IMATS NYC 2013

This past Saturday, April 6, 2013, I attended that International Makeup Artist Trade Show (IMATS) in New York City.  I have been wanting to go to this for quite some time and am so excited that I went.  It was an amazing experience that I plan to have again.

I went with my friend Tish.  There is no other person I would have rather gone with.  We are like 2 peas in a pod and are obsessed with makeup and beauty.

There was so much cool stuff there.  One of the things I loved was the battle of the brushes which showcased the talent of many makeup artist students from around the world.

The talent showcased here was amazing and the winner shown above who created the fierce red look received a $1000 grand prize.

My favorite presentation was that from MUA Nicky Posley and his demo of the Temptu airbrush makeup system.  This is definitely something that I want to own one day.

His model was gorgeous and he did her makeup in no time.


I got a chance to meet some of my fave youtube beauty gurus while there.

Sunkissalba with her amazing curly hair.

Nicole Guerriero who had 100s of people literally running to see her.

JulieG who has great nail polish and was very sweet.  She stood the entire day to talk and take pics in heels.

This art took hours to do.  I had to take a pic of the almost completed look.

Not all the makeup was pretty, some of it was scary as hell.  This is one pic that represents that.

Now lets get to what I bought :-). I did a youtube haul video sharing what I bought.  It had to be put into 2 videos cause I talked too much, lol.

Part 1

Part 2

And some pics of the items...

The ardell lashes were 4 for $10 (other than the double up ones which were $5).

The luxury velour lashes (made of 100% mink) are the softest lashes ever.  They were $20 which is a steal from their original price.

These naked cosmetic pigments are the most vibrant pigments I have ever had.  They have no fillers, oils, wax, etc, just 100% oxidized mica.  So all you get is the pure color.  I picked up the tropical indulgence set.

The fantabulash adhesive strips for lashes has both an amazing background story and an amazing product.

Royal  and Langnickel was definitely the big sponsor of IMATS.  They had a very large booth with every makeup brush that you can think of.  I got the fan brush.

I was given this brush at the Cici makeup brush/tools booth.  Not only is the handle pink but the bristles are pink too.  How cute!

And my non makeup item was sparkling badge holder.  Can't wait to replace my regular work one.

All in all I had a terrific time and will definitely go again.

Weekend Project: DIY Vanity/Desk

I have been wanting and needing a desk and vanity forever.  I have seen pictures on Pinterest that inspired me to build one myself.  After seeing a particular picture on instagram with the details of where the desk and everything was purchased I went straight to Ikea after work yesterday with a mission...BUILD MY VANITY.

And without further ado, here it is.

I spent all Friday evening and some of Saturday afternoon putting this together.  It would not have taken as long if I didn't mess up a few times and had to redo certain parts.  I happen to love putting things together so this was a great project for me.  Everything was purchased from Ikea.

The desk is called Micke.  I purchased the version with integrated storage on the side.  This desk is very simple and functional and also cute.  It is large enough to hold my makeup, laptop, iPad, etc and also small enough to fit into the extra bedroom.  I just love it!

I have seen this chair years ago at Ikea and always wanted it but never had a reason to actually buy it.  Figured now was the best time to get it.  This chair is called the Tobias.

I love the extra storage space on the side of this desk.  I can place all of my extra makeup, nail polish and other things and since it is open I will be able to see what I have.  I don't know about you but I am an out of site, out of mind person so often when I store things in places where I can't openly look at them, I will forget that I even have something.

The mirror I purchased is called the Kojla.  I didn't want a mirror for the entire length of the desk but big enough where I can easily do my hair and makeup.  The lights are called Musik. Oh these lights, I can have an entire blog post about these.  After opening the lights I saw that there is no plug with them but 3 loose wires.  So I paused and thought CRAP! The directions required to connect them to a fixture on the wall.  I can't go around making holes in the wall and wouldn't anyway so I went to good old Youtube and found a video on a different way to connect them to a plug.  That approach required me to make a run to Home Depot thus turning this into a 2 day project versus one day.  I have a degree in Electrical Engineering so this didn't frighten me in the least but trust me, you don't have to have a degree to do it, lol, its very simple.

This desk also includes a huge drawer which I definitely needed since the one in my bathroom was completely full.  And I didn't even know what all was in it until I transferred the stuff to this drawer.  I "found" some stuff that I had forgot about. :-)

Vine app

I discovered the vine app recently after seeing people post about it on Instagram. So of course I immediately downloaded it. It's quite cool to make these small videos and some people get really creative. I am slowly learning. This may be the best one I have done (and since I have only done 2 this doesn't really say that much, lol).

Follow me on there @ lekialptbeauty

Recent buys

I have been doing a little shopping lately (as always) and mostly online.  So decided to share a few things I have picked up recently and cant wait to wear.

I got this jacket from Kohl's from the LC Lauren Conrad collection.  I bought this online. The jacket was regularly $70 but I got it for $28 and also used a 10% off coupon code I found at Retail Me Not.  This jacket will be great with the current floral trend and fits perfectly.  I will wear this with a white tank, black faux leather leggings and these great blue Sam Edelman shoes posted below.

I bought this shirt at Express the other day.  It immediately grabbed my attention cause I just love blouses.  I really like that this white blouse had black accents on the shoulder and the back with small gold buttons.

This is a back view of the shirt.  Love the little gold button on the back.

And what is even more special about this shirt is that it has faux leather trimmings on the sleeves. How cute!

I bought this blouse also from Express and not only did I get this neon yellow beauty, I also bought it in  green and blue.  I did say I love blouses right?! This color is just too pretty to pass up.  Definitely gives a pop color to a pair of skinny jeans and a pump.

I passed on getting these months ago at Nordstrom's, then when I went to go get them they were unavailable in stores and online.  ARGH!! After stalking the web, I finally found them at 6pm.com and they were on sale.  I love the color of these shoes plus I already own them in a snakeskin print so I already know that they fit wonderfully.

Now for purses, specifically clutches.

I picked up this navy blue snaked skin clutch months ago at Banana Republic.  Its very cute and actually carries a lot of stuff.

One day while at H&M this leopard clutch caught my eye.  Its very light weight due to that fact that it is wicker.  It has a small gold detail in the front.  The material of the purse doesn't seem like it will hold up that long but at $12.50, I will enjoy it while I have it.


Hope you enjoyed my finds and look forward to some outfit posts coming soon :-).

Sigma Spa Brush Cleaning Glove

I couldn't be more than happy to see Sigma Beauty's new product which is the spa brush cleaning glove. It was like the answer to my brush cleaning blues which takes a lot of time, a lot of water and a lot of cleanser. I have already been impressed with the Sigma Dry'n Shape tool which they released a while ago to quickly dry the brushes but these brushes to quickly clean the brushes seem to be a great marriage.

Description
"The Sigma Spa™ Brush Cleaning Glove was specially designed as a quick, easy and effective method to deep clean your makeup brush collection. The revolutionary device offers a variety of necessary textures and surfaces for removing all makeup from brushes while using only a small amount of cleaning solution. The dual-sided glove provides a complete cleaning process for both eye and face brushes. Patent pending."

This product comes in 4 colors, aqua, black, pink and purple, and also comes with a microfiber glove to wear under it for comfort. One side is made to clean face brushes and the other side for eye brushes. Both sides wash, rinse and refine brushes.

This retails for $39 on www.sigmabeauty.com. I ordered mine today in aqua and will do a review once I receive it.

For a demonstration check out the video below:

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

New Year, New You?

Does a new year actually mean a new you?  Many seem to think so but January 1st of any year doesn't actually mean anything more than the first of any month or the beginning of any new week.  Bottom line is that each day we are given the chance to do better and be better than we were the day before.  That should be the measurement and comparison we make in order to improve and better ourselves.

So does anyone have any new year resolutions?

I still think it is fun to make them and try best to keep them.

Here are mine:

1. Rededicate myself to God.  I believe the number one relationship is mine with God, the next one is that with myself.  So in order for me to be better my relationship with God HAS to be better.

2.  Complete task that I have been dragging my feet on.  There are just some things I need to do that I haven't.  Need to get those out of the way.

3. Blog! Why do I neglect my blog so much? I dont know, well I have an idea, but in any event I really need to focus on this blog cause I actually really enjoy doing this.

4.  Stop wasting time on things that dont matter as much.  Now this is true, I do waste countless hours doing things that dont benefit me the least.  I need to limit my time on those things and focus more on things that can matter.

5.  Get trained on skills I am interested in.  Last year I had a new years resolution to learn to sew and only made 2 pillow case. FAIL! I need to take lessons to learn to sew and also other things I am interested in such as hair, makeup, etc.  Whenever any of these classes are offered on groupon or Living Social I need to take full advantage. I took an into to DSLR last year at Living Social and really enjoyed it.  I also need to use my camera more, lol.


Well that is all from me for now.  Please share your resolutions and also what you think of New Years resolutions.

Lorac Pro Palette

Today I received the Lorac Pro Palette in the mail and I couldn't be happier. I have been eyeing this palette for a while and decided to use the Sephora Friends and Family 20% discount for its VIB members to grab it.




This palette comes with an eye primer which I tested and its really good!




This palette comes with 16 colors. The top row are all matte colors and the bottom row are shimmery colors. For years I have been going back and forth on whether to get the Urban Decay Naked and Naked 2 palettes but one thing that kept me from getting them was the fact that they both contain so many shimmery colors. I like more of a neutral every day look so I am always more drawn to matte colors. So when I found about about this palette I just had to have it. I read and watched reviews on it and all said good things.




Here are the swatches in the same order as they are in the palette. This is my first time doing swatches and it may not have been so smart to do them on my driving arm which is much darker than my face :-). As you can see the colors are very pigmented. Can't wait to try out some different looks with this palette.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad