IMATS London 2013

 It's hard to believe that this time last week I was in London! Time seriously goes way too fast when your on holidays, I had such an amazing trip whilst I was there which you can read all about here. Three days definitely didn't give me enough time to explore this lively city so I'm hoping to pop back towards the end of the year. The main reason behind my trip to London last week was to attend the much talked about IMATS. Having never been before I didn't know what to expect. I was lucky enough to have a Press Pass for Saturday and Sunday, in the end I decided to go on Saturday as I was going to be visiting Paddy's Sister on Sunday.

As I was staying in the Holiday Inn Express in Stratford, East London, it was nowhere near Kensington where IMATS was taking place. I should really look up Google Maps in the future before I book hotel! The location of our hotel didn't really bother us at all, I found that we saw more of London this way. We had an early start on Saturday morning as I wanted to get to IMATS early before the crowds. I was so glad Paddy was there to keep me company as I didn't realise how packed the tubes get, I have to admit I was a bit overwhelmed. Two long train rides later we were in Kensington, we did get off the wrong stop and ended up walking 40 mins to the venue. I seriously don't know how we got it so wrong but we did find our way in the end.

After collecting my Press Pass at the door, I headed inside to check out all the exhibitors. I had a couple of places e.g Crown Brush & Make Up Forever etc. that I wanted to go to first. Even though I didn't want to splurge on the day I did end up spending more money than I expected. I shouldn't of been too surprised as this seems to always be the case lately. The queues for some exhibitors e.g NYX, MAC Pro, Nars etc. were unreal. Instead of wasting my time queuing up for an age, I decided to have a wander around the venue itself. The special effects makeup on show was amazing! I did get quite a fright when I saw a huge monster on stilts started running towards me and started touching my hair with giant claws. Doubt I'm going to forget that anytime soon! I caught a bit of Bobbie Weiner's demonstration on how to create zombie skin. She was such a great speaker and the two looks she created were super spooky and would be perfect for Halloween. Of course she made it look so easy, I doubt I'd be able to recreate it myself. If you haven't heard of Bobbie Weiner before, her work has appeared in a number of Broadway shows and blockbuster movies such as Titanic, Shooter, Wicked and Behind Enemy Lines to name but a few. I seriously enjoyed her talk, it was so interesting and I took a lot away from it. On the day I met up with two lovely bloggers Jade from The Beauty Butterfly and Joanna from Minty Essence, it was so nice to finally meet them after reading both of their blogs for so long. Jade also helped me pick out the perfect shade of Make Up Forever's HD Foundation which ended up being the perfect match for my skintone. I've been using it a lot since I bought it!

We left just before 2pm as I was shopped out plus I was way too warm. Paddy and I headed for a bite to eat in Pizza Express, lots of IMATS attendees must of had the same idea as it was so busy!! All in all three hours gave me enough time to see all I wanted to see at IMATS. I picked up a good few bargains which you'll see in my London Beauty Haul post which is coming soon! The only thing I'd probably do differently next year is book a Central hotel. Not that I minded too much this time around but it definitely would have made things easier. If your planning on visiting IMATS yourself in the future, I'd recommend going early on Saturday to beat the crowds. It starts getting really busy after the 12 o'clock mark. I'd also write down a list of what exhibitors you want to check out on the day, also don't forget to pick up a floor plan map at the door as you want to know where the booths are that you want to check out. Lastly THINK before you BUY! I know there are fabulous discounts at IMATS and I usually go wild myself in this sort of situation. However I did find myself stepping back and thinking before I bought certain products while I was there. I'm pretty happy with the majority of the purchases I made on the day, one or two things were products that I may not of needed seeing as I have plenty of eyeshadows at home.

I hope you enjoyed this insight into my time at IMATS! I'm pretty sure I took enough pictures so you guys could join in on the experience. I'd love to know if you have been to IMATS before and what you enjoyed.

Laura<3