were missing in NYC.
Hello i never been to imats ,but i would love to go. Dont have to many friends that love make up like i do.lol i would probably have to go by myself:-(
I go to IMATS LAwith my sister in law. We went last year and this year. Last year we were a little unprepared, we just brought a little money and our cameras. This year, we saved up $10 a week and had enough to spend on pretty much whatever we wanted. It’s great to be able to play and swatch before you buy, not to mention the discounts. And the discounts are pretty good! It’s a ton of fun, but we don’t spend any time going to presentations and I would like to do some of that next year.
I’ve been to a few hair trade shows with my aunt. I even got to be a model once or twice because of my long hair. I’ve never been to a makeup trade show but I imagine it must be very similar. Last year I didn’t find out about IMATS NY until just before but I would love to go to one.
I’m actually planning on going to IMATS NY this year but am unsure if i should go for both public days or for only one. I haven’t bought my ticket yet since I can’t decide. I’m excited to go, I;m planning on buying no makeup until IMATS NY in April ^_^
Living in NY I went to IMATS and The Makeup Show last year. I met a ton of YouTube girls and bought waaay to much stuff. Limecrime posted on Facebook that they plan on being at the NYC show so I will definitely be going again.
My boyfriend went with me to IMATS NYC last year, and we’re going again this year. We only do one day and we get there at 6 am and make a beeline for counters like Inglot which I know will be insanity later. This year, we’ve decided to forgo big presents for Valentine’s Day and save money for NYC and my V-day present will be something from IMATS!
Went to IMATS this weekend. Love the talks and demos. There are also good discounts (30 – 40%) at the exhibition. Mind you, I think the wait at MAC, Sigma and Lime Crime were easily an hour or more, but I waited mere minutes at Inglot. There was no wait at smaller booths like Beauty So Clean. And I was thrilled Hakuhodo had a large booth with what seemed like their entire selection of brushes. So very nice to touch before purchasing.
NO :/ I went to Las Vegas the same weekend that they were having The Makeup Show in Orlando although i had fun in Vegas i would have rather stayed home for the makeup show, and halloween horror nights opened the same weekend, and it was also the last weekend to do Magical Dining (where the high end restaurants do a 3 course meal for $30 the whole month of September). Plus Makeup Forever (one of my favorite brands and others were going to be at The Makeup show. I would never fly out for an Imats show, too far. But going to vegas was more business/networkkng related
I’ve gone to IMATS NY and I’ve attended AND worked for The Makeup Show Orlando (I will be repeating all of this again this year). IMATS NY is a bit more hectic on Saturdays and less organized but it’s not terrible. TMS is more organized and a little less hectic only because it’s not open to the public BUT it still gets extremely crowded. It always helps to have a game plan in place when attending any of these. Know what you want in general (or specifically) before you attend. It makes your trip a lot less stressful. Know where the booths you want to visit are located and hit them in order of importance (you want to make sure you go to the booths that have things you want the most so you can have a better chance of getting what you want before it sells out). And go early!
I went to IMATS in Los Angeles last year. It was crazy, crowded and tons of fun. You don’t pay sales tax on what you buy and there are huge discounts. I went on Saturday, a public day. I would not go again without a friend in tow. (no way am I going to get husband to go with me) The lines are incredibly long and without a friend to spot you, you are stuck in line for what looked to me like hours just to get near some of the more popular booths. There are a lot of industry related booths at the LA show (it is actually in Pasadena)so a bunch of stuff is of no interest to the average person who just wants wearable makeup. I was shocked at how crowded it was, and yet, how polite and calm everyone was. No body was pushing or shoving or banging into people. It was very orderly in spite of all the people in there. There was a good vibe. It is expensive and you have to buy your tickets on line way in advance as they sell out before the event. I bought my ticket in October for the January event.
I think, if you have the extra money to spend on the ticket and it is easy for you to get there, it is worth going at least once. You need to buy a lot of loot to make the ticket worth while though. I made a bee line for the Hakohudo booth and I had my list and I bought quite a few brushes so it was worth it for me. That is all I bought, that is all I went for. It would be easy to do impulse buying at this event! When I compare the exhibitor list of the LA show to the NYC show, it is obvious that the LA show is way bigger in terms of exhibitors but then a lot of them are for the industry type of product (you know, funny noses, fake blood, etc). Go once, if you can…and figure the price of admission is the price of entertainment. You will have a blast!
I would absolutely love to go to at least one but I don’t think they do that in Cleveland. I also want to go to the Tuscon Gem show in February. I want a geode and some opaque semiprecious stones. Sorry, off subject.
I’ve been to IMATS LA the last five years in a row. My wonderful boyfriend, who fully supports my passion for makeup, makes a weekend getaway out of it by booking a hotel room in the area for the weekend. Attending IMATS gives me the chance to purchase makeup at good discounts (20%-40%) and discover new and exciting products. More importantly, it gets my creative juices flowing by giving me the opportunity to be around fellow enthusiasts and attend classes conducted by some of the industry greats. THAT alone is worth the price of admission.