USED:
Studio Fix Fluid
Mineralize Skinfinish Natural
Anastasia Brow Pencil
Warm Soul Mineralize Blush
Femmi Fi Eyeshadow
Smoke & Diamonds Starflash
Sunset B. Starflash
Feline Kohl Power
Plushblack Mascara
Strobe Beam

used/
prep+prime skin
studio fix
anastasia brow pencil
solar riche bronzer
northern light mineralize skinfinish
urban decay primer potion
delft paint pot
fresh green mix
engaging
boot black
plushblack
whirl lip pencil
mellow mood
cultureclash

stila - a sponsor of the event, their booth was the first aside from The Powder Group that I stopped off at upon entering. They had a beautiful, home-y set up with vintage looking chairs and rugs and a couple vanities. Most of the booths were selling product and stila was no exception. Working at the booth were some of stila’s pro artists, artists I recognized and was thrilled to speak with. As I mentioned in Part I, I attended a seminar by stila’s Sarah Lucero that I really enjoyed. From stila, I bought: (1) stila lip glaze in apricot and (2) stila holiday candles in green tea.

Lancôme - another sponsor of the event, Lancôme’s booth surprised me because while they had product on display, they didn’t seem to have a lot of product for sale. They were, however, giving out free gift bags, and i was very happy and fortunate to receive (1) Définicils Mascara. I was actually setting out to purchase the mascara at the event, when one of Lancôme’s National Makeup Artists working the event told me they weren’t even selling it — just giving it away! I was pretty thrilled. They also gave me a postcard entitling me to a discount on a purchase at Lancôme at The Boutique in NYC, but I wasn’t able to use it while I was there. The postcard reads, “LANCOME LOVES MAKEUP ARTISTS.” Me too!

alcone - a sponsor of the event, the alcone booth was one that was great for me to stop and stare at, but with the very little freelance work I’m doing at the moment, it wasn’t necessary that I pick anything up. I was very, very close to getting my coveted RCMA palette of foundations (highly recommended by Mama Makeup) but I skipped out last minute. Maybe next year, because they offered me a really great deal…

Temptu - a huge sponsor of the event, Temptu had a lot of great airbrushing demonstrations going on throughout both days. It goes without saying that the Temptu artists are incredible, and it appeared as if they were working with some great product. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to (get close enough to the booth! to) try out any products.

KRYOLAN - not to be judged by their shabby website, KRYOLAN had a huge booth at The Makeup Show (the equivalent to two or three spaces.. huge!) and lots of product to see and play with. I was very happy to speak with an artist who told me about the company and product. I was very impressed with the shadows and blushers I swatched; KRYOLAN is known for the pigmentation of their products and I definitely found that they lived up to their name. I decided not to purchase anything at this booth but I will probably purchase a few colors in the future for those really bright & bold looks I love.

Cover Girl & MAX Factor - it was interesting to see these two at The Makeup Show. I didn’t spend much time at the booth but I heard that they gave out some great gift bags. I think it is good for them to be at these types of events, and for people to see them there, because the truth is they reach a great number of consumers that some companies never will. My personal beef with MAX Factor aside, I really do wish that I would have talked with them and received a few products to try out.

Smashbox - Smashbox was not as huge of a presence at the show as I expected! The booth next to them, Kissable Couture, stayed busy the ENTIRE two days (I had never heard of them!) and I think they either blended in or were overshadowed by that. I honestly don’t think I got close enough to the booth to see what, if anything, they were selling, unfortunately.

Graftobian Makeup Co. - This was such an exciting booth for me! Graftobian does airbrushing and special effects, and they had two great airbrush artists who did demonstrations over the two days that were amazing. It was rather cold in there so I felt bad for the girl whose body was completely airbrushed, but it was beautiful and the two gentleman were extremely talented, open, fun, and happy to be there. I spent quite a bit of time at this booth just watching them work.

Make-up Designory - I was happy to see MUD at the show because I had considered applying there a few times and was really excited to be able to see the product that they sell, along with the people who work for them/graduated from the school. I spoke with someone who was working the booth and she said that most of the people working there had graduated from MUD and now were working in the MudShop. I was able to catch a fantastic seminar on quick prosthetics put on by Paul Thompson, director of education at MUD LA and all around awesome guy. I really enjoyed his attitude and his talent, of course! He gave some great advice and as someone who has never delved into prosthetics at ALL, he made me feel confident about trying it out. He also passed out a few scars for us to take home and play with. I’ve yet to do so but I’m really looking forward to messing around with them! As far as the MUD product, I enjoyed swatching it all and found that they were pretty comparable to MAC — some of the colors even had the same name as MAC colors, which I thought was funny. I didn’t end up buying anything at this booth though.

Make Up For Ever - YUM! What can I not say about this booth? First of all, it was constantly packed. Constantly. I was lucky enough to find a spot to slide into and check out some of the products, thank God. I really had high hopes about this and they totally lived up to it. The shadows were all really pretty and I was very impressed by all of the foundations and concealers as well. Make Up For Ever recently launched High Definition Foundation that is supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread, and they had an exclusive display at The Makeup Show (this was before it was available to customers, I believe). So that was a lot of fun. The whole HD is something that I think every line will be coming out with because, for professional brands, it’s totally necessary with the advancements in the definition in film and print work. MUFE is definitely an innovator, and they’ve stepped their game up with this one, so I’m excited to see what will follow! I resisted MAJOR temptation in avoiding buying anything at this booth.

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics - a really fun booth fitting of a really fun company. They have loads of pigments, including a red that they claim is eye safe! I was very impressed but didn’t test it out on my eyes, so can’t comment on that. They had a few demo’s going on and I even watched them airbrush Sharon Gault’s foundation on the first day - that was fun. Below is a picture of one of the artists airbrushing a model (with some fierce hair).

Mehron - Impressed with what I saw of this company, the salespeople were a bit pushy and I didn’t really appreciate that (it’s a professional event and it was just awkward) but they had an amazing artist doing some body/face painting. After seeing her work I really decided it’s true that as long as you’re a talented artist it doesn’t matter WHAT you use, but the products showed up amazingly and they had a variety of colors and textures, including a great metallic loose pigment that can be used dry or wet, and when it’s wet it looks like aluminum foil or gold leaf, it was beautiful.

ColorOn Professional - Normally I’d just say nothing about this but a lot of people have asked me what I think, and I just don’t like it. First of all, it takes all of the fun out of makeup artistry, and it DOESN’T decrease the work you put into it if you do it yourself. That is the only way I would understand the appeal in it, if it was so much easier to do, but it’s not. There’s still blending involved, shapes have to be altered depending on your eye shape/size, the patterned ones are weird and achieved pretty easily with a brush and some fluidline, and it’s an overcomplicated process, in my opinion. Whew, long sentence. Basically I thought it was pointless. I saw a few demonstrations and I thought it was gimmicky and inappropriate for the event. From what I learned by eavesdropping on several conversations, my opinion was reflected in many of the people in attendance, but yeah, there’s my two cents.

Wolfe Brothers Face Art & FX - one of my favorite booths because they had an amazing body painting artist and a model for all day, both days. The first day was a crazy neon, blocky, retro look (pictured below) and the second day was MY favorite, a beautiful pattern he made himself and a little shout out to The Makeup Show (also pictured below)! I spent a great deal of time just watching him work and was very impressed with the Wolfe Brothers’ products. Not made for my line of work, but great nonetheless.

Shu Uemura - Seeing Shu at the show was a huge and pleasant surprise to me, because they were oddly not listed among the exhibitors on The Makeup Show’s website. They were positioned perfectly right beside Anastasia Beverly Hills and I did some damage at both booths! It was pretty busy but I was able to purchase a few things from a beautiful pregnant woman working the booth. From Shu Uemura, I bought: (1) critically acclaimed eyelash curler, which I love, and (1) pair of false lashes in Slant Black. I am desperate to try their liquid eyeliner pen… soon!

Anastasia Beverly Hills - So if you don’t already know I absolutely adore my Brow Pencil, and I was so stoked to see that Anastasia had a booth at the show. I watched the artists there reshape many a brow (they were waxing for free with some purchase, also!) and every. single. one. of the people working the booth were ROCKIN IT. As I said in my most recent video, I have become such a brow snob, and they are the reason. And I love it and wouldn’t want to be any other way. Here are the products I bought that I bought that changed my life: (1) set of brow stencils and (1) clear brow gel. My explanation of these three products (including my brow pencil) will come in a probably long video in which I squee over the utter amazingness of this line. GO. NOW! ANASTASIA IS AVAILABLE IN YOUR LOCAL SEPHORA AND SELECT NORDSTROM LOCATIONS.

MAC PRO - Of course I save my baby for last, right? In my last entry I talked about the NYC PRO store and how incredible it truly is, but I kept from you all that I purchased there. Well, while I was at the PRO store I asked about when they would be selling Neo Sci-Fi, Solar Field, and Future Earth collections. I was told that it wouldn’t be until Thursday, so imagine my surprise when I walk up to the beautiful MAC PRO booth at the show and there sit the collections! Needless to say I had to buy some! By the way, the booth at the show was beautiful and matched the aesthetic of the NYC PRO store.. very mod and nice. Without further ado, I present to you what I bought from MAC PRO: Grape PRO Pigment, Ruby Red PRO Pigment, Kelly Green PRO Pigment, Soft Brown Eyeshadow, Sci-Fi-Delity Lipstick, Pink Grapefruit Lipglass, Invisible Set Powder, Studio Fix, Studio Fix Fluid, 187 Brush, 129 Brush, 239 Brush, All Black Fibre Rich Mascara, Studio Moisture Fix, Phosphor Nail Lacquer, Metalist Nail Lacquer, Neon 8 Nail Lacquer, and Plasma Blue Nail Lacquer.

WHEW! This took a long time, haha. If you have any questions about my purchases or a specific booth/company I didn’t talk about, feel free to ask in the comments!

USED//
Studio Fix Fluid
Mineralize Skinfinish Natural
Anastasia Brow Pencil
Solar Riche Bronzer
X Rocks Blush
Urban Decay Primer Potion
Bare Study Paint Pot
Femmi Fi
Expensive Pink
Time & Space
Beauty Marked
Scatterrays Solar Bits (with Mixing Medium)
Graphic Brown Fluidline
Fiber Rich Mascara
Pink Treat Cremestick Liner
Pleasureseeker Lipstick
Pucker Tendertone

I took this trip by myself - only my third time ever to NYC and definitely my first time in such a huge city alone. I flew into LaGuardia and had a shuttle scheduled to take me downtown. He arrived about forty-five minutes after I landed and then proceeded to wind me (quite impatiently) through loads of back roads to avoid paying any tolls. It took an hour to get to my hotel. I stayed at The Time, which is very nice and located in the perfect spot off Times Square. Because I was by myself I didn’t eat at restaurants very much during my stay, and instead found The Belly Delly Deli, right around the corner from my hotel, which I frequented for breakfast and dinner.

I flew in on Saturday, quickly got settled, and headed straight to the MAC PRO store.. of course! Most of you probably know that MAC PRO NYC is a flagship store, recently renovated, unlike any other MAC store and absolutely beautiful. It is completely concealed; there’s no number on the overhang, you have to be buzzed through the the narrow front door, and you have to take an elevator to the second floor to get to the PRO store, though there is absolutely no sign. The whole mystery of the place was thrilling for me. I happened to come upon an employee standing in the doorway, who apparently knew I was looking for the PRO store before I was able to ask him “where’s 7?” He let me in, which allowed me to avoid figuring out how to be buzzed in.

The store itself is a different aesthetic than any other MAC store or counter. It’s very much a modern, almost back-to-the-basics look with what looked like stained and partly rusted sheet iron. They are also utilizing the new MAC PRO logo, which reminds me much more of the art of MAC than the previous logo.

Apart from the hugeness of the store, there are several aspects that make it the flagship store it is. There is a studio prepared for photo shoots (by appointment, of course) for makeup artists to build their portfolios or experiment if they desire. There is also what they call “the archive,” which has a library with the most amazing fashion and makeup book collection I’ve ever seen. There are two Macs(!) in the archive for your surfing pleasure — actually, to be honest, I’m not entirely sure what the computers are there for. (My hotel didn’t offer free internet in the rooms so I checked my email — shh! Ha!)

There is a huge station on the far wall with the jars of all different colored pigments. I think the secret has gotten out of the bag by now, but most of the jars are actually painted to appear as if there are pigments inside, though I did see a few actually filled with the precious powders. Unfortunately I was too busy being amazing and shopping to take any pictures myself in the store.

I guess I should interject here to say that I let people on YouTube know I was going to the MAC PRO store in case anyone wanted to stop by. It was very informally organized and in the end no one was able to go, though it was a bit of a blessing in disguise because I was in no mood to entertain! I wanted to shop. I did some serious damage in the MAC PRO store. I would like to say that I met an amazing artist named Colleen who was very welcoming. I expected to see her again at The Makeup Show but didn’t, so if she is perhaps reading this, thank you again for your help and kindness! I hope to be back to see you again soon!

After I left the PRO store, I headed back to my hotel where I planned to settle in and get ready for two days ahead. The Makeup Show was open from 9am-6 on Sunday 5/19 and Monday 5/20, and I had tickets for both days. Unfortunately, because I am paranoid- and anxiety-prone, I spent the greater part of Saturday night worrying about the next day. Because I had never been to the show, nor known anyone who ever had, I had no idea what to expect, and therefore expected the worst. (Not a good habit!) I flew out of NY from Myrtle Beach, and accidentally left most of my nice (work) clothes in Charleston. I went shopping for a few nice tops but didn’t realize I didn’t have any black slacks until the night before I flew out. I had to go to the PRO store on Saturday because it is closed on Sundays, and I was tired. In other words, I was worried sick about how I was going to dress. Ugh!

On top of that, I have unfortunately still not received my staff card from MAC, and I was worried that this would prevent me from entering the show. As it is a pro-only event, they ask that you bring proof that you are either a student or work or are involved in the industry in some capacity. I brought a pay stub but, as it was not listed as an example on the website of the ‘proof’ to bring, I was worried it wouldn’t be enough. I spent a good hour arranging for my boss to send a letter of employment verification to my hotel and continued to worry. On top of all this, I also didn’t print out a confirmation of my ticket purchase to The Makeup Show and had no access to the internet, let alone a printer. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep very well on Saturday night. I woke up bright and early at 7am on Sunday so that I could be at the Metropolitan Pavilion at 9am sharp.

It was cool in NYC, and sunny. I easily got a taxi and suddenly I couldn’t help be more excited than worried. There is something very calming about feeling like you are exactly where you’re supposed to be, doing exactly what you’re supposed to be doing, and that is how I felt. I walked in with a confidence in myself that comes from knowing that this, makeup, is what I want to do with my life. This point would only be driven harder into my mind in the coming days.

(For the sympathetic: I wore a pressed black collared button down shirt, jeans, and black flats, and I was dressed up more than most people who were at the show. I had no problem getting my tickets — they didn’t even ask for my “proof,” and the email confirmation wasn’t necessary.)

The Makeup Show was set up with several rows of booths on the main floor, a little lounge area, and then two seminar areas on opposite corners. There was a schedule of seminars led by different representatives from the companies present at the show. I sat in on two seminars in the two days I was there — one on quick prosthetics (which was completely new to me and very interesting!) led by Paul Thompson of Make Up Designory LA and one on the NY Fashion Week Fall ‘08 trend by Stila’s Sarah Lucero.

There were hands-on workshops offered at The Makeup Show that I decided not to attend this year. I am considering registering for one or two next year, though!

I did decide to sit in on a “keynote” by the amazing Sharon Gault, a makeup artist that I was so happy “meet.” Talk about a character! She is incredibly talented and giving. I loved watching her work and listening to her advice. I will tell you here that I am holding back some of what I took from listening to her speak; I was really inspired by what Sharon and her friend and amazing artist James Vincent shared with us, but I am still digesting it all and deciding how it applies to me and my future in the industry.

(picture taken from Sharon’s myspace.)

Look forward to Part II, in which I will outline the companies present at The Makeup Show, what I thought of them, what I bought, and pictures from the event!