IBS Makeup Haul

Just a taste of my IBS haul!

Last week in my Life Update blog, I told you about my trip to NYC to the International Beauty Show.  Well, today I'm going to share with you some of the amazing things I got on my shopping trip!

There were several nail polish companies there, and I was super excited to see Essie was one of them!  They were only $4 a bottle, and when you bought 5 bottles you got a sixth free.  It was a no brainer to give everyone convenient six bottle boxes to hold their purchases in.  Not all of my colors are shown in the photo, and I plan on doing a separate blog with individual swatches, but it was mostly pinks/purples and fun summery colors.  China Glaze was there as well for even cheaper, and I got two Textured colors, a Holographic color, and a Crackle among the regular colors.

There were very few makeup companies there.  IBS is really more about hair than anything else, and since I haven't started cosmetology school yet, I didn't want to spend too much money on hair products that I can't use to their full potential.  I do a fair job at styling my clients for their boudoir shoots, but next year I'm looking forward to buying some really nice shears and salon equipment for my in home set up.

Just a small sample of the stuff I got from Stila!

However, Stila was there, and they had so many good deals I just couldn't say no to! There convertible colors were 5 for $55!  I mean, really?!  Who could walk away from that?!  I had never tried them, so I was excited to pick up five beautiful colors.  I've used them at a couple of shoots already, and they are so nice.  I love that you can use them for lips and cheeks.  I've got a more in depth review coming up next week on them with some nice swatches, too.  Also in my bag were four more of their stay all day lipcolors, a lip and cheek stain (that I realized after one use I'm allergic to!), and some eye liners.  I love everything from Stila, and could have totally spent a couple hundred more buying one of everything, but I have to save some for The Makeup Show coming up in two weeks!

I also got some lipstick palettes for work from Mehron and some individual pans of my favorite colors for myself in some beautiful bright shades.   I'm one of those customers the people at the booths love.  I walk right up, rattle off all the specific things I need, and just hand them a credit card.  I shop from Mehron once a year, so refilling my favs is always a necessity by the time the shows roll around in the spring.

I can't wait to show you some swatches next week of some loose pigment stacks I got from Color Revolution.  They are so gorgeous!  You can see three of the four stacks I got standing up in the back.

There were lots of booths selling cute beauty industry related jewelry, and I loved this little lipstick necklace so much I couldn't walk away.  Next year I'll be sure to have a bigger budget for the "fun" stuff vs the "work" stuff. 

I'm such a sucker to a live demonstration on myself.  If you can get me to sit down in a chair to show me how your works, I'm already 90% sold.  I barely make eye contact with the people at the kiosks in the mall who want to buff my nails or straighten my hair blah blah blah.  I'm just not interested.  But at big trade shows, I'm there to shop for the best new products for my beauty arsenal, so you've got a pretty good chance of selling me a flat iron so long as it doesn't burn my hair off. And that's totally what happened.  I'm the proud new owner of yet another flat iron! haha.  But this was a fancy one that didn't cost only $19.99 at Target, so maybe I'll actually use it on myself for once.

Another random buy- a ring cleaning kit.  I've bought the solution from a bridal show before, so I know that the nice "professional" stuff is way better than the crap I usually pick up from Walmart's jewelry department, and this set was only $30.  Oh, and it was pink.  It came with a polishing paste, cloth, small basket for soaking, and a large bottle of the solution.

Not shown but also purchased were lots of makeup brushes (like I need anymore... I own over 300 already), a roll up makeup organizer, lash extensions supplies, some skincare from HydroPeptide, and other various makeup supplies like spatulas and metal mixing palettes. 

I got a new bag for my boudoir makeup kit, and after needing to carry it up the six flights of stairs to the studio this past week, and I can tell you it was worth every penny!  Best buy of the show, hands down!

Overall, it was a very successful trip, and I'm so thankful this year I brought a rolling suitcase.  It was a really long day.  I had to be up super early to catch the bus out of Arlington for the four and a half hour ride there, and then didn't get back until after 11 pm that night.  But the deals were totally worth it.  There's very little on my list that I need to purchase at the Makeup Show next month, but I'll still probably bring a suitcase with me anyway.  Inglot is going to be there, and I'm already thinking of the rainbow in my head of colors I want to grab...