For everyone that knows me or follows me on one of the social outlets like Twitter, Instagram or Facebook knows I went to IMATs 2 weekends ago. It was an amazing experience. It was in Pier 92 here in NYC and the weather that weekend was just amazing. It started at 8:30am so I got there around 8am to make sure that I have enough time to do everything. Once the doors opened it was chaos. We got in and all the booths were just all around. I went from one side to another. There were a couple of booths that were like the main ones which were +Sigma Beauty, +NYX Cosmetics, +Lime Crime, and Stila Cosmetics. They were all showcasing a lot of new products and also giving discounts to their merchandise. I immediately went around to scope the place out. I loved everything. I saw a lot of people doing things like body paint art and also movie set cosmetics like the monsters and things of that sort.
I already knew I wanted to buy certain products so the first day I went immediately to the different products that I'd been wanting but didn't want to buy on Ebay. One of the products I wanted to buy was the Ben Nye Banana Luxury Powder. I'm sure you've all seen the +Kim Kardashian picture that she shows how her makeup artist contours her face. Well this was accomplished by using different contouring techniques but one thing he uses to brighten her face is the banana powder. Its sort of like a setting powder and since it has the yellow tint, it reduces the redness and also brightens the skin while setting your foundation. This bigger bottle which would probably last me at least a year or 2 retailed for $15.
The other thing that I was really gung ho about was a lipstick sealer. I saw a video on +Refinery29 and the makeup artists said that you can use a lipstick sealer to make sure that your lipsticks stays on all night and those types of things. The one that he showed was +Lipchic Lipstick Sealer which when searching was really only available for professionals at a reasonable price. I was able to pick up the normal size bottle for $10 which I thought was great because on EBay I saw it for $30. I've used this several times and I like it.You have to let the sealer dry before you put your lips together but after its set, your lips are good to go. I do think you need touch ups at least once if you are going to use it for like 8hrs but honestly thats more than I can say about a lot of my lipsticks because they usually come off the instant I drink my first sip of coffee.
After those 2 things I really wanted to get a couple of the +Sigma Beauty brushes so I had to stand in line for about 45 mins. While there I was able to meet some pretty nice girls and we swapped makeup tips which was awesome. I got a contouring brush and the flat kabuki brush which can be used for foundation. After I got out of that line, I ran into the best part of IMATS. I ran into Nicole from +Nicole YoungWildandPolished +Young Wild and Polished. I am not a groupie or anything other than for +Ricky Martin but I have to say when I saw her, it was just like "Oh hey girl!! How are you?? So long no speak!" I felt like I had already known her since I'm obsessed with her Youtube videos. It was pretty awesome. She is so nice. I think it was nice to see that she's as cool in person as she is in videos. She's super tall as she says but all in all I think it was a great experience to meet her. I was really happy that she knew who I was as well. I loved it. +Nicole YoungWildandPolished if you are reading this, you are great and I love all your videos! Keep on doing what you're doing! Also remember my invite always stands, whenever you miss NYC too much for comfort, let me know you are always welcomed.
I bought some other things from +NYX Cosmetics like their dark circle corrector which I love. I also got some baked blushes and an eyebrow pencil. Other than that all I did was walk around, meet different people, looked a a bunch of different products to see what's out there in the market. It's really cool to see some things up close and also be able to play, sample and touch products that you've probably been reviewing and looking into but not sure if you'd like them. All in all, my experience was amazing. I'd definitely go back next year. Tomorrow I will be reviewing day two.
Let me know if you've been to IMATS before, which one and did you love it?
One of my favorite Youtubers is +Amelia Liana and I love it because she is based out of the UK and always reviews stuff that are more popular over there and not so popular over here in the US but surprisingly, we are able to get a lot of those things here in NYC. One of the videos that she posted was a haul video from her trip to France. There were a lot of different things that she talks about and one of her holy grail type product was this Nuxe Rêve de Miel® Ultra-Nourishing Lip Balm. She raves about it and how it makes your lips super soft and great. Since this year since NYC has been going through a never ending winter season, my lips have been really chapped and my regular Carmex isn't really doing it for me anymore. I definitely needed something better. I was going to get the Bite Agave Lip Mask because I saw my other favorite Youtuber +Nicole YoungWildandPolished reviewed it and she loved it. I figured that was what I needed since my lips have been just really bad. After seeing the Amelia Liana video, I was sucked into the Nuxe lip balm so I went to Duane Reade to see if it was available and the first one was sold out but when I went downtown, I saw it in a Walgreens! I was stoked.
This is said to be one of France's most coveted drugstore brands and over in France is a cult favorite. The box it comes in says it has been tested in extremely cold weather conditions in Canada and even in that cold weather, users said that it excelled at restoring comfort and moisture, while leaving your lips feeling super soft and protected from the dehydrating effects of your daily life. I used it that night before I went to bed because I learned from Amelia that its what she does, so why not just stick to tradition, lol. The lip balm is thick but not too thick that you can't wear it during the day. It has a citrus smell to it and it isn't balmy glossy. Once you put it on, it has a matte finish to it which I love. This balm immediately moisturizes your lips and doesn't rub off easily. In the morning you can still feel faints on it on your lips which I like because then I know its working. I was able to find this in Walgreens downtown NYC and it retails for about $18 which is a lot for a lip balm but my lips were severely chapped an no regular products were working. If you want to splurge, I definitely recommend this product and I will see if I can find some drugstore dupes for those who do not want to spend $18 on this. But again, the Bite Agave mask, is basically the same thing and retails for $38 so this is a lot cheaper than that product.
Do you have anything that you use as a night routine that have turned into your 'can't live withouts?' Let me know!
I already knew I wanted to buy certain products so the first day I went immediately to the different products that I'd been wanting but didn't want to buy on Ebay. One of the products I wanted to buy was the Ben Nye Banana Luxury Powder. I'm sure you've all seen the +Kim Kardashian picture that she shows how her makeup artist contours her face. Well this was accomplished by using different contouring techniques but one thing he uses to brighten her face is the banana powder. Its sort of like a setting powder and since it has the yellow tint, it reduces the redness and also brightens the skin while setting your foundation. This bigger bottle which would probably last me at least a year or 2 retailed for $15. 
