You know that surreal feeling you get when you realize something you've been anticipating for months and months is finally coming to fruition? That was all of this past weekend for me. I headed out at the crack of dawn on Friday morning (legit, it was 5 am) to New York City for Ipsy's Generation Beauty event. I'd been planning this trip since March and as I was sitting on the train I almost couldn't believe it was actually finally happening.
If you aren't familiar with Generation Beauty, it's a large beauty expo hosted by Ipsy, and has grown to be a bit of a phenomenon in the last couple of years. The first Gen Beauty event was held in LA near the Ipsy headquarters, and now they've expanded to NY, Toronto, and San Francisco. Anyone can attend these events, and they usually draw in crowds of more than 4000 people. As someone who's goes day-to-day surrounded by people who aren't on my wavelength about beauty, it was kind of incredible to be in a room full of others who share my same passion.
This weekend was exhausting, exhilarating, and incredibly fun. I finally got to meet so many of the blogger friends I've made over the years in person, I got to connect with a ton of amazing brands, and I took home a stupid amount of swag. Curious to see more of my Gen Beauty experience? Keep reading!
With the exception of having to wait in some long and seriously claustrophobic lines, I really had no complaints about my Generation Beauty experience. Most of the brands had some really cute selfie opportunities (usually involving some kind of prop or super hunky shirtless man) and were giving away incredibly generous products.
Also, I got to meet Tati Westbrook, and she is even more beautiful in person (if that is physically possible).
After I got home I sat down and sorted out all of the goodies I took home with me and filmed this GIANT haul video for you guys. I'm putting a lot of these products aside for a future giveaway, so make sure you're subscribed to my channel so that you can qualify when it comes time to enter!
Even though I've got another 360 something days before Gen Beauty NY rolls around again, I know I'll definitely be in attendance in 2017. Even if you aren't a content creator, if you're obsessed with makeup and skincare, Generation Beauty is an event not to be missed. You'll have a crazy amount of fun, and get to try products from a ton of different brands (NY this year hosted more than 40!!). Tickets are expensive, but if you buy them early you can get them at a discount of more than 50%.
I also want to give a big thank you to Ipsy Open Studios for inviting me this weekend both to Gen Beauty and the first ever Creator Day on Friday. As someone who is still pretty small potatoes as a content creator, I felt really honored to have this experience and left the weekend feeling totally energized to work even harder and smarter now. By the time that next year's event rolls around I hope to be doing even bigger and better things!
Were you at Gen Beauty this year? Attending in the future? Share your excitement in the comments below!
