I attended The Makeup Show LA last weekend and it was one of the best makeup events I’ve attended. This year they had over 150 brands at the show – I love events like these that support beauty professionals in so many aspects. If are able to attend one I highly recommend you do. In recent years they’ve expanded their stops to some additional cities with pop-ups. Full calendar and list of upcoming shows on their website The Makeup Show. This was my second year attending although they’ve been making an appearance in LA for ten years now.
Urban Decay Cosmetics made an appearance this year with their full line available (items were offered at a 30% pro discount). Most of the brands offered generous discounts during the show for professionals to stock their makeup kits or explore new launches (some like Kevyn Aucoin offered discounts of 40% off). In the excitement of being able to swatch and play with so many things I neglected to take as many photos of the show as I had hoped, but here are a few I hope you will enjoy.
In the morning I attended the Press Preview where The Makeup Show Director of Artist Relations and Education James Vincent gave us an overview of show highlights, new product launches along with some inspirational thoughts about the business of beauty, building your own brand and the importance of knowing how to merging art and commerce.
A look at some of the booths, first is Kevyn Aucoin. They had the new Featherlight Collection for spring available along with the full line of makeup and brushes. I had their Sensual Skin foundation on my wishlist to try out but did not want to wait to get matched at the show.
Inglot booth:
Sephora Collection booth was very busy with lots to explore, pro discount offered at the show was 30% off so I picked up another of my favorite foundation brush and a few of the matte lip products:
Scott Barnes was showcasing their new Multi Media Liquid makeup, based on the raves from several of you, I did get a color match and picked up the shade Creme Fraiche. I haven’t tested it yet, but will have to see in natural light if the match was indeed correct. They also had mini Body Blings which I wish I had picked up one to try out, but since I don’t usually use body shimmers, it’s probably not a huge miss.
I’ve been a huge fan of the MustaeV Lustrous Cream Base and Skinny Tint Foundation. They are expanding their color selection for the foundation since it only comes in three colors right now. I was hoping they would have the new shades available at the show, but they won’t be launched for a few more months. If you’d like a review now of what I do have – let me know in the comments.
Nigel’s Beauty Emporium is a beauty supply store – at the show they had some of the best values and discounts. I stocked up on beautyblenders last year and did again. They had a Beautyblender Propack of 6 pink (or white) beautyblenders + the solid cleanser for $64 at the show (listed price on their website is $80). Individual blenders were on discount for $16 each. They also had a large number of mixed sets. If you’re in the LA area they have a store in West Hollywood and carry a wide range of brands like Anastasia, Ben Nye, Artis, Becca, Black Up, Make Up For Ever etc.
NARS also had their own booth with the full line. The Laguna Tahiti Collection was available for purchase at the show so I picked up several of the new items as they were available at a pro discount (I can’t locate my receipt at the moment but it was either 30 or 40%).
Kat Von D Beauty had amazing bundles at discounted prices on their Shade + Light collection, but the line was insanely long, I took a few photos from outside the line area:
Viseart has three new eyeshadow palettes launching exclusively at MUSE Beauty Pro at the end of the month called Theory Palettes ($45 each). I was hoping they would have these available for purchase at the show, but they only had the testers to play with. The texture and pigment is amazing. You can pre-order them from their website now (estimated ship date is end of March). MUSE Beauty Pro has the exclusive for 3 months on these palettes. I’ve never tried any of the Viseart palettes before – the pro discount at the show was 30% off so I was thrilled to buy my first two last weekend.
Beautylish had some of the Natasha Denona items on display. I was hoping they would have the entire line available to play with like they did at IMATS Los Angeles, however the selection was a bit more limited this round. A look at all the Natasha Denona Blush Duos.
For those curious about what I hauled, here is the loot. I did haul more than I had planned – some of the 30% to 40% off discounts were just too good to pass!
Items shown above listed below, items purchased by me except for a few press samples noted:
Beautyblender Pro Pack from Nigel’s Beauty Emporium – my friend and I are splitting up the 6 pack
London Brush Company Vegan Brush Shampoo and Goat Milk Brush Shampoo – I’ve never tried either, the reps said the Vegan is better suited for synthetic brushes and the Goat Milk is best for natural hair brushes
I’ll be reviewing items as I work my way through testing them. I did pre-order the new Viseart Palettes at the show and will be swatching as soon as they arrive (estimated ship date is 3/30). I’m always looking to try new brush cleansers so I’m excited to try some of the ones I picked up at the show – I know many of you love baby shampoo, I used to use it, but I feel like these days it just leaves a film on my brushes that I cannot rinse off properly.
Did you visit The Makeup Show LA last weekend? Or do you have plans to attend on in another city later this year?
The Makeup Show Los Angeles 2016 is happening this weekend March 19th – 20th at the California Market Center and I’m thrilled to be able to share a sneak preview of some items that will be available at the show! For those new to The Makeup Show is a pro-beauty event open only to those in the beauty and fashion industry including makeup artists, hairstylists, estheticians, cosmetologists, agents, models, stylists, photographers, industry insiders and anyone that works or studies in under the umbrella of beauty and fashion. It typically happens once a year in Los Angeles – they travel nationwide to other cities like New York City, Dallas, Chicago and Orlando.
Tickets are available for purchase online or at the door (they are cheaper if you buy ahead of time online). There are 1 day or 2 day passes available. Since this is an event for professionals you will need to show some credentials at check in (full listing of qualified credentials on the ticket page).
There will be approximately 60 different booths including individual beauty brands, beauty retailers and educators attending such as Make Up For Ever, MustaeV, Hakuhodo, OCC, RCMA, Beautylish, Urban Decay, Sephora Pro (full list of exhibitors here). To see last year’s feature check out this post here on The Makeup Show 2015.
For the preview items sent by The Makeup Show team, full listing is as follows:
A closer look at the color items below starting with the face products. I first tried the Bésame Brightening Face Powders last week in store at Sephora. I tried Violet which is a color corrector for light-medium skintones designed to correct yellow and red (it’s brightening). I was thoroughly impressed by the finish – it’s truly transparent yet brightening and left no white or purple cast on the skin. (I did decide to wait on purchasing it though.) I received Vanilla Rose from The Makeup Show which or light-medium tones, color corrects green and blue tones in the skin. It has a transparent finish as well with a subtle finish. Overall I prefer the effect of the Violet on my face for all over but Vanilla Rose is good for setting the undereye area for me.
Next up is the Scott Barnes Multi Media Liquid Makeup. This is a bi-phase liquid that separates once it settles much like the Armani Glow Foundation. I received the shade Cafe Au Lait which is too dark and too peach for my skintone so it was hard for me to tell how it really performed with such a mis-match. I hope to check out the other colors in person at the show. If I find a match I will be sure to let you know.
From MustaeV is the Lustrous Cream Base which is subtle shimmering opal cream product. It has a similar concept to MAC’s Strobe Cream but the MustaeV has a more emollient moisturizing formula. The finish is also a bit more transparent in finish so the glow cast is more subtle on the skin. You can use the MustaeV as a base under foundation, mix it in with foundation for a glow effect or use on top to highlight any area you want a glow. If you’re interested in a full review let me know.
Swatches on bare skin, note the items are swatched heavily to show the color. When applied on the face with blending the Cream Base and Powder both disappear into a translucent finish.
For lips The Makeup Show as quite a few bold and super edgy colors. From OCC are two grey lip color items. The Cosmetic Colour Pencil in Sebastian is a grey taupe. It’s for both lips and eyes, I can see myself wearing it on the eyes. On the lips – I just don’t pull off grey well. There’s a new Lip Tar in Indrid which is an opalescent violet pink shimmer. The pigment and finish is excellent. The color is not something I would ever wear. For both of these shades I didn’t swatch the entire lip – part of the center isn’t touched up so you can see a bit of my natural lip color underneath.
From Make Up For Ever there are three items in the Lip Fever Passion Pink Collection including Artist Lip Balm #920 Flushed Cherry, Artist Lip Blush #921 Exalted Rosewood and Artist Acrylip #922 Electric Fuchsia. You can find all three at Sephora now. I received the Acrylip #922 which is a high pigment liquid lipstick. It’s a lightweight formula that covers the lips entirely and has a glossy finish. At this time I do not know if more colors in these formulas are coming out – I hope they do because as far as a liquid lipstick goes, I am really liking the shiny finish (most liquid lipsticks are either too opaque or matte which makes them look so flat).
The last color for preview is the Bésame Sweetheart Glaze in Caramel which is a glossy nude. It’s described as a luminous lip protectant with moisturizing ingredients. It has a medium to strong vanilla scent and offers medium smooth coverage which I find really good. Often times cream nudes can settle into lip lines but this one does not. It does have a moisturizing finish – if a gloss formula does not have any moisture-added properties my lips are dried out by the next day – with this one, no peeling or dried out lips so I give this one a thumbs up.
Kat Von D Beauty always launches new items at The Makeup Show. Last year this time the Shade + Light Eye Contour Palette made it’s debut (I still don’t own it but I think I need it in my life). For those who like the concept but want something non-neutral there are four Shade + Light Eye Contour Quads launching. I have a preview of plum which features all matte shades. The colors are in the plum and pink color family which make for a softly contoured eye look. The texture is very powdery with a lot of kick-up but finish is really good. It’s like skin but better with no powdery finish on the eyes – it’s like the product melts into the skin. I played with this a few ways and found that the synthetic brushes were the best tools for application. The Shade + Light Double Ended Contour Brush is excellent in quality and super soft. It applies matte shades very well and blends colors to create a nice gradient.
Also new is from Kat Von D Beauty is the Lock-It Color Correcting Eyeshadow Primer. I was sent Fair but I suspect the next shade up in Light would be more ideal for my skintone. There are a lot of mixed reviews on this one. I’m in the batch that likes it – I smudge it on the lids direct from the tube and blend with a finger. It evens out the lid nicely without looking cakey or flat and truly did make the matte eyeshadows from the Shade + Light Eye Quad last all day long without fading or budging. I have yet to try it with other eyeshadow formulas but first impressions are overwhelmingly positive.
A quick eye look I took a few days ago. This is shown around 5-6 hours after initial application. Colors looked pretty much the same as when I first applied – do note I did a very subtle wash of all four colors layered together.
Last but not least is the Pur Cosmetics Eye Polish in Caviar. This is described as an all-in-one primer and shadow product. It comes with a silicone applicator which I wasn’t able to master. I did try applying this with other detail brushes and found it to be an extremely glitzy highly metallic black gold. I think it will take some practice to figure out the layering and blending – but I will say that the lasting power is quite impressive. I do like a good shimmer eyeshadow but I found this one to be more glitzy than the Armani Eyes to Kill Intense Shadows so for me would be better suited for going out versus everyday.
To recap, the event in Los Angeles is happening this weekend March 19-20th at the California Market Center. All the event details, location, hours, exhibitors, special speaker events are on their website www.themakeupshow.com/la. You can purchase tickets ahead of time online here or also at the door (they are cheaper if you purchase online). Follow them on Instagram @themakeupshow to get more sneak peeks of what’s launching at the event.
I hope you enjoyed this preview! Full recap of the event to follow after
this weekend. If you’re planning to attend please let me know in the
comments! Or if you’ve attended one – would love to hear about your
experience and thoughts too.
Items provided courtesy of The Makeup Show team as a preview for the LA 2016 Event.
I have been procrastinating on a few comparison requests and thought I’d post this in case anyone else had the same questions. I plan to be a better blogger this upcoming year and be more on top of things!
Comparison Project #1: How does Edward Bess Intimate compare to other shades, particularly Chantecaille Pyrite & Benefit Fawn Over Me?
Chantecaille Pyrite has more gold while Edward Bess is definitely more taupe/brown. Benefit Fawn Over Me might look like a close dupe at first glance, but looking more closely will show that it’s more of a paler sandy champagne compared to the Edward Bess. Here it is compared to similar shades.
Top: Chantecaille Pyrite, Edward Bess Intimate, Laura Mercier Bamboo Middle: Scott Barnes Sable, Benefit Fawn Over Me, Guerlain Sable Blonde Bottom: Becca Mermaid, Nars Cyprus, Benefit Fawn Over Me
1) Chantecaille Pyrite 2) Edward Bess Intimate 3) Laura Mercier Bamboo 4) Scott Barnes Sable 5) Benefit Birthday Suit 6) Guerlain Sable Blonde 7) Becca Mermaid 8) Nars Cyprus 9) Benefit Fawn Over Me
Bottom line: In my opinion, there is nothing like Edward Bess Intimate and I find it different enough to justify owning even if you have any of the above shades. This post will be updated later this afternoon with swatches.
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Comparison Project #2: Is Bobbi Brown Java Metallic similar to the brown shade in Nars Brousse?
Bobbi Brown Java is a cooler mouse-grey when compared to Nars Brousse which seems to have a tinge of red. By itself you would barely be able to detect any red tones to Nars Brousse. I’ve also compared it to a few other medium-dark cool-toned browns.
Top: Edward Bess Mystery, Bobbi Brown Java Metallic, Nars Brousse Bottom: Cle de Peau Satin 106, MAC Magnetic Fields, Jouer Espresso
1) Edward Bess Mystery 2) Bobbi Brown Java Metallic 3) Nars Brousse 4) CdP 106 5) MAC Magnetic Fields 6) Jouer Espresso
What’s the verdict? Are these different enough to justify owning all? Probably not unless you are a brown eyeshadow fanatic like me. This section will also be updated with swatches if my camera will cooperate with me later today. While I love the Cle de Peau 106, it can look a bit bruisey on my Chanel Shell (equals MAC NC30-35) skin and it’s the least shimmery.