This past weekend I attended and worked at the first annual Generation Beauty event put on by Ipsy. I have posted a ton of pics on Instagram and Twitter (if you aren’t following me on Instagram yet, why the heck not? Get to it… my name’s glossmenagerie as you can probably imagine…) so I don’t want to picspam the blog with the same photos unless you guys really really want me to, lol. Comment below. ;) Otherwise hit up my Insta.
Anyways, a lot of people have been asking me my thoughts on the event itself, if it was worth attending and how it compares to other beauty events…so that’s more what this post is about, from the point of view of someone attending the event (since most of you won’t really relate to my thoughts as an exhibitor – if you’re a brand wanting to know about THAT, please contact me directly).
Generation Beauty provided a lot of educational content. There were loads of little mini seminars that they called “content sessions”. Topics included things like how to pick a channel name, how to balance school & your youtube channel, and how to deal with creepers on the internet (that was my favorite – very practical advice from AndreasChoice). The content was really heavily geared towards those who either are on youtube, want to be on youtube, or really admire youtube beauty gurus and want to gain insight into their ‘world’. There were also a lot of meet & greets with various youtube personalities. GB was supposed to have been also a blogger event, but I felt like there wasn’t much, if any content available that was blogger-specific. A lot of the youtube-related advice can be applied to bloggers though (we ALL deal with creeps on the internet, issues of balancing life vs. your beauty hobby/job, etc.) so it wasn’t useless info.
The crowd that attended GB was almost entirely female (shocking I know) and skewed very young for the most part. But I didn’t feel out of place there by any means. Unlike other events I’ve been to, everyone seemed very open to talking to other people (not just the brand experts or youtubers). There was a genuine positive energy and a willingness to discuss ideas, opinions, and our love for the beauty world. I made friends in line for things, sitting around taking a breather, and later on Instagram by talking to other people posting things. Michelle Phan said that was her number one goal for the event, to bring people together who love beauty so they can meet and network. I think the event definitely made that possible and it worked well in that regard.
As a blogger or youtuber, especially one just starting out, the representatives from the beauty brands there were very easy to approach about working together. I have been to events where I asked about talking to someone who works on PR and was met with dumbstruck stares. Not at Generation Beauty! The brands were well-prepared and came ready to talk about media lists and collaboration. That was a REALLY nice thing to see.
Like any beauty event, the brands had their latest and greatest around to talk about and show off. And yes, there was swag. Lots of swag. ;) What’s a beauty event without swag, right? haha. More about that later. That’s not what this post is for!
Would I recommend attending? Yes, if you can afford it and it’s not geographically prohibitive. However, I don’t think both days are completely necessary. I think it was the kind of thing that they probably could have squeezed into one day. If it weren’t for getting double the swag, I’d say most people could just pick either Saturday OR Sunday. I’m not sure if they offered 1-day tickets though. It’s something for them to consider in the future if they don’t. Remember, this is the very first year of Generation Beauty.
It’s important to also remember this was not a show marketed as a pro event. Yes there were many makeup and hair artists in attendance, but if you are looking for the place to learn the latest cutting edge body painting technique for example, this wasn’t the show for you. This was designed as an all ages social event for people who love beauty to come together, learn something, and make a new friend. It was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed myself! Since I haven’t been blogging in a while, I really needed this. It reminded me why I love what I do. :)
If you’re reading this and you’re one of the people I met at GB, thanks for being a part of what was a really great weekend!