The Annabelle Makeup Artists @ The Field MMVA Pre-Party

At the end of June I mentioned that I would be working at an event in Toronto for one of the pre-parties during the Much Music Video Awards.  I’ve finally gone through all of the photos, and thought I’d give a quick re-cap of how my day with Annabelle went.

It was definitely an early start, as I had to get ready and then make the drive into Toronto.  Interestingly enough, the drive was uneventful.. until the Gardiner got closer to downtown.  Traffic went from moving smoothly to a parking lot, I think it took me about 30 minutes just to exit at Spadina because of all the events going on that particular Saturday!

Despite the crazy traffic, it didn’t take me long to find parking that was relatively close to the venue – maybe a 5 minute walk! Thank goodness for that.

Once I reached Tryst, I went in and met up with my fellow MUA’s Patty (of Inside the Makeup Case – top left) & Jenn (of Spiced Beauty – middle right).  After introductions, we set about going through all the equipment and set up.

Note: ..wearing white during set up, not a good idea!  Thank goodness I brought another shirt.

We also met up with Robyn (of Fashionista 514) and her two interns Elle & Matthew.  Robyn was wearing an absolutely amazing zipper dress, by Montreal designer Denis Gagnon and her red lips were perfectly classic. Elle and Matthew were fantastic, both very personable and unfailingly polite. They were also responsible for the additional photos.. thanks guys!

It was a day of makeup, makeup and more makeup.  We started off working with the burlesque performers that would be showcased later in the day.  I had a blast with one woman, she brought a photo of Sophia Loren (how classic!) and explained she wanted intense, dark smokey eyes.  It was a real treat to recreate that type of look, and we were both delighted with the results.  Sadly, I didn’t have an opportunity or the time to snap a photo.

We kept busy with more of the performers and staff during the first part of the day, and then we had appointments with a few bands as well as any of the party goers who needed a touch up.  It was such a great experience, as this was my first ‘event’ setting.

Everyone was very friendly, and it the energy was fantastic.  So many people were beyond excited that they could get their makeup done.  I did everything from a full face, to just the eyes, a lip or powder touch-up.. and I got to experience the simplicity that is basic male makeup. A special thanks to all the gentlemen who served their faces up to my brushes!

It was a fantastic day, and I wanted to say thank you to everyone for the experience. It was a long day, and so I managed the drive home to all but pass out.

Kit Organization

Kit Shot

Elle & I

Instant Rapport

Karine (event co-ordinator) & I

Media requires perfection.. a touch of powder & concealer does the trick.

Patty & Pat (Stereos)

Rob (Stereos) & Jenn

Me & Aaron (Stereos)

Makeup took over the end of the bar.. LOL

A guest wanted me to intensify her smokey eye and touch up her gloss. FUN!

Just a short clip done by Robyn, earlier in the day. Enjoy!

Today I will be attending an event in Toronto; “The Field” Annual Pre-MMVA Bash. I was invited to participate with the Annabelle makeup team, which I’m beyond excited about.

This year’s much anticipated The Field Pre-MMVA Party will continue the tradition of star studded events that Executive Producer Cherie Sinclair has thrown for over the last 8 years. Throughout the past years, this party has garnered a reputation for being one of the most exciting events to attend over the weekend. The music industry’s most eclectic and celebrated people will be in attendance to create a dynamic atmosphere in an exclusive venue steps away from the MMVA’s.

It’s being held at Tryst in downtown Toronto, so with everything going on this weekend the drive and subsequent parking should be interesting.  I’ll definitely be taking photos and tweeting as much as I can around the actual work, but I thought I’d give you an early morning heads up.  Not much can get me up early on the weekend, but I know today will end up being a fabulous experience at the least.

After posting the photos I decided to do a video version as well, for those who may want a better look at some of the products.

Enjoy!

This past Friday I made the trek to Markham to attend the Estée Lauder warehouse sale. It was my second time going and it was just as much fun this time around, especially since I got to meet up with some other makeup fanatics. As always, it’s by invitation only and if you don’t have a ticket, you cannot enter. I arrived before 10:30 am, and while there was a line up it moved quickly. There was even some entertainment as the police on duty (yep, they have popo patrolling the entire area) who reminded everyone to write their name on the ticket so as not to hold up the line. Repeatedly. LOL

After my last experience I felt much more comfortable moving around the space, and I felt like my browsing was more efficient. I knew roughly where the points of interest were, which helped me navigate through all the rooms relatively quickly. It so happened that what I was after was in fact there, the old style pigment jars.. yay! I’ve got a lot of pressing to do now. By far though, the lip products were a great deal.. they were all $10 each and buy one get one free! Good times I say, good times.

Warehouse Haulage

I also managed to pick up the free gift and charity bag. The charity bags are fantastic, they cost $5 and the full proceeds to to charity. My bag contained a pearlglide eye liner, an eye shadow, a lipstick and a blush.. for $5!  The free gift was a Mineralized Skin Finish in Perfect Topping, a limited edition item from last year’s Sugarsweet collection.

If you have any questions about the sale or any of the products, just let me know.  Enjoy the photos. :]

Warehouse Haul: Concealer & Skin

Left to right;
mini Fix+, Fix+ Rose, Green Gel Cleanser, Charged Water (Renewal Defense), Charged Water (Revitalizing Energy)
Asphalt Flower Fragrance Blend
Select Cover Up (NC42), Select Cover Up (Corrector Green), Select Cover Up (Colour Corrector Yellow), Stilife Paint, Naked Honey Skin Salve

Warehouse Haul: Tools & Lashes

Left to right;
2 oz bottle, square powder puff
272 brush, 165 brush
#20 lash, #37 lash, pencil sharpener small, #38 lash, disposable mascara wands
#41 lash, pencil sharpener duo, #46 lash
#48 lash

Warehouse Haul: Pigment, Glitter & Eyeshadow

Left to right;
(Pigments) Golden Lemon, Mega Rich, Tan, Rose, Frozen White, Spiritualize, Deep Blue Green, Copperize, Chocolate Brown
Burnt Orange Eye Shadow
Rave Pearlglide Eye Liner
Alum Eye Shadow, Reflects Transparent Teal Glitter, Reflects Very Pink Glitter, Et Tu Bouquet? Eye Shadow

Warehouse Haul: Face

Left to right;
Pink Swoon Sheertone Blush, Otherworldly Sheertone Shimmer Blush, X-Rocks Sheertone Shimmer Blush, Eversun Beauty Powder Blush
(Mineralize Skin Finish) Brunette, Perfect Topping

Warehouse Haul: Lips

Left to right;
Poco Pink Lacquer, Rags to Riches Dazzleglass, Looks Like Sin Cremesheen Glass, Moonbathe Lipglass, Foolishly Fab Plushglass, Loving Touch See Thru Lip Colour, Wonderstruck Lustreglass
Lavender Whip Cremesheen Lipstick, What A Do! Frost Lipstick, Lovin’ It Lustre Lipstick, Grenadine Slimshine, Immodest Mattene
Saplicious Lipgelée

Haul videos are something that get a mixed review, but I thought that people might want a little bit more information about the products, since the In The Bag post was more pictorial.

There is always that pesky time limit, so for the first time I had to do some editing. Once I got the hang of it, it wasn’t so bad.. but I was definitely despairing when I realized that my 12 minutes and some odd seconds were not going to upload to YT. I tried to keep all the product info in tact, and cut out some of the chatter. Hopefully it’s not too choppy.

Enjoy!

Yesterday I attended the International Makeup Artist Trade Show in Toronto. The recent merger of the Canadian Makeup Show with IMATS made this the first to be held in the city. The event was held in Heritage Court at the Direct Energy Centre on the Toronto Exhibition grounds.  Since I was taking the train in, the location was perfect as it’s just a short walk from the Exhibition Go Station.  Granted, I found this out the hard way and walked all the way around the building, instead of taking the direct (and much shorter) route.  It did give me a nice tour of the grounds and the rest of the Direct Energy Center though.  I also met a security guard who was kind enough to direct me in the right direction.

Took me a bit, but I eventually found the venue.. LOL

Parking was $12 and there were options of underground and on ground lots. The outdoor lot wasn’t packed until much later in the day either, so that’s always a plus.

IMATS: Program Floor Plan

When I first walked into Heritage Court I was surprised at the size. While there were about 40 booths set up, it was smaller that what I had imagined. Granted, the photos I had seen of other shows were predominantly from the show held in Los Angeles. I had to remind myself that while Toronto is a big city, the overall population of the surrounding area isn’t comparable. Toronto boasts a larger population than L.A., however the entire Greater Toronto Area has a population of about 5.5 million compared to the Greater Los Angeles Area of 12.3 million. It doesn’t make sense to keep the same scale for a much smaller population, so with that in mind the surprise faded quickly.

I arrived as the doors opened and was greeted by security and directed to the registration table. Everyone was very friendly and I didn’t have to wait long to pick up my press pass, plus my IMATS shopping bag and program. I did find it strange that there was no place to check coats, due to the weather, but apparently there was one. Most visitors seemed to keep their coats, so I didn’t feel too silly for missing it.  Before getting too involved at any booths, I just walked around to get a feel for the set up. The circuit was pretty comfortable, there wasn’t too much walking involved and there were no epic hikes required to go back and check on things later in the day. I was surprised to see that there were a few booths that weren’t ready to go. While this didn’t affect me personally, if I was on a tight schedule I would have questioned the professionalism of the company.

Minutes after the doors opened, there was already a line up at the Make Up Forever Booth. By 9 o’clock there was a line snaking through the aisles, which only got longer as the day went on. As the brand is so popular, I feel like it would have been more efficient to have their booth placed in an area where the line wouldn’t interfere with other vendors. I had to cut through the line a few times just to see the products at a number of booths. Not cool.

IMATS: Danielle Fonseca @ Main Stage

I did love the placement of the stages though, that was awesome. The main stage actually felt like you were away from the buzz of the show, which made it very easy to focus on the speaker. I also loved the big screen, so that even those sitting at the back could see the details of application. The west end stage was much more open, but it was a great focal point of the show. I do feel that it could have used some more seating though, this was especially obvious during the student competition. There was also a notable lack of places to just sit, whether it was to eat or just take a load off. Some strategically placed chairs or benches would have been nice.

By mid-day I was feeling a bit hungry, and I was disappointed to find out that the only place to get food was a small concession. The idea of having to catch the street car or a cab to get food wasn’t appealing, which makes me wonder why there wasn’t anything else made available. The concession had sandwiches, salads, muffins, cookies, chips and drinks, but in my opinion the prices were inflated.

Overall, I think the venue was pretty good and I feel that the few small issues were just a matter of logistics for a new venue and will be remedied for next year’s show.

Taking the train home from IMATS

Today started very early. I didn’t want to miss my train, so I gave myself plenty of time to get ready. It was 6:40am when I left the house and pulled into the driveway at 6:15pm!  Talk about a long day, but it was very much worth it.  It was my first time attending a trade show and in particular it was the International Makeup Artist Trade Show, hosted for the first time in Toronto.  I’ve got a few stories, lots of information and tons of photos to share, plus some people to shout out.  Tonight though, I’m pretty much exhausted.  Instead of keeping everything for a mega post here’s a quick peek at what I picked up:

• IMATS bag
• company literature
• goodies galore

It was a great day and an excellent overall experience, especially since I got to share it with fellow makeup addicts (and budding addicts).  I will do a more detailed run down of the show in the next few days, but I will say that I will definitely be returning next year!  Good times indeed.

Much more to follow tomorrow!

IMATS: Catalogs & Program

IMATS: Product Lists, Flyers & Business Cards

IMATS: MAC Pro Face Charts & Notepad

IMATS: Products Galore

This year there was the addition of a Canadian venue to the International Makeup Artist Trade Show circuit. Which means that I will be in Toronto next weekend to check out the event! I’ve managed to convince a friend of mine to come along, which will just make it all the more fun.

Make-Up Artist magazine produces the International Make-Up Artist Trade Show (or IMATS), the only show serving make-up artists worldwide. Five times a year, in four countries, thousands of make-up artists, vendors, manufacturers and enthusiasts join the make-up word’s biggest gathering. At IMATS, participants display, discover, discuss and collect the best the industry has to offer. IMATS also offers excellent presentations, classes and demonstrations from industry leaders—and it’s the best place to network with colleagues.

During the mid-‘90s, there were no trade shows specifically for make-up artists. Because artists and cosmetics companies had expressed interest in such a show, Make-Up Artist publisher Michael Key held the first IMATS in August 1997. It offered a diverse mix of presentations, products, demonstrations and education by some of the biggest names in the business. Like Make-Up Artist magazine, IMATS continues to further Key’s vision to educate and reach make-up artists around the world.

The show is held five times annually—in London in January; Vancouver, B.C. in April; Los Angeles in June, Sydney in September and Toronto in November. (from imatsshow.com)

Not only am I looking forward to the vendors and showcases, but there are a number of speakers that interest me.  I think that it may be a bit of a visual and information overload!  I’m so excited, and I’ll definitely be bringing my camera.

If you haven’t heard about it, and you’re interested check out the website for general information as well as ticket information.

Warehouse Sale Tickets

I found out on Thursday that there was a warehouse sale this weekend, and I was determined to get there. It’s not open to the public, an invitation is required to access the venue. With this in mind, I started checking out some different avenues. It seems quite a few people buy their tickets, and I saw them range in price from $25-$50 on kijiji. I sent out an inquiry to one of these ads as a backup, before I went to my local counter. I just asked about the event at the counter, and if there was some sort of criteria to get the tickets. There isn’t, they are given out to employees who can use them for themselves or pass them on to family, friends or customers as they see fit.  It so happened that the makeup artist I spoke with wasn’t going, and was kind enough to give me her entire envelope which had tickets for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  To say I had a private squeal of joy once I got back to my car would be an understatement. The only downside is that I couldn’t find anyone that could make use of the Saturday tickets, which is a shame.

Friday morning saw me up early, I picked up a friend (who was willing to put up with my makeup shennannigans) and we headed out to Markham.  The drive was relatively uneventful (thank you 407) and the fairgrounds were really easy to find with ample parking.  There was a lineup when we got there, but it moved relatively well and it was probably only a 30-40 minute wait.

Warehouse: Waiting In Line

Once inside it was not packed, which I appreciated.  It was set up strangely though, since there were tables in three different buildings. There weren’t any particular brand sections, rather there were product sections such as: perfumes, bags/totes, foundations, face powders, eye shadow/base, palettes, lip products etc.  Moving through the buildings was slow going just because of the sheer volume of products available. I remember laughing at the spending limit before we got inside, and then once I saw everything, it didn’t seem so laughable anymore. I felt like a kid in a candy store, especially with some of the limited editions and discontinued items that I had previously missed out on.

Warehouse: Crowd

Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to take many photos inside, because my hands were very quickly full with bags. But obviously when I got home I sorted through everything, and this is what I came away with.

Warehouse Haul: Fafi Tote

Warehouse Haul

My favourites of the day included: mini bottle of Fix+, Fafi tote bag, matte2 eyeshadows, mineralize skin finishes, kohl power liners and cremestick pearl liners.

Yes, I realize that it’s a lot of stuff.  I still haven’t decided what to do with all of it.  Obviously some of it will be staying in my collection, and some of it will be gifted or passed on to people that didn’t get a chance to attend.  I think I’ve officially entered into the ‘I’ve got lots of new in box makeup’ stage.  It’s almost surreal, since my collection has always been very functional.

It was a great day and a wonderful experience, and I will definitely be sending a thank you note to that particular makeup artist for being so kind. I also hope that I’ll be able to attend another time with some more advanced notice, so it can be better planned and budgeted for. I definitely regret not being able to pick up some more lip products and the traincase, but there’s always next time.