IMATS Toronto 2010: A Quick Summary

Posted by Tamara in event | 6 comments

Simply put, yesterday was a lot of fun.

It was my second time attending IMATS Toronto and there was obvious improvement from last year.  Initially, I wasn’t impressed with the change of venue for a few reasons.  First, I wasn’t impressed with how far removed the Congress Centre is from downtown Toronto and second, I (personally) found Heritage Court (on the Exhibition grounds) to be very convenient because of the GoTrain stop just a short walk away.  After yesterday’s experience I will say that the Congress Centre is a gorgeous and spacious venue, especially with the ample free parking.  I can’t speak to the ease of public transport since I drove this year, but since it is near to the airport I would imagine it’s manageable.

My only complaint was that the on-site ATM wasn’t working in the morning (there was a lineup in the afternoon though – LOL); which is quite inconvenient since most (if not all) of the vendors deal exclusively with cash or credit.

There were more vendors than last year, and the set-up was very easy to navigate.  The busier booths even had different systems set up to allow for easier browsing and to minimize line-up congestion.  The stages were set up a bit differently, but with two flat screens for the runway stage and a massive screen for the main stage, it was always easy to see the presenters and their models.  Though I did feel like there was less seating available, but that may have been due to the fact that so many more people were present.  Sadly, I missed a number of the presentations I had planned on seeing because of limited seating.

The highlights of the show for me included:

• Meeting fellow beauty bloggers & vloggers!

• Chatting with fellow makeup fiends – it’s amazing when people actually understand and relate to your rant about foundation/lip gloss/mascara – LOL!
• The entries for student competition.

• Randy Daudlin’s broken nose, special effects demo.
• Dani Fonseca’s air brush demo for Temptu.
  

  Dani Fonseca: Air Brushing from Barely There to Dramatic

• Koren Zander’s brush demo for Crown Brush.
  

  Koren Zander: Application Tips & Tricks

• Embryolisse with their Lait-Creme Concentrate (2 full size + 1 travel size for $45)
• Face Atelier with their Ultra Foundation ($19-27).
• Graftobian and their foundation palettes (18 shades for $55).
• NYX with the sheer number of products at great discounts.
• Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics with their lip tars ($10).
• Royal & Langnickel with their fantastic brush sets, brushes, brush belts.. etc. LOL – a brush paradise!

While I did plan to pick up a few things this year, I didn’t budget a significant amount because I don’t really need a lot these days.  However, next year may prove differently.  If I find that I’m doing more freelance work, I will definitely be investing in some more kit items because IMATS is definitely the place to do that.

Did you go this year?  What did you think?