GenBeauty SF 2017 Haul

If you’ve been keeping up with me on Instagram, you’ll know that I went to Generation Beauty in San Francisco this past weekend… and it was SO amazing! This was my first time going not only to GenBeauty, but any beauty conference ever so I was super excited to have this opportunity!

In case you’re wondering, Generation Beauty is a convention for all beauty lovers. Whether you’re a YouTuber, beauty guru, blogger, or just an enthusiast, GenBeauty is the place for those who love all things makeup, skincare, and haircare related to come together and connect with brands, influencers, and people just like you. Not only do you meet people, but you also get to shop some of the most popular ipsy brands for usually a discounted rate!

I went to the one in SF since it is closest to me, but they also put them on in NY and Toronto. The conference is hosted by ipsy, Michelle Phan’s company that sends personalized samples in a monthly subscription to you. Of course, if you’re as much of a beauty geek as I am, you’ll know this.

In a nutshell, it’s like Disneyland for Beauty Lovers! For real — the lines were organized, the staff were there to make sure you had a good experience, there were meet and great with your favorite creators, and of course, TONS of goodies! Like I said before, this was my first time and I had no idea what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised.

I thought that it would be a chaotic free-for-all, with beauty junkies crowding around booths and swarming around famous YouTubers, so I was so impressed at the organization and how smoothly most things ran. There were some hiccups like not only difficulty connecting to the wifi, but difficulty getting a connection at all (even though I had 3 bars..), the virtual lines being WAY too overcrowded, and the meet and greet times being randomly announced instead of on the website or printed, but despite these small inconveniences, I had an amazing time.

I was even surprised to be able to snap a quick picture with Cassandra Bankson at the registration booth, after just having walked in. She was so sweet!

The biggest surprise I had, though, was the amount of freebies they were giving away. I knew that GenBeauty was famous for their generous swag bag, but I wasn’t aware that each of the brands gave away products for coming to their lines too! It depended on the brand, but most gave at least one free product, usually full size. Sometimes you had to follow their social media or a post a picture to yours to get the product, other times it was to get even more bonus product. Some booths even had hourly giveaways, extra contests, and more. It’s like they were throwing freebies left and right. You get a freebies, you get a freebie… EVERYONE GETS A FREEBIE! *end Oprah voice here*

All of the product made it well worth it in my experience and I definitely got my ticket’s worth and I didn’t even make my way through all the booths or even go the second day! (I got to most that I really wanted to go to, with the exception of Tarte. There were a few brands I would’ve liked to have been able to see, but the lines got long at the end of the day.) I can’t imagine how well off I would’ve made it had I been able to go both days!

Anyhow, that brings me to the purpose of this post: the haul. Now, before we get started, I’d like to note that the intention of this post isn’t to brag or show off, but to document and capture and amazing first experience in my life and share it with anyone who’s cool enough to wander into my realm of the interwebs… after all this is The Chronicles of Megan. Now with that out of the way, here’s the good stuff!

You should know that I’m breaking this up into a few categories; first, by the type of product in the swag bag and then by additional freebies and the purchases I made.

Here they are:

Eyeshadow

• Tarte Make Believe in Yourself Palette– There’s 9 jewel toned shimmer shadows, 1 matte shadow, and a highlighter in this palette. The pigmentation looks pretty decent and the colors are fun!
• Note Luminous Silk Mono Eyeshadow in 13 – I went with my cousin’s girlfriend who I’m close with to the conference. We compared bags and this is the only thing she got different than me!
• Physicians Formula Instaready Multi-Finish Eyeshadow in Smoky Nude – I was surprised at the pigmentation from this. It’s not the most intense, but it is more than I expected. Aso I accidentally nicked a shadow with my nail when I was swatching 😩

Eyeliner

Dear god, there were SO many free eyeliners. I’m, probably gonna give away a few of these because who needs this many eyeliners?! I wish they would have at least given different colors and even asked one or two of the brands to put in a different product because this was like way too much.

• Absolute New York Cotton Candy liner in Sugar Plum
• POP Beauty Kajal Pen in Inky Purple
• Pixi Endless Silky Eye Pen in Black Noir – tbh I was a bit disappointed that Pixi gave a mini product, but they did give away a TON of stuff at their booth. However, I wish I had gotten skincare instead since that is what they’re known for and also there were just SO many eyeliners.
• Ciate Wonderwand Gel Kohl Liner
• Milani Stay Put Waterproof Eyeliner in Linked On Black

Mascara

• Essence I   Extreme Volume Waterproof Mascara
• Covergirl Total Tease
• Benefit They’re Real – I’m actually really disappointed in Benefit. They’re a huge company and could’ve afforded to have at least a full size product in here. Also, they are known for brows, so why wouldn’t they put a brow product in the bag especially if there were already 2 other mascaras?! At least it’s not another POREfessional primer…

Lips

• Jouer Lip Creme in Praline
• Tattoo Junkee Matte Lip Paint + Metallic Effect in Minx? (can’t find the name on the package) – This set has a matte liquid lipstick that you can wear on it’s own or but the metallic effect over the top (see the top swatches). I’ll have to play with this more, but so far it didn’t really turn out like the picture on the package.
• Ofra Liquid Lip in Manila
• MAC Lipglass in Short & Snappy – I was also sad that MAC didn’t have a bigger sample since they are such a big company.
• Dirty Little Secret Lipgloss in Rose Petal
• Rimmel Clear Lip Balm 01 – Not pictured but it smells good!

Makeup Tools

• Royal & Langnickel Moda Contour Brush
• Luxie 141 Mini Round Brush
• PUR Cosmetics Sponge

Skincare

• OMG! 2 in 1 Kit Detox Bubbling MIicrofiber Mask
• Sooae Purifying Black Charcoal Mask
• Sooae Purifying Brightening Peeling Gel
• Derma E Vitamin C Concentrated Serum
• Pur-Lisse Blue Lotus Seed Mud Mask + Exfoliant
• Skinfix Foaming Clay Cleanser

Haircare

• 12 Benefits Instant Healthy Hair Treatment
• Eva NYC Purse Perfect Hair Towelette

Miscellaneous

• Nudestix Moisturizing Pencil
• The Balm Cosmetics Mary Loumanizer
• NYX Away We Glow Liquid Highlighter in Rose Quartz
• Kokie Nail Polish in Heavenly

Additional Freebies

• Pixi Endless Silky Eye Pencils in Bronze Beam & Opal Overcoat
• Jouer Slim Creme Eyeliner in Matte Green
• Em Cosmetics Felt Tip Illustrative Eyeliner
• Milani Color Harmony Blush Palette in Bronze Burst
• Julep Lip Creme sample in Lychee
• MAC Liptensity in Blue Beat – I’m also a bit disappointed that MAC didn’t offer the same free lipsticks they were giving away on National Lipstick Day, given that the conference was the same day.
• Luxie 111 Mini Flat Angled Brush
• Pixi Black Lash Primer – I’ve been testing this out and REALLY like it so far!
• Sooae Collagen Essence Mask Propolis

Purchases

• Jouer Skinny Dip Ultra Foil Palette – Discounted from $40 to $35 (no tax)
• Jouer Lip Creme in Rose Gold – Discounted from $18 to $15 (no tax)
• MAC Retro Matte in So Me – Discounted from $22 to $15.75
• Em Cosmetics Infinite Lip Cloud in Faded Clementine
• Pixi Sun Mist SPF 30 – Discounted from $18 to $14
• MAC Reflects Transparent Teal – Discounted from $22 to $15.75

Besides my purchases, I think I’m most excited about the Ofra & Jouer lippes, Sooae masks, Pur-lisse treatment, Pixi lash primer, and the Tarte palette!

I’m already hyped for next year! I hope they have it in SF again so it will already be close to where I live. Have you gone to GenBeauty before? Did you go this year? What were you most excited about? Leave me a comment below!