IMATS Sydney 2011 - Show & Tell and Sydney Stay

IMATS (International Makeup Artist Trade Show) was in Sydney over the past weekend (24^th and 25^th September) and it was held at the ‘Sydney Convention Centre’ at DarlingHarbour.

IMATS is brought to this country by ‘MakeupArtist Magazine’ and this is the third year that it’s been held in Sydney, apparently this year there were twice as many tickets sold to IMATS as last year so hopefully next year that figure will double again and IMATS will just keep getting bigger and better!

I had a wonderful time, I was there all day Saturday and a couple of hours on Sunday! I was so happy that I got to meet ‘PurseBuzz’ and some lovely girls from YouTube, some bloggers and some of my subscribers, it was great to meet everyone :) I also saw ‘Pursebuzz’s’ demonstration and caught ‘Napoleon Perdis’’ Keynote Speech at the end of Day1.

I did some shopping and bought a few brands that I haven’t tried before, I don't think I went overboard with my purchases and I tried to focus on brands that I hadn't tried before and weren't over expensive!!!! 

So first up I bought myself a delux brush belt from 'Designermakekuptools.com' for $17, down from the regular $26.95 and a pack of 3 'Beauty Pods' for about $20, down from $30.

I bought a S.I.L.K 'Flat top Kabuki' brush from 'Royal & Langnickel' for $6.00 because I really liked the density of it, I'm not sure of the original price of it as on their site it's sold in a pack.

Next up I visited the 'Temptu Pro' booth and grabbed myself a 'Pro Transfer Delux Workstation' (Temporary Tattoo Kit) and 'Matte Sealer', I can't lay my hands on the receipt for this right now but it was defs cheaper than on the site!

I then headed over to 'Inglot' which is a brand that I've wanted to try for some time. I wasn't disappointed, the pigmentation of their line is wonderful and they had a discount going of 30%, needless to say this was also a very popular booth.

I picked up a 'Highlighting Powder' pallet, 'Pressed Powder', 'Duraline', 'Face and Body Illuminator', 'Eyeliner Gel', 'Body Sparkles' in No 65, a four piece 'Freedom Blush System' and a five piece 'Freedom Eyeshadow System'.  Somehow my eyeshadow system seems to contain a colour I didn't pick out myself, the middle one, could of been a mix up at the booth so that's something to keep your eye on next year.  All this cost me about $200 plus they gave me a 20% off voucher for next time I shop online at their store.

Ben Nye is a brand I've heard a lot about and really wanted to try so I picked up the 'Media Pro HD Sheer Foundation 18 Colour Pallet' which cost $65 and they were also giving out free samples so I got one in 'Fair' and one in 'Bella'.  Unfortunately on my trip home to sunny Queensland the temp must have got too hot for my Ben Nye and a couple of the colours melted a bit :/ but they are all good now :)

Next up was 'Illamasqua' and 'OCC' (Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics).  I bought a 'Cream Foundation' in CF133 for $20 and two Lip Tars in 'Trollop' and 'Stalker', hehehe .... nice names!!! :D The Lip Tars were $14 each.

So all in all I'm happy with my stash of goodies, I would have liked to have seen some better discounts for us Aussie ladies because we really do pay a lot for our cosmetics here but I'm happy with what I got and that I came home with plenty of money too!!  The variety of booths was decent and the Student Competition was really interesting to see progress through the day.  

I didn't go to IMATS with any preconceived ideas on what it would be like, being in Australia IMATS is pretty new here and needs time to develop and grow into something sensational and something that meets our needs downunder.

My Weekend in Sydney .....

I flew out of Queensland on the Friday morning on a gorgeous sunny Spring day and arrived shortly after lunchtime to beautiful sunny Sydney, I was picked up from the Airport by my Uncle who was hosting my friend and I for the weekend.  Later in the day we met Katie at Central Station and settled her into the apartment too.  My Aunt joined us after her work and we all enjoyed getting to know each other a little better.  That night we went out for Thai food and saw some of the sights of Sydney like the Opera House and Harbour Bridge which we didn't climb but there's always next time. The 'Chinatown Night Market' was next on the agenda where we had a great time soaking up the atmosphere before heading back to the apartment for some chatting 'til late.

Up bright and early on Saturday, struggled to look half decent for a full day of IMATS where we met other YouTubers, Bloggers and Subscribers, it was so much fun! :D Watch out for my IMATS #2 video which will be up soon.

Other youtube and blogger girls I met at:

Kate - http://www.youtube.com/user/KatiieKhaos
Lucy -- http://www.youtube.com/MissPixieLulu
Alee -- http://www.youtube.com/user/aleesang
Jen - http://www.youtube.com/user/meejmuse
Dom -- http://www.youtube.com/user/DOMMsmiles
Reese - http://tropicofbeauty.com/
Pearl -- http://www.youtube.com/user/pearlbeauty1020
Rosie -- http://www.youtube.com/user/RJAD07
Shell -- http://www.youtube.com/user/shellbarbie
Sarah - http://www.youtube.com/user/alllldolledup
Samm - http://www.youtube.com/user/simplysamm762 

By the end of IMATS we were exhausted, my feet were 'KILLING' me (flat shoes next year) and it was raining so we caught a bus back instead of walking and spent the rest of the day meeting some of my relatives, going through our goodies, listening to Uncle's exciting stories and resting our feet.

Up again on Sunday which was again grey and raining and we decided we wanted to have a look for a couple more things at IMATS so we went back for a short time.  While waiting for my Aunt and Uncle to meet up with us for lunch we accidently wondered into an 'out of bounds' area (not quite sure how that happened :/) and proceeded to get lost,  I can't believe security had to come and find us in the bowels of the building ....   After our 'rescue' we headed to 'Westfield' for some late lunch after which Katie headed home and I continued the day with some more shopping.  

My Aunt and I came across a little store called 'Blush Cosmetics', I think they were opening a new store and they handed me a little bag with some samples inside which was really sweet and I'm looking forward to trying out.

 Sunday evening was spent relaxing and watching a DVD and listening to funny of stories of when my mum was young o_O

Monday I was up at 5.00am for an 8.00am flight back of sunny Queensland ..... what a wonderful weekend it was in Sydney, all too short and I just can't wait to visit again and see more of this great City.

My goodies from my weekend minus a ring I bought myself :)

Shoe Shopping ...

Hahaha I went shopping for shoes the other day for my Formal which is in November and of course you know how it is, when you want the shoes, they are never to be found :/ Last year I saw so many bejewelled sandals around with heels but I didn't need them and now this year I can't find any .... so what do you do?

You buy luggage instead ....  yep, I couldn't find shoes so I ended up with my new luggage :) these will see me good for IMATS and my Schoolies at the end of the year YAYYYYYYYYY!!!!!  I settled on the 'Lucca' Fluer de lis 24" suitcase, just loving the subtle pattern and the way it expands out to fit in all the stuff I'm gonna buy on my trips hahahaha .... and the 'Lanza' WM III Cabin Bag which is big enough to hold my makeup, brushes and my camera safely :) :) I got both these bags at 'Strand Bags' along with a courtesy card and $15 off! YAY again :)

  

Well at least my shopping trip wasn't a complete waste, hopefully next time I'll find my shoes!!! fingers crossed :)

IMATS Sydney 2011

I’m so excited, I’ve got my tickets booked, I get to go on a plane for the very first time, I get to see Sydney and I get to go to my very first IMATS :)

Yep, I’m talking about the Sydney IMATS 2011, it’s brought to us by ‘Makeup Artist Magazine’ and will be held on the 24^th and 25^th September at the Sydney Convention Centre at Darling Harbour. If you don’t know what IMATS stands for it means the ‘International Makeup Artist Trade Show’ and it is the perfect opportunity for professional and up-and-coming make-up artists to learn about the latest products and techniques on the market, stock their kits and meet other like minded people.  It’s not only for people in the trade though because anyone who has a love of makeup can attend this wonderful two day event and buy products that are hard to find in Australia hopefully at a reduced price. 

This is the third Sydney IMATS to take place and each year it’s bigger and better than the year before. We are pretty privileged because IMATS is only on in America, England, Australia and Canada so if we want to keep it here in Australia we need to spread the word so more people know about it and attend so that each year it will be better than the last.

There will be some great Speakers such as Napoleon Perdis, Rae Morris, Donna Mee and Pursebuz from YouTube just to name a few and there will be some great demonstrations taking place along with the Student Competition, this year’s themes are ‘tribal’ and ‘mythological’. There’s also a makeup museum where you can see some great ‘special effects’ sculptures and designs from film and television and if you’re looking at studying makeup artistry in the future there’s plenty of Academies showcasing their courses.

Just some of the exhibitors that will be there are Crown Brushes, Napoleon Perdis, Naked Cosmetics, Inglot, BodyFX, Mehron, Ben Nye and Makeup Forever just to name a few and MAC will have a stand there as well.

So I’m going to be there all day on Saturday and maybe catch a show or two on the Sunday, the doors open at 8.30am Saturday and 10.00am Sunday, so if anyone else is going and you see me there don’t be shy, come up and say hello cos I’d love to meet you and I know quite a few other Youtube Girls will be there (just look up IMATS Sydney 2011 on Youtube to see some other videos), so hopefully I’ll get to meet some of them. I’ll be making another video after IMATS letting you know what it was like and I’d love to include some other people in there. 

So yeah if you see me there, come up and say hello, I’ll be the one with the camera :)

'Balmy' Weather, IMATS and more ....

Well not really but it's the kind of weather you really need to use a lip balm, seriously, so I've been trying out a new one this past week on the recommendation of a friend, it's the 'Blistex Lip Conditioner' and to be honest I'm quite happy with it but it's not as moist as I was expecting :/  Another I tried recently was the Maybelline 'Baby Lips' which worked quite well but it really doesn't compare to my 'Lucas Paw Paw Ointment', I just keep on coming back to this one <3

I've been trying out some Hair Extensions this week, I've never used any before so it's a bit trial and error right now but I'm finding that practice makes almost perfect :)  I'll be doing a mini review and tutorial shortly with them so keep your eyes out.

My room has been moved!!!! Yeah I came home from school the other day and I'm in a different room now :/  It's pretty much the same as my last one and arranged the same but I now have a mirror behind me when I film which isn't a good thing, luckily my mum has a screen so this is what you may be seeing in my future videos instead of my room.

So last weekend I found I needed to get my nails infilled because they were starting to grow a little long and you could seen my nail tip below the french tip and I'd banged one of my nails and it was lifting a little, this ended up costing me $35.00, .....  I hope my nails start growing a little slower now or maybe I should start investing in some nail polishes ? :)

July is half way through which means it's not too far til September is here and we all know what September brings don't we?  Yep, that's right it's IMATS (International Makeup Artist Trade Show) in Sydney which is produced by 'Makeup Artist Magazine' and this will be my first ever time attending, it's on the 24th and 25th.  I'm super excited to be attending and even more excited that I'm going to see an old friend when I get down there and we'll discover the wonders of IMATS together.  I'm planning on catching a couple of demonstrations and will be vlogging throughout my trip.

IMATS

International Makeup Artist Trade Show

I hope I get to meet alot of new friends when I go :)

Schoolies 2011- getting organised!

I'm super excited because this is my final year of school and I will be doing Schoolies. For those who don't know what Schoolies is, it's when you get to go away with your friends after school finishes and celebrate, it's actually a month-long graduation festival celebrated by Year 12 school leavers from all around Australia. 


There are so many different places you can go and if you still haven't booked your trip there are sites that can help you with this, one place is:  Bookschoolies.com, they have packages available to book around Australia that suit many different budgets and tastes and you can also book your flights and transfers through them too. 


Most holiday destinations booked through this site also have the Red Frog people on hand

 

Red Frogs is an internationally recognized schoolies and universities support network which has been operating for over 12 years.   

The Red Frog Crew is most well-known for its service at schoolies and leavers festivals, where over 1200 volunteers aim to support school-leavers through their week-long celebrations, providing a positive presence within their party culture.  The Red Frog Crew assist school-leavers by walking young people home, cooking pancakes, cleaning rooms, handing out Allen’s Red Frogs and most importantly, offering emotional support through what can often be a challenging week, always remember at schoolies - safety first and safety in numbers, stay with your friends all the time and look out for each other.

Red Frogs also provide some of the best entertainment at schoolies week. 


I'm so happy I've booked my trip, now I can concentrate on my studies and other things that need to be done this year such as Formals, IMATS, QCS ,,,,,,, yerrrrrrrrrr!!!!


If you're in Year 11, now is the time to be thinking about schoolies, believe me when I say that the best places book out real early, my friends and I left our booking a little later than we would have liked so yeah, start thinking now and planning and SAVING for your special schoolies holiday.


Bookschoolies.com
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Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Schoolies/118778411384