IMATS LA 2011

QUICK RECAP (in case you don't want to read the whole thing)


This year just like last was so much fun and we got to see so much amazing talent. We met tons of new people and ran into some familiar faces. We walked all over as much as possible so that we could see everyone and everything. We tagged all of our locations pretty much every time we left the convention center since we had shadows and gloss to give away and just in case anyone who wanted to find us could. We laughed until my abs and cheek muscles hurt. Things didn't go as planned all the time but we rolled with it and still had more fun than anyone should be allowed to have in one weekend. This year was harder than last year for me since I am 5 months pregnant and obviously more tired but I didn't want to miss anything. If you are interested in more details for the trip and want to hear some funny stories keep reading :)




I'm sure most of you know this past weekend June 25-26th) was IMATS (International Makeup Artist Trade Show) and this year just like last was so much fun. Last year the wait seemed like years probably because I had no idea what to expect. This year I felt like it was time to go and I wasn't even quite prepared.


I flew out of Houston early Friday morning and met up with Vee (glamourdolleyes) in Phoenix so we could fly together to LAX. My little one got sick in the middle of the night so neither me or my husband slept so I knew the weekend was gonna be long. Thankfully my husband had taken a 4 day weekend so he was gonna be home with him. If not my trip would have been cancelled before it even started. Yay for awesome husbands lol..


Once we got to L.A. we got our rental car, met up with Piper (LuckyPiper) and went to meet the rest of the crew at the Venice Beach. We met up with Olivia, Angie, Aimee, The Chealseas, and Mamma Glamour. We walked the beach for a bit and did some observing since Venice Beach is full of entertainment. For lunch we stopped at what I believe is the only sit down restaurant on the beach? It was pretty awful. Food and especially service wise. It was so hectic I wasn't paying attention to the waiter only taking drink orders and I gave him my food order. He basically yelled at me for that haha. Then when I asked for more water he ignored me.. Not fun at all. My hamburger was half decent but the pizza that some of the girls got was topped with grease. Eww I do not recommend.


After we left the beach we sat in LA traffic for hours trying to get to the hotel. We dropped off our stuff and hung out for a few hours before heading to Islands for dinner. We ate at Islands last year 2-3 times and it was delicious. The service is so friendly and fast and the food is amazing. I had tacos the first night with a side of onion rings. They have THE best onion rings. They are huge and crunchy and not greasy. YUM anyways moving on. haha I believe we also went to Sephora after dinner but the days kinda run together. After dinner we stayed up pretty late visiting and laughing of course.


Saturday IMATS Day 1

We decided before the trip even started that we were gonna be in line really early both days so that we could get the shopping out of the way and be able to walk around more. Last year since we stayed in Hollywood we had further of a drive so we didn't make it early. We spent hours and hours just in lines and didn't get to walk around as much. We planned so much better this year since we knew what to expect. I woke up at 5am so that I could start getting ready before the girls woke up. We got ready, Vee picked up the rest of the girls from the other hotel down the road and we headed to the convention center. We got in line about 7:40. At that time the line was already half around the building. Vee and I decided to go to the entrance so she could get her press pass and we wanted to see who we could find in line. This time going in was so much faster. We still had to wait for our wrist bands but we got in so much quicker and started shopping right away. The first place I hit was Inglot. The line there was really unorganized so it made it hard for me to look and try to swatch. Basically you went up to the table (when you could get close) and started making a list, hand it in then you paid. I had to wait several hours to pick up my palette though. Once most of our first day shopping was out of the way we started walking up and down the whole exhibit floor. It felt like we walked 100 miles just on Saturday alone. It was nice though since last year we didn't see half of the people or booths due to being stuck in line so long. Since we stayed within walking distance we dropped off the things we bought so far and went to lunch. After lunch my next big booth was MUFE. The purchasing process was much more organized this year. Last year the line wrapped around the products so it was really hard to swatch and play around with every thing. The line this year was away from the products and they employees took orders from pro members then sent a text when the order was done. So I didn't have to wait in line except to pick up which wasn't bad. It did take a few hours to get the text so we didn't leave the show until around 445. At least I was wasn't waiting in line that whole time. The rest of the girls had an appointment to get tattoos in Hollywood later that night so Olivia and I decided since we weren't getting one we would go to the room, order in dinner then crash early. Of course nothing goes according to plan haha. The girls ended up not being able to get tattoos so they headed back and we decided on Cheesecake Factory. Olivia and I were in walking distance from the hotel but decided to drive since we were already ready for bed and so tired. There was so much traffic we could have walked back and forth 10 times by the time we finally got to park lol.. The rest of the GDE crew got there around 1045 so we had a really late dinner. I ordered Edamame and a small Greek salad both were amazing!! The Edamame was the best I have ever had. It was so tender. This was the first time I ate at Cheesecake Factory so I was pretty impressed with the food and service. When we got back to the room around 1230 Olivia and I decided to watch this hilarious comedian on HBO while Vee was showering. I laughed so hard (and loud of course cause you know me) I woke up Vicki who was staying next door. So she came over and visited with us for a while then around 2 something we had to get to sleep. We were all exhausted.



Sunday IMATS day 2

Since IMATS didn't open until 10 and again we had most of the shopping out of the way there was no reason to get up at 5am so I slept until around 8am which was much needed. We got ready and decided to grab brunch at Camille's Cafe which was right across from the convention center. It, just like most of our food (minus Venice Beach) was really good. I ordered a wrap Tex Mex wrap. After we got done we headed over to the convention center for a drag makeup class which was pretty good. The artist was Romero (I believe) from MAC. Even though it was a drag technique he had some really good eyebrow and highlighting advice. I'm glad we caught the class. The rest of the day was pretty much the same as Saturday. We browsed/shopped and met up with other makeup lovers. I got my eyes done at Lit with glitter!!. The guy was pretty cool and loved our GDE shirts and Vee's business cards. He hooked all of us up that bought with an extra glitter color. We stayed to pretty much the very end of the show again on Sunday just walking around since it was emptier and making sure there wasn't anything we forgot. A lot of products were sold out of course and MUFE was no longer taking orders which broke my heart haha I decided last minute I needed a few more things. Oh well there is always next year. For dinner we ate at the Yard House again amazing food. I ordered Edamame (no where near as good as Cheesecake Factory) and Calamari. The Calamari was delicious though. Not greasy and the breading was perfect. I gave all the babies to Amber cause I only like the rings. Vee ordered Truffle Fries which I had never even heard of and they were pretty good. Definitely better than the regular fries. This dinner is where the term "Orphan Slider" came from in case you see that saying from one of us haha ...Thanks Olivia This was also the night that the DIY 3rd row seating came from and the What's in Your Bag Chevy Equinox style. Just like the whole time we laughed so hard I'm pretty sure I stopped breathing more than once.





I will have a list of things I bought with reviews coming soon.