Sydney IMATS 2013

This weekend just passed, my mum, my sister and I took a trip to Sydney to celebrate my sister's 21st birthday! Being a beauty lover herself, I decided that because her birthday fell on the weekend of IMATS, I would take them along! (So, it was a present for her... and for me!) 

IMATS is similar to Salon Melbourne, which I also attended earlier on this year. (See my post on that here.) The only difference between IMATS and Salon Melbourne is that you have to pay to get in to IMATS, which means pretty much anybody can tag along. (Including people who don't want to be there, who unfortunately end up taking up space and getting in the way of us shoppers! Oh well!)

While it was crazy busy, I did manage to snap a few shots!


 

Hakuhodo Brushes

I made the mistake of hitting this stand first, and decided to come back later. Of course when I came back, most of what I wanted was sold out, and it was extremely busy, which means I missed out entirely. I'm not too worried however, as at the end of the year I'll be heading to Japan; and there are a few places in Tokyo where I'd be able to pick these up so as not to have to pay for shipping!

Hakuhodo Brushes

These brushes were amazingly soft, but more on the expensive side. I'd still love to own some, someday!

Bdellium Tools

These brushes have been on my radar for some time, mostly because of how adorable they are. I know that you can get them fairly cheap online, but it was great not having to pay for shipping. I ended up picking up a few of these brushes in the pink, just to see how they fare.

LA Splash 

I really enjoyed the LA Splash display at Salon Melbourne, and was delighted to see them at IMATS. My sister and I walked away with mineral blushes, but sadly I missed out on the glitters! (Something about having to ship them back to Melbourne in my suitcase - the idea of glitter everywhere - stopped me.)

Girlee Cosmetics

Girlee Cosmetics was another brand I saw at Salon Melbourne and really liked the look of. My sister ended up getting a custom palette and really loved it, I ended up with a few bits and pieces from here also! The people here were really friendly, and the stand was far less busy than MAC, Inglot or Lime Crime which are far easier to get hold of online than Girlee Cosmetics are, so I was pleased!

Ben Nye at Scotty's Makeup

I was most excited to try out Ben Nye, as this is not a brand I'd seen before in Australia! I was really disappointed that Scotty's Makeup had Sugarpill, but it was not on display for us to try. I ended up buying some anyway, to test out before I buy direct from the website.

I got tapped on the shoulder while shopping by the ever lovely Kat from Kitsch Snitch! We'd met just two weeks before at the Lush event in Melbourne (see my post on that event here) and so it was really nice to see a friendly (and beautiful) face whilst in Sydney! Lucky thing she is ended up with more than me, as she obviously had more patience when it came to the lines!

I also finally got to meet the absolutely gorgeous Abigail from Shrinking Wallet! She noticed me first, so it was a big surprise! The first thing I noticed about Abby was her amazing smooth skin - look at it - it's perfect! She's such a gorgeous girl, and although we ended up parting ways so we could do our shopping, I'm glad I got to catch her before I left!

My sister and I after our shop! My mum did come into IMATS but didn't have the stomach for the long lines, so she ended up popping herself in front of the stage and watching all the displays! She learnt a fair few things, so she says, so I'm happy to enjoyed herself!

--

All in all it was a lovely day, although I wasn't overly impressed. Salon Melbourne had a lot more variety (including nail polish - no nail polish brands at all this year at IMATS!) and was also free to get in to. IMATS seemed to be filled with a lot of pushy girls who were just there for a bargain (aren't we all, though) and had no respect for their fellow beauty lovers! There were also a fair number of family members who obviously attended because their son or daughter couldn't, and had no idea what they were doing. These people were usually the ones at the front of the line complaining for long lengths at a time as to why they weren't served before the girl who just got there. It was so time consuming and exhausting!

I'm not sure that I would attend IMATS again, as it was a lot of money to have a disappointing time. Depending on what exhibitors are there next year, I would consider it. I would definitely recommend an industry only event before IMATS though!

And don't worry! I haven't forgotten about my haul... I will post that shortly for you all!
Did you attend IMATS this year? If so, what did you think? Were you a little underwhelmed?