Indie Beauty Expo LA Haul & Recap!

It is so dramatically different to check things out as a guest than it is as a vendor on a break! I’m not sure if it is because I thought I had unlimited time to shop around that I ended up having to practically sprint through the rest of the show! It also could have been because many of these brands were new to me, or because it was skincare, which I am growing more and more obsessed with! In fact, it is in my five-year plan to get into esthetician school and learn even more, once we figure out where Tommy’s next job is! 

 

It was really interesting and rewarding to go and talk to people who were so excited about for many cases, their first trade show with their new or relatively new business! 

 

You’ve probably already gathered as much, but I did not manage my time very well, and didn’t get to spend as much time with some of the lines as I would have liked, and there are several I planned to come back and make purchases at and remembered the next day! That definitely has an effect on my Indie Beauty Expo LA Haul & Recap!

 

When I arrived and checked in, I was given a goodie bag with a list of exhibitors. I wish I had had that list beforehand (I tried briefly to find it online ahead of time), so I could have done some investigation to see what brands I’d want to see for sure! 

One thing I knew I wanted to check out before I came was dermaflash! which is a dermaplaning machine I had seen online. I entered a giveaway from Patrick Ta, an amazing makeup artist I follow.  I didn’t win, and they didn’t sell these at the show, but I do plan to buy one for personal use and to use in my kit. I did get to “get flashed” by one of their friendly people  on their team, and my face felt great! 

 

Basically, it removes the tiny little white hairs that grow on our skin. I used to get my face threaded when I lived in Milwaukee, and still have when I’ve gone home to visit, and had it done once in Beverly Hills since moving down here, but this also exfoliates and doesn’t tug at our skin! It’s also priced the same as two or three threading sessions, but you can use it weekly! This is on my shopping list for sure! 

 

Another product I was very excited about was Cleantan. I hadn’t heard of them previously, but I was attracted to their adorable and glamorous booth, and excited to find something I felt was missing on the market for YEARS. It’s a self tanner/sunless tanner* that doesn’t smell awful and doesn’t have tons of creepy ingredients in it. In the past, I had to put tanner on at weird times or when Tommy was out of town (because he’d comment on the foul smell, and I don’t blame him!), and even then I was uncomfortable with what I was potentially putting on my body. This stuff seems really great! It contains ingredients like different kinds of tea and chocolate (all of which have extra benefits beyond the bronzed look to our skin), which I’m already putting into my body, so why not on? I am super excited to try this out, especially because one of the co-creators told me that makeup artists use this for different types of contouring and can be very creative, so I’m pumped for that! I am going to do some research to make sure that I don’t overdo it or look like an Oompa Loompa, and then I will be sharing a review as a follow-up to my Indie Beauty Expo LA Haul & Recap!

One skincare line I’m especially pumped to try is called DNA Renewal, and I am excited to try it for the marriage of science to nature! The research they showed (more info on their site) seemed really fascinating, and I loved that the creator is a doctor I can see here in Los Angeles (specifically Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills)! They gave me a few products in their former packaging to review, so I am pretty pumped to give them a shot and look even younger than I already do! 

The Vanity Project (Love the name!) was such a cute booth, and it didn’t hurt that when I said hello, they handed me wine! This isn’t just because they like to party over at the Vanity Project (though I am sure that’s true). They have a line of really innovative and useful products, including (but not limited to) wine wipes! You KNOW I’m a wine drinker… And Jesus loves wine… 

But as a model and makeup artist, having nice teeth is really important! I have been through the SUPER painful process of laser whitening before, and don’t want to do it again, so I was really excited to find these wipes that keep our teeth white and even strengthen tooth enamel, protecting it from the red in the wine! I was so excited that I even left my purchases at the booth and had to have them sent to me! I swear it wasn’t the wine that made me do it! But that’s why I had to wait to write my Indie Beauty Expo LA Haul & Recap - I needed to get my wine wipes! I am going to try a NEW type of whitening service in Beverly Hills soon, and will review these after that! They come in an adorable compact with a mirror! 

Another line I was excited to learn about is Jordan + Petersen skincare. Once again, one of the things I loved most about this line was the marriage between science and nature. I also loved that it was two super fun ladies who started and ran the business, and one was from my NorCal home in the Bay Area, which I miss greatly! I am super excited because I actually won their raffle and got a nice little gift set of some of their hero products to try. Review coming soon! 

Anytime someone asks me a question about skincare, it takes me a long time before I actually start giving advice on skincare! I usually start with diet and water intake, then go straight to sleep! no, I don’t mean I sleep while I chat with them…  I mean I tell them they need to make sure they get a good night’s sleep! That’s why I am excited about Madison + White, which makes GORGEOUS clean skin kits and pillowcases designed for beautiful hair! And if you’re not keen on resting your head on the products of worms (i.e. silk), you’ll love that their line is vegan! Like the dermaflash, this is on my wishlist! And can we talk about how beautiful their marketing and images are??? 

Pretty Pretty Pretty Pretty Pretty, PLEASE!

Lumene intrigues me a ton - great, healthy ingredients for skincare AND makeup, and they are all about that GLOW! They are just being introduced to the United States after a long following abroad, so I am excited to see what the fuss is all about!

As you can see in the video here, I have been wanting to try Frownies, which makes wrinkle killers, but again - I got distracted! I sent a message on their social media page to see if the event discount code still worked, and didn’t get a response, and tried to use it with no success. Will I still bite the bullet and buy some to try? 

LUA Skincare impressed me primarily with their packaging! They were one of the previously mentioned lines where I went and then got distracted when I realized I had mismanaged my time, and forgot to come back, but they have an amazing product called the “eye beam oil” that I really wanted to try because it also contained castor oil and caused the founder’s eyelashes to grow long and thick. Yes, please! 

Much like the Cleantan’s allure because of tea, I was intrigued by Selia&Co, which had face masks made with tea! It was among the first booths I hit, and I wasn’t ready to make purchases right away… And you guessed it - I forgot to go back! Their powdered tea face masques seemed DIVINE! 

Luk Lip Nourish was a highly-pigmented lip balm that was 100% natural (no lead - yay) and made out of FOOD! I wanted to play with it more and eventually will, but was a little grossed out by the sampling methods! 

Laguna Herbals was exciting because it was close to home, all natural, has many multi-purpose/multi-use products, and is organic! They gave me lots of goodies to try, so I will be telling you more about them soon! 

The folks at the Makeup Mitty told me that our oceans are filling up with makeup wipes. I don’t really use them on myself (I use organic cotton swab pads with micellar water when I am too lazy to wash my face, and my fingers with cleanser when I’m not), and you know I already have a makeup eraser from PhamExpo a couple years ago, but this makeup mitty seems pretty amazing! I am tempted to get a pack and use them in my kit and wash them between clients and do away with the wipes! 

My final mention is for Kudarat, because they are gluten-free! I am going to write in more detail about their line, but as more and more people learn that they have celiac’s or gluten intolerance/sensitivities, it is important to know what hair and skincare lines are safe for use, and Kudarat is one! Since I have a lot of people in my group that follow Primal/Paleo protocols for eating, I thought this would be a good suggestion for a lot of that tribe to take it a step further to what they put on their bodies versus just what’s going in! 

Well, that’s the summary of my Indie Beauty Expo LA Haul & Recap! What sounds most intriguing to you? What would you like to see me review first? 
xoxo, 

Mandie 

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