Generation Beauty 2014 - Recap!

I woke up yesterday morning excited for makeup and was so sad when I realized I had to go to work.  It is that sad, end of vacation feeling.

And then I was like this:

Sad panda. :(

Because this weekend was a riot of beauty overstimulation and I loved and SQUEED every minute I was at Genbeauty!  Apologies in advance for the lack of photos, I was too busy soaking up every minute of the event and standing in line for two days that I neglected to get all the photos I wanted.  Also, my iPhone 4s is getting grumpy with me and drains its battery pretty quickly in protest of its abnormally heavy use.  Genbeauty is a very social media-heavy event, with a lot of Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook use to earn or win free product.  My whole purpose for attending was mostly to play with and learn more about the sponsor brands...especially the new products they were pimpin'.  To be honest, I don't much follow vloggers (as my gnat-sized attention span does not allow me to view any videos longer than 30 seconds) and while it was great to see some highly touted bloggers at the event, I was on a mission to play with pretties! 

Woohoo, made it!!

The tent!  Thank goodness there was air conditioning because the sun was crazy bright last weekend.

I'm so glad I had a friend come and experience this event with me!  I didn't get to attend last year, but we were so excited about this year that we bought tickets last summer.  We got there extra early because she is a convention pro and she scared the socks off me with horror stories.  Luckily, getting our badges was a completely pain-free process. We got our badges so fast that we had a good hour to kill til 11am, when they opened the doors.  Alas, this was just the beginning of 2 days of waiting...I should seriously consider a walker-chair combo with a basket for next year.  (Okay, not really. but a grown up stroller equivalent is a good idea).

Yay badge and tote bag! (and my tiny lime green purse)

First off, can I just say that I am very impressed at how organized this event was for only its second year.  Granted, there are some kinks to be worked out when you have such a large number of ladies scrambling over beauty goodies, but Ipsy did a great job, as did the sponsor companies.  I do have to say that all the waiting I did was worth it!  Plus, my fellow beauty lemmings were for the most part polite and patient, which was greatly appreciated.

Let the mayhem begin!  The only time the tent was quiet and calm...right
at the beginning of day 1.

And the crowdedness.  Last year I believe they were around 1200
attendees...this was definitely a larger turnout.

By far the worst line was the BareMinerals line, which we suffered through for over 2 hours...it wound its way around half the tent!  They had their new bareSkin liquid foundation and they were color matching everyone.  BareMinerals was a very generous sponsor though, they provided everyone with a free full size bareSkin Pure Brightening Serum Foundation Broad Spectrum SPF 20 and their new Perfecting Face Brush (a $57 retail value).   I LOVE the way this product looked after it was applied, and the brush was so soft!  

Doesn't the bareSkin look fab??  I was shocked at how
flawless my skin looked.

Thanks, BareMinerals!

The best part about going to this event with a friend was our divide and conquer strategy.  We cut down on our line-waiting significantly by taking turns holding our spot in line while running around and checking out the other booths.  We also used the time in line to enter the various Twitter and Instagram contests, which paid off when I won a Temptu airbrush system via their Twitter contest(!!!).

FREE TEMPTU!

The Temptu didn't come with any pods, but they had a nice discount at their booth and picked up a foundation pod after I got matched.  They were so sweet and threw in a complimentary concealer as well.  I'm just sad that their products are no longer available at Sephora, I used to love getting my face done with the Temptu when I worked there.  Honestly, though, I probably won't buy more pods...I would much rather get a spray gun (available on the Temptu Pro site) and either mix my own foundation or use the pro foundation.  Much more economical and I can custom my color.

Thanks, Temptu! (Sorry to everyone for the tired eyes and sad hair, haha.
This was Day 2 and I never did find the time to get my hair done.)

It is fair to say that this past weekend was a complete blur.  It went by so quickly, we forgot to eat. :)  They had food trucks on site though!  Again, more line waiting.  And they also had (nicer) portable toilets (aaaand more line waiting).  Next year I hope they splurge for the fancy portable bathrooms. :)  It didn't help, their having limitless Keurig beverages available too!

 And the best for last....Cargo Cosmetics!  I <3 this booth (and their products) so much that I spent a good chunk of my weekend there...played with products, attended their workshop, stopped by a few times when they had random Instagram tasks for free products...plus the ladies working the show were so sweet.  I left with a lot of generously provided products and a hankering for more...I immediately went home and hopped on their site to purchase a few items I fell in love with.  Once I get everything, I will absolutely do a review on my Cargo haul and stash. <3

I love everything, especially their Cargo HD line. <3

My Cargo freebies (!!) And then I bought more! ><

And here are a few more quick pics snapped around the event:

Benefit.  This booth was so crowded I never did make it
inside! (This photo was taken as they were shutting
down, so obviously not crowded here.)

Proactiv Twitter vending machine...great sponsor,
they provided 3 full size products to everyone who
completed the activities at their booth.

LUSH!  I really wish they gave away more, I would love
to try more of their products...they smell so great.  This
pic is compliments of my friend, who won Lush's Instagram
contest with an edited version of this pic.  SO JEALOUS.

NYX booth pins for voting for the blogger awards.

Keurig, you are a lifesaver.  Free hot and iced beverages for
everyone! And not just coffee.

Josie Maran #ImagineICan booth.  Loved all the color, so
sad I didn't win any of the full size product. :(

And of course, here is the swag I received from GenBeauty!  Definitely worth the cost of the (earlybird) ticket. :)  I can't wait to buy tickets for next year already.  Happy hour swag was easily collected this year, they provided a total of 4 tickets (2 per day) where you could go to any booth listed on that ticket to pick up a happy hour bag.  They had a total of 4 bags (again, 2 per day) with various products inside.  Easy peasy and quick...very efficient.

Items from the happy hour bags from both days.  I definitely got some doubles and different products than
some of my friend.  These products (or a similar variation) were guaranteed to all ticket holders who attended
happy hour.

And the total haul! (minus the items I purchased at the show...so all this was free)

Here's til next year...thank you to Ipsy, Michelle Phan, and all the sponsors! <3