This past weekend, I attended my first IMATS and it was a makeup lover's dream world. IMATS is the International Makeup Artist Trade Show where there a ton of classes and a multitude of makeup products. The best part about it is all the discounted shopping. I loved attending and I hope to go next year as well. One of the best parts about it is all of the people watching and looking at everyone's makeup. Everyone was so incredibly talented.

Now for the hauling part:

As soon as Andrea (ig: @andreahaaland_makeup) and I got inside the doors of IMATS, we sprinted to the Morphie Brush display. I picked up 7 morphie brushes and later in the day got that real techniques brush for free at a booth. I picked up (from left to right) the E45, E6, E14, E29, E36, E4, and G23.
The E45 is the perfect precise contour brush. I have been loving using it with cream or powder products to get precise contour lines. The E6 is a simple flat top foundation brush and I picked it up because I have never had a plain flat top brush. I have been loving using it to apply my foundation, it gives a heavier hand than my standard beauty blender or real techniques sponge. The E14 is a lot fluffier than I thought it was going to be. It's good for doing quick packing of colors all over the eye, but I find if I use it for a lid color it gets some in my crease. A very nice brow brush, I have been enjoying the E29. I need a little more use out of it to give a good review. Oh how I LOVE the E36. This is probably my favorite brush out of the bunch. It is the perfect color for doing a precise crease, especially the trendy cut crease. You can really get precise eye looks out of it and it does a beautiful job building up color. I really want to order like 4 of these so I can use them for more precise work all over my face and eyes. A simple angled brush, the E4 gets the job done. My favorite sigma angled brush had all the bristles falling out so I thought I'd give the Morphie one a try and it's pretty amazing. Finally, I picked up the fan brush, G23. I find that it's a bit hard to get the perfect amount of highlighter on it, but that could be user error. Other than that, I have been loving it for my highlighter. The free real techniques brush is a decent powder brush, but I do prefer my IT cosmetics one.

So, I went a bit crazy in the glitter department. I got 3 glitters from Eye Kandy Cosmetics. I am not 100% sure of the shades, but one is a rose gold, one is a purple, and one is the holiday white sparkle one. I also got a glitter from Sugarpill in the copper color (the most wearable one) and an inglot glitter in a champagne color.

Continuing on the Morphie trend, I got two single eyeshadows in a dark purple and light purple. I have only used the dark purple as of now and it is perfect for the crease for a natural purple look. At NYX I purchased the contour and highlight palette. I have been LOVING the contour shades. I find the highlight shades in it to not suit my skin color as well. I also purchased their highlight palette and the purple shade in there is amazing. It comes off as a very pale almost white color and if you use a tiny bit of it you can create a beautiful highlight. I have been using a fan brush to apply it lately. 2 Z-palletes, one in medium and one in large were necessary for my collection. I'm so excited to depot and condense my collection. My final product in the bunch is a NYX blush which is a gorgeous pink with a hint of a rosey peachy mix of a color. I am so excited to play with it.

Moving on to one of my favorite groups, first I picked up a backup of my favorite mascara, the Too Faced Better Than Sex. I also got a full size of the Smashbox Primer Water because I had been trying a sample for a week and was loving it. It really helps my face stay moisturized and my makeup stay on all day long. I got a barbie pink Too Faced Melted Lipstick in Melted Marshmallow. I have been loving posting looks with it on my instagram: @missmonicamarieboss. It is a gorgeous liquid lipstick that does not dry out your lips at all. I picked up two brow products from Anastasia, the brow gel (which I needed a new one because I used up my old one) and the brow wiz in taupe. I have been loving the brow wiz for the way I can precisely fill in my eyebrows. I got a bag of beauty blenders, 3 regular, 1 mini, and a small blender cleanser to refill my stock. I'm still figuring out whether I like the mini one or not. I also picked up a lipstick and lip liner from Smashbox in peachy shades.

Ardell had a crazy lash sale of 8 for $20 so I jumped on that and got a ton. I also picked up some cheaper lashes to place on girls when I do their invite makeup. For my personal collection I picked up 3 House of Lashes lashes and a case for them. I love the quality on these and I am so excited to use them for a special occasion.


My makeup from the day is pictured to the right. I did a purpley pink smokey eye with the Ardell lashes in 120. I also put on the Too Faced Melted Mashmallow lipstick as soon as I bought it.

I hope you enjoyed this lengthy description of my IMATS haul!

xoxo,

Monica Marie