Heaven on earth, that’s the only way to describe Ipsy’s GenBeauty. Imagine you’re walking into a venue where it’s wall to wall filled with some of your favorite beauty brands and tons of others to discover? Yes please! This was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had, and enjoying it with Glory and Silvia made it even better. Here’s a quick video of us walking in:

Being surrounded by people, from all walks of life, sharing beauty as a common passion, is pretty remarkable. No-no, it’s far from vanity for most of us. It’s just we firmly believe that when we look and feel our best, we just become better-happier people. And as the Audrey Hepburn quote says, “Happy girls, are the prettiest.”

I don’t know if the LA event was the same, but these are a few things to expect when attending Ipsy’s GenBeauty in NYC:

• It’s a marathon. GenBeauty is a swag marathon. You go from booth to booth grabbing all the extra goodies.
• Lines. Expect to wait in line for almost every booth. It doesn’t matter how unknown the brand is, if they are handing out swag, there will be a line. Guaranteed.
• Not all the popular brands have an exciting experience or the best swag. The line for Benefit was ridiculous and when I asked what they were handing out, they said they not much. All they had were brow palettes to try on. Mean while, the lesser known brand, Jouer, put themselves on the map with their awesome swag. They not only did they give us the option of a lip gloss and eyeliner, they gave us a super cute pink bag with more makeup and uber cute jewelry. Thank you!So our advice, ask what the swag is before jumping on a line.
• Food & Refreshments. Pier 92 does not have any refreshment stands. NONE. They do have three food trucks that park outside the doors, but the lines are horribly long. When we went to try to grab a bite, the line was at least an hour long. So bring your own food and refreshments or go hungry. We did hit the vending machine and bought like $5 USD worth of junk food just so we could keep going. We were starving!
• Shoes. You will be standing and walking all day. I know we all want to look cute. But, you won’t look cute when you’re face is screaming out that you’re in bloody pain. Wear comfortable shoes.
• Split-up. I think our most useful tip, is recommended for those in groups and for the lesser known brands. You do want to experience the bigger brands together. When you check-in, along with your badge, you receive a map of the venue. That map has tabs along the edges. Those are the stubs you hand out at each booth to get the the extra swag.Collect all your friends tabs and go to another booth. They will give you swag according to the amount of tickets you have. For example, while waiting for the NYX booth, I ran across to the Mally booth with Silvia, Glory, and my tickets and received three eyeliners. Your time is limited. Use it wisely.
• Bring Cash. There’s tons of products for sale. So bring money, you’ll kick yourself for not buying anything at the discounted prices.
• Time. It goes by in a blur! Just when you are twitching at getting more, they pull it from under you and tell you, oh guess what? It’s over. Bye Felicia. Noooooooooo, I want to stay! You can’t make me leave! I want to sleep on a bed of mascara and lip glosses. Why are you so mean!? But you know what? We felt that way because we were having a great time.
• Even more Swag. Just when you’re leaving depressed because its over, Ipsy totally makes it up to you because they hand you the most incredible gift bag filled with amazing swag. OMG I love you!

Hope this information helps for the next GenBeauty. The achy feet and long lines are 1,000% worth it!

Now let’s talk about what this event is all about, the swag!

Best in Show: Make Up For Ever. Without any hesitation, I can attest that they had the best booth and swag. Yes, we waited a solid hour but it was 2,000% worth it. Not only did their professional makeup artists match you with your exact foundation, you received a full size bottle of their Ultra HD Foundation! Which is a $43 USD value. You were also able to get your bottle monogrammed but we rushed out to try and make it to TARTE but failed since the line was a mile long and they moved so slow.

Here are full pictures of each of our swag:

Isn’t it all amazing? Hearts in our eyes ya’ll!

We did a few Periscope live feeds and we loaded them to our YouTube Channel to share with ya’ll!

Some of the best moments came when we met makeup artist MannyMua and Patrick Star.

https://instagram.com/p/8ZAATxofJe/?taken-by=soyunadiva

And because a boss girl always aims higher, I selfied it up with Ipsy’s CEO Marcelo Camberos. Yup #CEOselfie #LikeAboss

And here’s a Flipgram, made using pictures Silvia, Glory, and I took:

https://instagram.com/p/8dnUeaRd1avapOd8OXKQFNvfbnaPGtzPYh8E40/?taken-by=deeshore

Ok, wow, I think this is the longest blog I’ve ever written. There was SO much to share with ya’ll! I hope you find this big ole mess helpful and a little entertaining.

Did you attend Ipsy’s GenBeauty NYC? Share your pics with us below or on social media by using the hashtag #nerdandlace.

Until next time beauties.
Live. Love. Makeup!