Sydney IMATS 2012 Haul & Experiences

As you are probably aware of, the previous weekend has probably been the liveliest beauty weekend of the year!

IMATS, the annual International Make-Up Trade Show and Beauty Bloggers Utopia, a beauty bloggers conference were held in Sydney. You can probably tell with the frequently updates on the Twitter-sphere and Instagram! 

Unfortunately, I didn't score a spot of the two from the Wildcard Challenge to join the fun at BBU, but I did attend IMATS 2012 where I met many beauty bloggers and Youtubers! It was so fun and exciting!

I finally met Ling, Norlin and Tine. Such cutie patooties! They really did brighten up my day!

And after a year, I've re-met (lol... re-met..) and caught up with Megan and Celeste (Sharleen.. lol!). Very sweet and lovely people to speak to!! :)

I also met and caught a glimpse of a few Youtubers! Some I said 'hi' to, but some I was too shy to...!

Anyways, on to my IMATS haul! I actually didn't purchase much! I spent $73 only. Yes, I'm on a budget and I've came to realise how much make-up I have vs. how much make-up I actually use!

(Ben Nye wheel, y u so pretty?!)

• Inglot Matte Top Coat ($11.00) -- I've always been on the hunt of a good matte top coat! I saw some matte nail colour swatches at the Inglot stall and it looked great so to my collection, it goes! 
• Inglot Flakie #202 ($11.00) -- I've been DYING for a flakie nail polish! I've seen so many swatches online of #202 that looked amazing! Glad I got this!
• OCC Lip Tars in Memento & Cha Cha ($15.00 each) -- Cleared off my wishlist! I really wanted Trollop, but they ran out of the shade so I picked Memento instead.. It's still a very nice colour for everyday wear, and Cha Cha would be perfect to mix with any shades for a splash of coral! Gorgeous!
• Ben Nye Creme Rouge Wheel ($20.00) -- Cleared off my wishlist too! I've swatched this blusher wheel at the Ben Nye stall and the consistency was so smooth and silky with a more-than decent pigmentation, so it's totally worth it!
• Royal & Langnickel Palette Knives ($1.00) -- Not pictured. So cheap! Just thought I might need them one day! :P

IMATS this year was okay. This year, there was no Illamasqua (because they cannot reduce their prices any further after supporting a Fair Beauty Price for Australia) in which I really looked forward to and I didn't see NYX Cosmetics at all (where were they?!).

But on the brighter side, Inglot's service was so quick and their stall was beautifully set up! Kudos to Inglot! Ben Nye's showcase stall was also nice! Ben Nye's assistants were great in offering us demonstrations for their glitter products (which were pretty amazing!). 

Royal & Langnickel were also very generous to treat press/media visitors to manicures and massages upstairs! Thank you so much Royal & Langnickel! 

Overall, it was a very long day for me, but at the same time, it was so fun and exciting to meet and catch up with so many beauty bloggers and Youtubers... in a hall full of make-up stalls! Now.. another year until IMATS again.... *frowns*

Can't wait to see everyone's IMATS haul!!!!!!!!!! (Can you tell how excited I am for the so many exclamation marks?)

November Favourites

Can ya believe? It's already December! Only about 24 more days till Christmas which also means us Aussies will dominatin' the beaches and rocking fabulous tans.... or unfortunate sunburnts.

No, seriously.. time flies way too fast. I'm so afraid of growing older. another 6 months till I'm 19 and it felt like only yesterday when I turned 18. Oh poo!

Ok. Well. November favourites. Can you guys even remember the last time I did a monthly favourites post? No? It's okay. Even I couldn't remember! I think it was back in April or May. Heh..

So this month, I have finally opened the Royal & Langnickel Green Line Brush set that I've received as goodies from the Australian Beauty Blogger Weekend 2011 (back in September) and the first brush I picked up was the blusher brush, which I'd like to announce... I'm in love with.

(please ignore my tripe eyelids swollen eyes)

The size of the brush just fits the size of my cheeks PERFECTLY and the brush is so so so extremely very soft as the other brushes I own are of lower-end brands. I love using this brush to apply blushers, shade my forehead and highlighting my cheekbones!

Dark eye circles! Ahhh! Back then I didn't have any at all, can ya believe? But now, I swear you can see the dark circles right around the hollow of my eyes! Thank God for the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Double Face Perfector! I've used this ever since I started with make-up and honestly I love this stuff! It's one of the best concealer for under-eye circles as it blends really well, provides great coverage and doesn't look cakey when you layer too much. I have to say that it's not the best for blemish concealing though..

Sportgirl's Get Cheeky Cheek & Eye Shimmer in Rose is a lovely trio of three shimmery shades which I've been using this as a blusher only.

No idea why, but I've been diggin' dewy/glowy blushers. Must be because it looks much more natural and gives a really nice sheen to my cheeks! The trio comes with a bronze shade, lighter rose and a medium rose shade. I've been particularly liking the medium rosy shade much more as it looks much more natural on my skin tone ^_^

I've also been using this Face Of Australia Mineral Therapy Illuminating Pearls which I've also received from the ABBW. I've been using this to highlight my cheeks because it gives off a very nice and subtle sheen to the cheeks which isn't too obvious.

Lastly, this ORLY Nail Polish in Sweet Peacock which I've fell in love with! Seriously, this has got to be one of the most beautiful shimmery blue nail colour in the world.

I honestly don't prefer blue nail polishes on me, but this colour is way too pretty for me to not use it! Keeps me starin' at me nails all day... seriously.

Hopefully I will keep track of this and continue with December favourites next month! Woo!

What are your November Favourites?

Disclaimer: Royal Brushes, Face Of Australia Illuminating Pearls, ORLY Nail Polish was provided as goodies from ABBW (not obliged to review or mention in posts). Sportsgirl Cheek & Eye Shimmer was a gift from a friend.