IMATS 2011 - January

IMATS 2011 - London
West Thames College always has a stand at this prestigious Makeup event and we showcase our students skills in body painting, hair design and makeup. It is a great event hosted by The Makeup Artist magazine and allows opportunites for makeup artists to meet up. There are plenty of stands selling makeup and equipment from PAM, MAC, Illamasqua, Charles Fox and a wide range of American products not available in the UK.

There are usually well established keynote Speakers, this year included Nick Dudman, Danys Sanys and  a masterclass presentation by the multi talented Alex Box. These talks are supported by lectures and demonstrations by makeup artists working in fashion, film and theatre industries. This year there was a panel to discuss the use of social networking in the Makeup Industry and the lineup included the delightful Chapman sisters known as Pixiwoo. It was a very interesting discussion to a packed out audience.

I love this yearly event and it gives me to a chance to catch up with lots of people I enjoy spending time with.

There are two Makeup competitions, Fantasy and Prosthetics for students and new graduates to enter. There are 7 finalists for each category selected by a professional team called in to view candidates photographs at the head office of the Makeup Artist magazine. The finalists have 2 hours to create their design which is then judged by a team of leading Makeup Artists.


Loren Hucken - 1st Place in the fantasy Makeup competition


Graduates from WTC have won the Fantasy Makeup category at IMATS for the last 5 years. It is something we are very proud of.

Our stand for WTC was next to Illamasqua who were creating vibrant and colourful designs. The creative team includes some of our wonderful graduates. There were demos on the PAM stand by Kate Benton, Shaunna Harrison and Makeup Forever.

The MAC Pro team were demonstrating body painting, their stand was in huge demand all weekend. On the equally busy Charles Fox stand there were a wide number of demonstrations going on, including Drag Queen makeup.

There were very creative designs being demonstrated on the AOFM stand for fashion makeup and also expert body painting by the very talented Carolyn Roper www.getmadeup.com  

It is a great event for Makeup Artists to network,share, learn new products and ideas and I would recommend any students studying makeup to save up and attend the IMATS London event in Feb 2012. Details are available at www.makeupmag.com and click onto the IMATS site for details of all their shows around the world.