It has been a good two weeks since Gen Beauty came to Toronto - it is a two day event, uniting beauty enthusiasts and creators (YouTubers and Bloggers). The event however, seems to have been a bit confusing for alot of the attendees (as discovered during the 1-2 hour line-up time before the doors opened). When a few of us got to talking, you know the people who are in front and behind you in line, no one knew exactly what this event was for. Were there demo's by the vendors? lessons? tutorials? or was this a pure networking event? Is it like IMATS where you can buy things, or is this like an event where you just get things?




At first, I was not planning to go as I have alot going on right now in my personal life on top of a busy work. Tickets were very expensive - it ranged from $60 (for super early bird WITH an additional coupon code for IPSY subsribers) to almost close to $200 a ticket - that is really a substantial amount, considering no one knew what they were really paying for.

A friend of mine had an extra ticket and was nice enough to extend the offer to invite me :) I gladly accepted and we decided to make a day of it and to be honest, not sure if we would both go again next year? Maybe because it was the first time it was in Canada, it was really disorganized. The line-ups for each vendor lasted between 30 minutes to sometimes over an hour. This was just to get the free item from the booth. Most times, for example the Too Faced booth, you lined up for about 1.5 hours for an amazing item, the not yet released Born This Way Concealer which was custom matched to you - but after that long of a wait time to get that one thing, it wasn't like you could even buy anything.

Speaking of lining up for the freebie - when you registered on the first day, you are handed a map of the convention center/vendor booths. On the sides were coupons you could rip off for each vendor for you to trade for the free item. If you lost the coupon/ticket, you lost the ability to pick up that freebie.

The freebies for each vendor REALLY varied - some places like OGX handed out ONE foil packet while other brands like Make Up For Ever for example, handed out a MUFE cosmetics bag, TWO of the new Aqua XL full sized liners, deluxe sample of the make-up remover, deluxe sample of a customized foundation and finally an eyeshadow duo. (AMAZING - thank you MUFE, they really know how to make us feel super loved and spoiled!). Some companies like Caudalie didn't even have samples, no matter when you went to line up - they were always out - weird.

The below pictures are from the IPSY booth - cosmetic bags that were designed by different curators were hand pressed on the spot. I actually really enjoyed watching them make it as it gave me something to learn and intriguing - if that makes sense?