Going to the International Makeup Artist Trade Show (IMATS) in Toronto has become a tradition for me.  For those you don't know what IMATS is, it is a trade show for makeup artist and industry but it's open to public.  Vendors at show will showcase their services and products, usually be at a discount.  IMATS also have seminars where makeup pros provide education and demonstrations to show goers.

It is indeed a makeup enthusiasts heaven where you can get industry discount and also learn more about the makeup industry.  For my first IMATS, I was completely overwhelmed and got "I-have-to-get-everything" mentality.  This year, I browse around, learning about new products brands have to offer and look at the makeup work of artists of different booths.  Their work of art is truly amazing and I admire their creativity.

One major mission that I always have is to shop for what I want/need.  This year is no different.  I met up with Jessica, Stacey and Steph again to get our shopping done.  Here's what I got...

The World MasterCard Fashion Week SS14 has just wrapped up, and it would still be a little while before we start embracing the 2014 Spring and Summer trends.  However, there was one special show on day 4 of WMCFW that we can all dive right into—Target Holiday 2013.  Let's back up a little and talk about the preparation right before the show.

Check out Maybelline's backstage media lounge:

It's finally here.  Benefit is partnering exclusively with Sephora and bringing their famous Benefit Brow Bar to Canada.  I was invited along with other media to go to the grand opening of their location in Sephora at Yorkdale Shopping Centre and check out what the Brow Bar is all about.

The Benefit Brow Bar offers a few brow shaping and facial waxing services, each take about 20-30 minutes.  The Canadian Benefit Brow Bar are currently only located inside 3 Sephoras: Dix 30 in Brossard, Sherway Gardens in Toronto, and Yorkdale in Toronto as well.  Each brow bar has two arch experts who are highly trained in waxing and tweezing to give their customers their unique brow shaping experience.

The 2013 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is on full swing right now!  We have spotted celebrities like Zac Efron, Brad Pitt, Jesse Eisenberg, and Hugh Jackman (sorry for the all male list but you get the pattern :P).  The list just goes on and on but the entire city is full of life and exciting things.




One of the hot spot at TIFF this year, beside the movies, is the L'Oréal Paris Red Carpet Lounge at David Pecaut Square, located right next to the TIFF red carpet near the Roy Thomson Hall.  This pop up Beauty Lounge is only going to be here in Toronto for a limited time (from September 5-14, 2013; Mon-Fri 4-10 pm & Sat-Sun 10 am-10 pm).  It is a perfect place for event goers to get pampered (hair, lips or nails) and have some fun, as well as checking out the limited edition L'Oréal Paris Collection Privée (and get a product sample yourself), which is the official beauty collection for TIFF this year.

Last week, I had the pleasure to attend the Beauty United Blogger Ambassador Program launch party.  Hosted by P&G Beauty, this party is to celebrate the launch of their Canadian beauty blogger ambassador program, which features 30 beauty bloggers across Canada and I am honoured to be one of them.

NIVEA Haus 2013

NIVEA Haus 2013 at Yonge-Dundas Square

For some reasons, I was never able to make it to the NIVEA Haus in the past two years.  But this year, NIVEA Haus is mobilized and is travelling across Canada to share skincare knowledge with Canadians, so I was able to pay a visit last week.

Benefit x Matthew Williamson The Rich is Back Makeup Kit

The Rich is Back!  Benefit Cosmetics have collaborated with British fashion designer Matthew Williamson to create a limited edition high fashion makeup kit (CA$40).  Being the queen of makeup kits, it is actually their first fashion collaboration and this kit is debuting in store and online on June 10, 2013.  But us Torontonians got a sneak peek last week at the One Day Flash Sale at Sephora in the Toronto Eaton Centre.  Being a fan of Benefit for years, I couldn't miss it (plus I work close enough so it works out perfectly).

One Day Only Flash Sale on May 10 with exclusive Benefit bangle as gift with purchase

When I think of Montagne Jeunesse, I think of their Cucumber Peel Off Face Masque that I have used and repurchased for numerous times since I was a teenager.  Their extensive selection of masks always draw my attention whenever I pass by their stand.  It's such an easy way to get a little at-home facial that will not make a dent in your wallet.  Thanks to Farleyco, I got a chance to preview their new skincare revolution.  Low and behold, they have developed a range of new masques that makes at-home pampering even easier and provides greater results but less mess — Montagne Jeunesse Clay Spa*.

L'Oreal Paris Red Carpet Nail Art Workshop work station

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend a nail art workshop with L'Oreal Paris Celebrity Manicurist, Tom Bachik.  Tom's work has been featured on numerous red carpets and magazines.  Some of his celebrity clients include Anne Hathaway, Jennifer Lopez, Gwen Stefani, Mila Kunis, and Zooey Deschanel, just to name a few.  So it's natural for me to get SUPER excited about this workshop.

Hugo (left) and Tom (right).  HI TOM!!!!!

Tom introduced himself by telling us a little bit about how he turn from a skateboarder/graffiti artist into, what he likes to refer himself as, MANicurist.  I love hearing about his stories and humour.  He is just a lot of fun and very nice! 

During the interactive workshop, we got to try out some of L'Oreal Paris's new products to test them out.

Last Friday was the finale of Fructis Fruit Sensation Presents: MUCH VJ Search, and I got the chance to go behind the scene to see VJ hopefuls getting their hair styled by Nina Farrauto, Garnier Styling and Colour Expert.  For those of you who live in Canada, you might be familiar with MuchMusic and its VJ Search.  It has been 4 years since they held their last VJ Search, and this year they took a fun approach with Much Bus and Camp Much.  If you're wanna check out their journey, then you'll need to go check out the Much website.

Much VJ Search 2.0 Winner Liz Trinnear and her apprentice Chloe Wilde who is also this year's Much VJ Search Winner!

As the title sponsor of the show, Garnier provided hair makeovers for the VJ hopefuls to get them TV ready and give them an extra edge to stand out among all other participants.  Nina also styled the final 3 before the finale so they would look their best for the big day!

For the guys, Nina used one of the Garnier Frutis Style Power Gel that comes in different finishes to make the style hold up for the entire evening.  Here's Ryan with his spikes...

Earlier this week I had the chance to attend the Almay Playfully Pretty Tea Party.  It was a lovely event on a lovely sunny day, perfect Spring day to have a tea party!

Tea party with Liquid Lip Balm

Beautiful cups and plates ALL THE WAY from England!

One main theme about this event is Mother's Day.  Almay has partnered up with their current spokemodel Kate Hudson, as well as her mother, Goldie Hawn.  The award winning actresses mother-and-daughter-duo is the face of this special campaign feature their intense i-color line.  They have a mother-daughter makeup and makeover station to celebrate this special occasion.

Almay Mother's Day Campaign

On the last day of Toronto Fashion Week, there was one more fashion show happened outside of the tents.  It was the Lucian Matis's Monochromatic Collection.  I had the opportunity to go backstage and chat with the Revlon Nail Expert Leeanne Colley and Gucci Westman Lead Assistant Mimi Imanishi.  First let's talk about the nail looks:



The above nail tips were hand painted by Leeanne Colley and her team for the show. Going with the Monochromatic theme, Leeanne came up with the charcoal black and vanilla nail designs for the show.  In the Monochromatic Collection, Lucian played with textures like leather as oppose to prints like his other collections.  Therefore, Leeanne wanted to create texture on the nails to compliment the collection.  Leeanne said  “I created a combination of sharp geometrical lines to complement Lucian’s monochromatic look. The whites in the collection are winter whites, soft and creamy not stark. I’ve combined them with a rich charcoal gray and strong black accents.”

I'm digging the porcelain shade

The leather-like finish is actually sponged on by using 1 layer of Revlon Nail Enamel in Iconic (a charcoal grey), 1 layer of Timeless (light grey), and finally another layer of Iconic and sponge it to give the texture.  After the center part, they used acentone to clean up the sides.  To create that creamy vanilla ice cream colour, Leeanne used a layer of Revlon ColorStay Longwear Nail Enamel in Porcelain (vanilla cream), a layer of Revlon Top Speed Fast Dry Nail Enamel in Spirit (white), and then another layber of Porcelain to finish it up.  Here's the end results

Model is photoready even pre-makeup... life's not fair... =P

To compliment the boxiness in the clothing of the Monochromatic Collection, Leeanne also created some outlined mani.  She used the fine tip of Revlon Nail Art Expressionist in Night & Degas (the black one) to outline the nails.  She said everything is hand-drawn, talk about skills.



Leeanne was so down to earth and enthusiastic, I got to chat with her more about nails.  I asked her to give us some tips on at home manicure.  She said the key is how you hold the brush.  When you take the brush out from the bottle, you could brush one side of the brush along the side of the bottle, so that only one side has nail polish on it.  Then you would place your brush on the center of your nail and push it towards the cuticle, then brush it back to the tip of the nails.  This way, you can avoid having too much nail polishes on the cuticles and avoid smudges.  I also asked if she has some tip for nail art because I struggle with my right hand all the time.  She said start with the hand that you have the most trouble with.  It made so much sense, because if you were to start on your easy hand, by the time you're done, you will be tired and frustrated, and don't want to do the second hand.  But if you start with the trouble hand, then when you're done, you know your easy hand is gonna be easy, and you will be able to go through with it :D.

Nice weather is not the only thing that is taking over Downtown Toronto, so does World Mastercard Fashion Week!  Yesterday, Joyce invited me to go to Adrian Wu's Hierarchy of Needs Studio Catwalk.  It was my first Fashion Show ever!

The stage was decorated in a simple but cute way.  I can't get over how adorable the balloon trees are.


On to the collection, the theme can be summed up in three words: drapes, polka dots, and bubbles.  Everything is very bubble and cute.  So kudos to the Adrian Wu team who designed such a cute set up that suited the collection so well!

Photo Credit: Adrian Wu team's photographer

Photo Credit: Adrian Wu team's photographer

Photo Credit: Adrian Wu team's photographer

Photo Credit: Adrian Wu team's photographer

Photo Credit: Adrian Wu team's photographer

Photo Credit: Adrian Wu team's photographer

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Photo Credit: Adrian Wu team's photographer

Photo Credit: Adrian Wu team's photographer

Photo Credit: Adrian Wu team's photographer

Photo Credit: Adrian Wu team's photographer

Photo Credit: Adrian Wu team's photographer

Photo Credit: Adrian Wu team's photographer

All the models were wearing V for Vendetta masks, which means we didn't get to see what makeup, if any, they're wearing.  But the hair braid on all models look very polished and I wish I could braid like that!  See the back of one of the models:

Love the model's tattoo behind her ear.

Also worth noting are the shoes, which are all from town shoes.  This is a Fall/Winter collection, so the shoes are very winter-ish.  I am quite a fan of suede and tie up booties, already got two pairs in the past season, so I'm excited to be able to wear them again next year!

Oh, so my favourite look out of all the pieces will have to be the navy blue and mustard yellow mini dress:

An even better shot at the braid lol

 I personally like to pair mustard colour with navy a lot, in fact I was wearing that at the show lol.  So this has to be my favourite among the bunch!

I'm not going to talk about his Parisian-and-American-politicians underlying meaning of the collection, because that is kind of confusing, for me at least. Befuddling inspiration aside, there is no doubt that Adrian Wu is a very talented young man.   His signature draping, tucking and pinning dresses are very bubbly cute and full of life.  What people might not know is that he is also quite a cutie lol.

Photo Credit: Adrian Wu team's photographer

Anyhow, I have so much fun attending my first fashion show in the Toronto World Mastercard Fashion Week!  Even though we were in such hurry, it was worth the rush.

So what's next?  Mélissa Nepton show tomorrow at 8pm!  Everything from her previous collections are whispering "take me home..." in my ears lol.  I can't wait to see what's new for her in Fall/Winter 2012.  And I will definitely be back with more on that.

x Rica