As you may imagine the last three weeks have been hell-ish for me. Apparently this is what I signed up for by joining the medical profession. Obstetrics and Gynaecology is extremely hectic, not to mention the added stress of the upcoming final exams in March. *faints*

I have slowly been counting down to IMATS London, which will take place on Saturday at the Alexandra palace in London. I’m super excited to have a day away from Leicester and medicine and to spend time with amazing beauty bloggers (Jen Mizzworthy, Grace London, Row Cosmetic Candy, Yinka Vex in the city, Koren Enkore Makeup etc.)

Little old excited me booked my train tickets to London since the 8th of January. I got a return first class ticket for £21.80 . IMATS will be Saturday and Sunday but I will only be there on Saturday as I do not have the luxury of taking two days off my study schedule. I am attending as press, so I will have my Sony α-350 and possibly my camcorder. I’m contemplating taking my mini suitcase because of the potential backache all the make-up hauling might induce. I am also going in my Ankara- I want to feel like a true African diva once more. It’s going to be amazing fun.

In anticipation, I have compiled a long list of the weird and wonderful I want to get my hands on.

• First stop will be Adesign to get my hangs on the pointed foundation kabuki brush

• Next is Crownbrush to pick up the C134 lash fan brush. It is perfect for coloured mascara if you have pigments and a mixing medium. By the way I learnt that trick from Koren Zander who will be talking about the exciting uses of pigments Sunday morning at IMATS. I wouldn’t miss that if I were you.
• I might stop  at the Academy of Freelance Makeup stand, to see if I might be interested in signing up for their Airbrush course.  Of course that is subject to time and fund availability. AOFM is an amazing school for make-up artistry. One of the best out there.
• I have to pick up a shadow mixer sealer from the Eve Pearl or I might disintegrate afterwards.
• Next is Fero Beauty. They have amazing eyelashes for stupidly low prices. They are very good for pro accessories so check them out if you are interested.
• Ooh the Hakuhodo stand! I have been waiting anxiously since IMATS LA to get hold of some more brushes. These brushes are the best in the world (OK I might be exaggerating). They are so soft and are just perfect for that nude made up look. They are very expensive though, can cause fatal fund haemorrhage from the standard bank account. I intend to get me the S100, E1103, S142 (I lost the last one in DC boo!), E0181, E0970 and E0183 (Note to self: Call the bank and put an overdraft on account tomorrow!)

• At this point I hope I will be able to afford the Illamasqua Sealing gel and solstice liquid metal :S

• M.A.C. pro have never really tickled my fancy so I wont be surprised if I just slide across their stand.
• Finally I can complete my Naked Cosmetics pigments with Sierra Nevada, Rain Forest and Harvest Moon collections
• Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics: I must pay some compliment here to one of the people I admire the most in the industry- David Klasfield, the founder of OCC make-up. I intend to throw unending tantrums till I get my face airbrushed to perfection by the man himself. I know everyone raves about their amazing lip tars, but I hope to get the glisten and luster loose colour concentrates as well as a clear lip tar. If I have a clear lip tar and loose pigments I’m set to make any lip stick colour I desire.
• Make-up Artist Provisions (PAM) are the official UK rep of Make Up Forever. I just want about 5 aqua eyes and a Z palette. That’s not too much right?

• Finally! Royal brush for the baby dome BC 180 brush. This is a very good dome brush for its price. It ran out at IMATS LA and I fumed for a while.

Somehow I must attend about 12 talks and go round all the stands without passing out (I might actually appreciate those first class tickets!). I hope my camera survives 10 hours of non-stop picture taking. I will have back-up in the form of my mobile phone, which is crap I know, but it is back up! I will try as much as possible to get a good seat for the student competitin results. We had fashion shows at IMATS LA I don’t know why we don’t in London

At the end of all this madness, I will be officially broke and will be forced to study non-stop because that will be the only alternative. I hope I can even feed myself. It really is that bad but I can’t wait.

Stay beautiful…