Showing posts with label cosmprofna 2015. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cosmprofna 2015. Show all posts

Friday, July 24, 2015

Cosmprof North America 2015: Part 3 (Pic & Word Heavy)

Now on to the final event the Tips and Sips party!

This was the final Cosmprof related event I attended. This event was hosted by Nail It! Magazine, NAILPRO Magazine, and Katie Cazorla of The Painted Nail. I was very thankful for this event, and it was part of the reason I did not feel so bad for not being able to cover as much of the show floor. This event had little brand set ups from many of the brands I did not get to see on the show floor or that required appointment.
The event was held on the 60th floor at the Mandalay Bay (ooo la la)! This event I was little unsure about. Again, the whole this is a hosted by a big magazine and important people, and I'm not important or fancy popped into my head. I was relieved to know many other bloggers who were going had similar concerns.

I got to the event too early. I'm one of those early people. Thankfully, I found another early friend Amanda from Amanda Loves Polish to hang out with. She's really awesome. I felt like we really related well especially on why we blog. We entered the event together, and let me tell you walking around these little brand displays with brand reps is SO much easier when you have a friend.

This event had handful of mainstream brands, new nail brands, and a few indies. It was a similar set up as Cocktails & Colors as far as individual displays, but this event wasn't as chill and laid back. It had fancier people. I don't necessarily mean fancy as in dressy or pretentious people, but you know fancy as in important major brand professional people..also known as people that make me uncomfortable. That being said everyone was very nice, and I don't think I was too awkward! I hope.

Here are some pics of the brands there. Again, I multi-task failed and didn't get everyone. The lighting was also a challenge too!

Jessica Cosmetics
 This is their Phenom system which a gel-like polish that dries in natural light

The Painted Nail
 This is their Steam Off gel removal as well as some Footlogix  pedicure products.

Essie
 This was there Silk Watercolor line.

ENP Nail Design

Salon Perfect

China Glaze
 This is their Cheers! Holiday Collection for 2015.
 Some colors from the Fall Outdoors collection

Gabriel Cosmetics
 Cuccio Color
 Fall 2015 collection
Winter 2015 collection

There were more tables, but I didn't happen to snag a photo! After I made my rounds around the room, I was pretty beat!

I wanted to say really felt like I met some amazing people during this trip. I really felt I hit it off with Amanda from Amanda Loves Polish, Jenne from Polish Pathology, Tia from Iced Lacquer, Ida from Ida Nails It, Courtney from swatcher,polish-ranger, and Rhonni from Ninja Polish. I also enjoyed getting to see and talk to Christy from KBShimmer and Claudia from Chromatic Misadventures friends I already knew from before. Many thanks for Christy too for introducing me to so many people and making me feel welcomed at the show and Claudia for walking the show floor with me.  I really made some amazing connections with people, Christina from Scandalous n' Sassy was a hoot, Missi from DIFFERENT dimension is a sweetheart and was also a Lance Bass loving NSYNC fan in her younger years, Sara from Cupcake Polish another absolute sweetheart, and everyone else I talked to was just an absolute joy.

If I left out any names, I am so sorry and it is unintentional. I sincerely enjoyed everyone I met and spoke to! So much love for this group of women I met, and I'm so thankful for the opportunity to have been able to meet all of them. I only wish I had more time to with everyone. There is always next year. I will be back!

I forgot to mention! I have TONS of beautiful polishes to share with you all over the next several weeks. All the brands you've seen pics of in my posts the past few days I have products from them to show you. So many brands were so generous to bloggers. I appreciate their generosity and the opportunity to share their pretties on my blog! Stay tuned...

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Cosmoprof North America 2015 : Part 2 (Word & Pic Heavy)

On to Part 2 of my Cosmprof adventure! This next part was my favorite part of the entire experience. The next two events Cocktails & Colors and Tips & Sips were much more my speed as I really got to know some indies and fellow bloggers.

The Cocktails & Colors event was hosted by Missi of DIFFERENT dimension, Jill of Glisten & Glow, Sara of Cupcake Polish, and Linda of Nail Vinyls. I LOVED this event. The Cocktails & Colors event was an indie event set up with a handful of indies showing off their beautiful polishes. I'm not well versed in indies. I own a handful of brands, but not many. Indies are lacking part of my blog. This isn't on purpose as much as it's just so overwhelming the number of brands out there and it's hard to determine when I have the money what to buy.

This event was an absolute treat. I was introduced to so many brands I've stalked on Instagram for so long. I was familiar with all of the brands represented, but I actually got to see their product in person and talk to their makers. I had so many wonderful conversations with the makers. These are the people I felt comfortable talking about my glitter-addiction with and sharing my "ooooh shiny!" personality with. They get it and they create it! It was like we were all speaking the same polish language.

 I really got to understand and feel the love these makers had for their products. The "heart" of this is what makes me tick. This is why I love nail polish. This is why I get excited looking a new polish, painting my nails, and writing on Imperfectly Painted Nail polish is inspiring, creative, fun, and expressive. I felt like I was among people who not only shared, but expressed that same passion. Meaningful experiences in life is what I'm all about and seek, and I found it with these people at this event!

I'll stop blabbing and share pictures! Lighting wasn't great, but I tried to get as many pics as I could of the indie displays!

Cupcake Polish

KBShimmer


Daring Diva Polish

Emerald & Ash

Serum No. 5

Painted Polish

Bliss Polish

Fair Maiden Polish

Firecracker Lacquer

Elevation Polish



There other brands there like CbL, Alter Ego Nail Enamel, and Pahlish that I couldn't get a good picture of. I'm so sorry because they had beautiful stuff!

All in all this event rocked! I had a great time talking to so many people bloggers and indies. I really felt I was in my element, and enjoyed the great company.

Stay tuned for my final installment tomorrow!

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Cosmprof North America 2015 Wrap Up: Part 1 (Word & Pic Heavy)

As many of you know I attended Cosmprof North America last week in Las Vegas. I'm going to cover the practical side of my experience as well as the personal. I like to keep it real with you guys, and sharing my personal experiences and emotions is equally important to me than just telling you the basics!

I went into this experience with a bit of hesitation. I'm a hobby blogger. Painting my nails and my blog is something I do solely as something for fun. This whole event seemed intimidating for me because I'd knew I'd be interacting with people who are in this industry as a professional and it's their career. It's very hard for self doubt not to make me feel inadequate in comparison to the people I'd thought I'd encounter there. Then again, I had to tell myself I've been an active nail blogger for 5.5 years. I worked hard on my blog, loved blogging, and of course loved nail polish. I was just as deserving as any other blogger there regardless of what type of blogger I am. 

I'm forewarning you. I am a horrific multi-tasker. Conversing, note taking, picture taking all at once is a massive fail for me. I wish I could of taken more pictures, but I was so in the moment many times talking to people that it was hard to stop and take photos. 

Cosmprof for me was spread out through 4 separate events. 
  • Shine & Social (a little getting to know you event for nail bloggers and indies)
  • Cosmoprof (the show/show floor itself)
  • Cocktails & Colors (an event for nail bloggers to familiarize themselves with indie brands)
  • Tips & Sips (an event hosted by Nail It! Magazine and Katie Cazorla for nail bloggers to familiarize themselves with some mainstream, new, and indie nail brands)
Cosmprof North America:

The next morning I went over to the Mandalay Bay where the show as being held. I went to the press room to pick up my press pass first (oh, how fancy!)

This show was HUGE. I can't even tell you how huge it was because I could figure out how to walk through the entire thing it was a massive maze. I first hit up the Discover Beauty section which featured a bunch of up and coming brands. This is where I was introduced to Ella + Mila brand. I think I'd consider them a boutique brand who creates 5 free polishes who have excellent branding! I love their logo!
Next up was Londontown which is nail care brand who has recently branched out into making Lakur their own nail lacquer line.
Then I got distracted by glitter....
I forgot what brand this was because I'm a dimwit, but it's glitter. Look at the glitter!

My favorite stop of Cosmprof had to be Color Club. They had a massive booth with a lot of friendly and easy to talk to reps. They had displays of all of their upcoming collections for fall and winter.

Fall 2015 Cabin Fever Collection
This is an atypical fall collection for sure and that's why I love it. This isn't your standard vamps or shimmers. This a great collection of mid-tone and dusty shades that do have a pop of color.

Winter 2015 Frostbite Collection
This collection doesn't really do much for me, sadly. There are lot of very metallic frost shades in here that are not really my cup of tea. There is an awesome black, white, and silver glitter though that definitely sparks my interest!

Matte Rouge Collection
This is the collection that really sparked my interest. I'm not really into mattes at all, but these looked amazing. They're not as flat as other mattes. I'm going to try to describe this as best as possible, but they look like frosted glass. Some of these colors have a jelly-like quality that looks like it's been frozen? Yeah, that doesn't make sense. They're awesome, and I will be purchasing this entire collection. It's supposed to ship out 8/1, so it should be available soon! 

They also had this cool Oil Slick collection duochrome/multichrome collection. The display of it was really high up and at 5'1" I was unable to get a photo of it. I did snag a pic of the swatch wheel though!
Now for the most oogled over collection the release of 7 new Halo Hues shades. I don't know the exact release date, but I'm assuming sometime in the next few months before the new year. 
Ooooh ahhh! 

After this I stopped by the Zoya booth. Zoya had their upcoming fall collection displayed. I could take pictures of it, but I can't share them until August 1st. Ho-hum. I will say that it seems like fall collections mainstream this year are not focusing so much on vamps this year. Bold cremes and jewel toned  shimmers seem to the focus with some muted, metallic, and vampy colors mixed in. That's all I will say.

That is it for my pictures from the actual show floor. I'm sorry! The issue I came across is I started to venture on my own were some of the booths were not really open to people to just go in a look around. Orly had a booth with a sign on their displays saying "No Photography". Booths from OPI and China Glaze were completely blocked off and you had to have an appointment to go in. Plus, the whole self-doubt inadequacy combination kicked in and I felt a little over my head. I feel really intimidated approaching what seem like fancy important brand reps on my own. I did another walk through and headed out for In-n-Out burger. Yum!

I did sincerely enjoy all that I saw there and my experiences walking through the show floor. I'm so not great at these types of events. I'm kind of a goofy "Oooh look at the pretty colors and glitter" person when it comes to nail polish, or a let's talk about what make the world go around deep intense conversation person. I don't really have a middle ground with small talk and networking, and I'm uncomfortable approaching strangers on my own. I really appreciate the experience and the opportunity to see so many great things

Check my post out tomorrow where I share one of my favorite parts of the show. The Cocktails & Colors event where I had an AMAZING time meeting and interacting with other bloggers and indies. I felt like I was with my kind there!

Happy Wednesday!