Nothing Rhymes With Rachel: London IMATS 2015

On Saturday 11th July I went to the London IMATS, a massive makeup trade show, for the 3rd time.

I definitely get more organised each time which helps to make the day even more enjoyable.

If you are an MUA, makeup student or just and enthusiast, then it really is the event of the year. For just this weekend all of these brands get together offering great discount alongside demos by famous MUAs. Many of the brands are difficult to buy online in the UK so it's a really good opportunity to stock up.

I'm not going to go into too much detail about what the day is like, what to expect etc as I've made a short vlog capturing some of the demos I watched.

If you are interested in what I bought then I've also filmed a haul here.

As I said earlier, I get more organised each time.

To enhance my experience this year

* I got an even earlier coach so that we were there queuing for the beginning

* I took food and water as buying there is very expensive. I put these in a plastic bag which I knew would easily fit in the big bag they give you at the entrance

* I spent at least a week researching the brands that would be there and writing a wishlist

* We went straight to the NYX stall as we knew that queue would only get longer throughout the day (the other really busy stalls are Nars, MAC and Beauty B)

* I borrowed a special camera strap off a friend that would be comfortable and would keep my camera safe (I've never taken my DSLR before as I was already bulked down with a big bag so was worried about keeping it safe)

* I wore much thinner clothes than previously, it gets VERY hot there

I do love IMATS, I really do, but I feel there is room for expansion. I know the London one pales in comparison to the US ones, which far fewer stalls. I'm not sure if this applies to any other brands as well but NYX in the UK carries a much smaller range than the US. Things seem to come out here about a year late, which I can kind of deal with, but you would expect to get the whole selection in for an event like IMATS.

I know a lot of people love neutral, everyday makeup so for them it's great that Bobbi Brown, Nars, MAC etc are there. However I'd love to see more stalls in the same vein as Sugarpill, one of my favourite brands. OCC, another of my favourites, were there the first 2 years I attended but not this year. I worry that these companies feel like there's no market for them over here, I really hope we don't lose any more! (I was excited to see Lit Glitter there for the first time)

I'll insert a few photos from the day in case you don't fancy watching the vlog.