IMATS LA 2011 in Pasadena

The International Make-Up Artist Trade Show Los Angeles (IMATS LA) is one of five annual events organized by the Make-Up Artist Magazine. I so longed to attend it! Most brands had very attractive discount. Nothing would describe the atmosphere better than the lively pictures. Hope you like them :). It was very hard to take good pictures at the most popular booths like Make Up Forever, MAC, Bobbi Brown, Too-Faced, Smashbox, Eye Candy, Sugar Pill, etc. Pardon me for my shaking hands. I was exhausted after one hour standing at Inglot booth.

Eve Pearl herself in action at Eve Pearl section - Naime beauty center

The line at Make Up Forever was insanely long!

I think Napoleon Perdis had the best makeup station

Hakuhodo brushes from Japan. Excellent qualities!

MAC booth - no Satin Taupe :(

Inglot booth was really overwhelming. I didn't even attempt to buy anything but their eyeshadows. It took me almost 1 hour to complete my purchase. But I am so satisfied!

Inglot nail polishes are the best!

A very popular Youtube's gurus missglamorazzi. You can find her channel here.
And this is a sneak peek at my IMATS haul. I was determine to challenge my patience at Inglot and Bobbi Brown booths. It turned out those were the only places I purchased my goodies. Reviews are coming soon.

Youtube’s Beauty Gurus

IMATS LA 2011 (International Makeup Artist Trade Show- Los Angeles) took place last Saturday 06/26/2011 in Pasedena. It was such a fun experience for makeup lovers. Not only were there many professional cosmetics brands, makeup over, open seminars and fabulous discounts, but also it was a great social networking opportunity. I had a chance to talk briefly (and express how much I adored her videos and personality) with one of my most loved youtube’s makeup gurus, Tiffany from makeupbytiffanyD. I thought why not a post about my favorite youtube gurus who have inspired me in many ways, among which is this blog. Each of them has a unique taste of makeup and making videos. I guess that explains their immense popularity on youtube.

Marlena of Makeup Geek TV (Marlena's blog). Marlena’s was the first youtube channel I ever subscribed for. Her makeup tips and tricks are extremely simple and helpful. She uses so various brands of both high-ends and drugstores. I love her massive haul videos featuring her top choices for each product category like foundation, lipticks, highhighters and many more. She also has helpful advise for makeup professionals and those who want to start their career as makeup artist. Her lively videos are merely delightful to watch.

Michelle Phan of MichellePhan (Michelle's blog). Accidentally discovered her channel, I immediately fell in love with her soothing relaxing and artistic but professional videos without even noticing it. Becoming Lancome’s video makeup artist, the first contract of its kind, is among many other accomplishment in her impressive CV. She can transform herself into any personalities and characters so naturally. She is willing to take risk and push herself to the limit of ultimate creation. Her videos ranges from everyday makeup look to cosplay makeup and costume. She is also very well admired for her DIY tricks.

Tiffany of MakeupByTiffanyD (Tiffany's blog). She is the most consistent gurus on youtube, IMO. Tiffany is loyal to her favorite brands that she tried and loves. I have found her recommendations are very well-applicable. You can see that her real opinion of the products she shares. There is something passionate, sincere, real and down-on-earth in her air. This makes her video so affectionate though simple and easy-to-follow. I learn to create ALL of my favorite looks from her. 

Judy of itsjudytime (Judy's blog). Her channel is full of love. I just simply enjoy watching her and sometimes her fiance’ cameo in her videos. They are a happy people. Her videos are short, concise, informative and simple so are her tips. I really like her hair tutorials too.

Review: Dior 5-color eyeshadow quint in Rosy Nude (LE) – A fresh take on neutral colors

When I first saw the promo picture of Dior Rosy Nude ($58 for 0.21 oz), I thought it was boring and wouldn’t show up on me. I was completely wrong. It’s so beautiful, especially that pale pink and that shimmery peach! I can create many soft spring looks that are actually appropriate for any time of the year.

The palette contains a shimmery pearly pink white, a frosty light taupe, a satin pale cool pink, a shimmery peach with champagne flecks and a satin warm light brown. This is such a pretty color coordination. You also have pink and peach rather just earth-tone colors commonly used in neutral looks. The colors you see on the pan are what look like on your lids.

Dior Rosy Nude - indoors

Dior Rosy Nude - outdoors direct sunlight

The pink and peach shades of Rosy Nude are very special. I often avoid pink eyeshadows because most of the time I look bruised. I don’t have much pink stuff either. But this pink is lovely and so wearable. The shimmery peach is neutral enough for both warm- and cool-toned ladies out there. LOVE! If you want to use this palette for more dramatic looks, I would suggest Urban Decay 24/7 Whiskey to darken the outer V. The only downside is that pink comes off a bit during the day even on top of an eye primer.

I love the various finishes of the shadows. I find it’s much more convenient to create looks with mixture of satin and frost. So I don’t look like a disco-ball. All shadows are buttery smooth and glide on effortlessly.

The five beautiful eyeshadows house in a sleek sturdy Dior’s signature case. It comes with a mirror and 2 sponge-tipped applicators. All is packed in a velvet pouch.

Recommendation. Rosy Nude works well for everyday or travel. It’s very easy to wear though it will flatter light to medium skin tone better. A must-have! You have darker skin tone, you might find its companion Rosy Tan (permanently available) amazing too.

Review: Dior Healthy Glow Powder in Aurora - A “New Look” Bronzer

I truly believe Dior has just initiated a new way to wear bronzers. When you talk bronzer language, we immediately think of “tan”, “sun-kissed”, or sometimes “sun-burned”. Brown is the more prevalent base of bronzers. But Dior Aurora can be worn beautifully as a bronzer and a blush, giving your skin a healthy blushing look. You would get this look after walking under the sun for a while and if you are healthy. Sounds amazing right? I cannot use words to describe how much I appreciate Aurora.

Dior Aurora - direct sunlight

Dior Aurora ($46 for 0.35 oz) is a unique bronzer thanks to its peachy pink tinted.  The powder is very finely milled with sophisticated shimmer. Many have suggested it flatter fair to light skintone extremely well. I actually found it surprisingly beautiful on medium skintone as well. I’m about MAC NC30 – Dior Skinude 031. Nars Laguna bronzer can look muddy on me if I forget to use lighter hand. But Dior Aurora gives me a subtle and healthy glow on the cheeks.

My swatches don’t do the justice. You gotta try Aurora yourself!! It's breathtaking, IMO. I would highly recommend you check this out in person. Bronzers look SO different on various skintone. Also, the Beauty Look Book compared Dior Aurora with the other star product of Dior’s summer 2011 collection- Dior Sunset as well as other popular bronzers of this summer. Her particular post on these bronzers is phenomenal. Cafe Makeup did a gorgeous makeup look with Dior Aurora. 

Review: LUSH Shimmy Shimmy body massage bar

Do you ever want that shimmery glow for evening events? I sometimes love to glam up my arms and legs a bit for sake of change. Last week I stocked up some Lush goodies. I had to write about Lush Shimmy Shimmy massage bar ($6.95 for 1 oz).

It is a solid body lotion, lightly vanilla-scented. The vanilla fragrance is pleasant but not to die for. The bar contains obvious flecks of crystal and golden shimmer. It melts at body temperature so you just have to apply it lightly for the shimmer to stick on your skin. When applied heavily, it leaves a bit too shimmery glow for my taste. It also feels greasy if rubbed in. I don’t think it works best as a massage bar for these particular reasons.  

I use Shimmy Shimmy more like a fun product rather than a necessity. But I think it’s absolutely cute.

The downside of most LUSH products is short-time span. For the best use, you might want to store this bar in dry place at cool temperature. It will melt slightly if you carry it inside your handbag under the sun. It’s not the most ideal travel goodies but it helps to keep you moisturize. The bar comes without a container so you will need to get one. I just use Lush tin.

Recommendation: Shimmy Shimmy is a cute product! Check it out in person might be helpful as it can be too shimmery for some.

Review: Chanel natural finish face highlighter and blush – Les Roses

Duty free shopping can be very tempting, especially for some one who loves travel-friendly products, i.e. me. I purchased Chanel natural finish face highlighter and blush ($53 for 0.49oz) aboard during a flight from Taipei to LAX. So I guess this palette is an Asia exclusive. It was , of course, a blind shopping. I only had the beautiful picture to look at. Well, this palette is great for travel but it’s not for everybody, IMO.  

The palettes comes in a velvet black pouch with Chanel logo. It also includes a mirror and a very soft square brush. It has the same design as Chanel blush/bronzer of Summer 2011 collection.

The palette contains 4 color strips: a pale peachy pink, a white, a pink coral and a coral bronze. All has satin finish, which I love. It creates soft dusty rosy cheeks with a touch of glow.  You have a highlighter, 2 blushes and 1 potential bronzer in one palette. I find the colors sheer and chalky.  I spent quite some time just to get the colors show up on my hand. I have to pack 3 layers for the swatch here.

The texture is creamy and smooth. It doesn’t stay on very well though.  I think this palette works best for very fair to light skin tone with cool undertone. Even though it shows up on my medium complexion, it’s not flattering. I’m warm undertone, FYI.

Recommendation: This palette is a great travel companion due to its color variation. If you are in the paler end of the skin tone spectrum, you might want to check it out next time you duty-free shop.

Gentle exfoliator for face and neck – Wet towel

Living in Southern California doesn’t give me a choice of skipping sunscreen and moisturizer.  I also layer an anti-wrinkle serum on my bare skin. On top of that is my make up. I classify myself as an average cosmetic user. Many Asian girls use about 9 skincare products on a daily basis. Still, it means I need to remove a lot of chemicals by the end of the day. Most of makeup removers are, well, oil-based, which would leave a little bit of oil behind after they do the job. I think our skin will thank us if we remove remove excess sebum, makeup or oil residues and the like gently. I use a clean soft facial towel soaked with warm water as an everyday exfoliator.

I lightly exfoliate my skin twice a day. One gentle rub in the morning before applying skincare and makeup really smooths out my skin. As soon as I come home, I remove my makeup but wait until before  bedtime to exfoliate my skin once again. I use a very light hand to rub the towel on my face, upward from my neck and chin, leaving the eye area untouched. I rinse my face with cold water afterward. 

It works wonder for my skin. My skin texture is much smoother. It also even out my complexion. My skin feels clean and so refreshing.  The wet towel doesn’t introduce any chemicals into your skin, just water. So it’s gentler than a regular exfoliator no matter how gentle it claims to be. The wet towel doesn’t dry out my skin either.

After lightly scrubbing my face with the towel, I apply eye cream, anti-wrinkle serum and moisturizer with or without SPF for daytime or nighttime. On my good skin days, I only need a teeny tiny amount of foundation for my dark circles and a lip butter on my lips.  And Voila!