Hi, beauties!  We are back again with another Generation Beauty experience post, but this time we are talking about my event experience.  I’ve done posts like this before, but for the most part, my experience has always been pretty positive.  If you read my previous post about early registration, you know that I touched a bit on some of the changes that happened this year.  If not, you can check out that post here. Read on to see Generation Beauty LA 2018 Add-On Experience.

Past Experience

The first year I attended Gen beauty, I will say it was a bit unorganized.  I say this because the lines at the booths went whichever way possible and ran out of free samples.  Through the years, the lines became more controlled and brands planned for the event better.

ADD-ONS

Early Admission

Let’s talk admission- Ipsy started doing add-ons for early admission and one called lightening pass (we will touch on this later). What is the early admission you ask?  Well, it’s where you gain an extra event hour on both Saturday and Sunday.  This means the event starts at 10 AM instead of 11 AM.  The additional cost for the early entry is $39.95-  early admission is well worth price because this is when I had the opportunity to hit a majority of the booths.

My advice is to hit the bigger brands during this time period because these are the booths that will have extremely long waits when general admission gets let in.  I would also suggest that if you see any empty booths, get them during this time as well, just so you can knock them off your list.

Lightning Pass

Alright, lightning pass, this add-on is kind of like the fast-pass at Disneyland.  For another additional cost, you could pay for the lightning pass on its own or bundle it with the early admission.  I, personally, did not purchase the lightning pass, so this opinion is coming from the other end of the spectrum.

How Lightning Pass Works- My perspective…

The lightning pass is a separate line that allows you to move up faster within the line.  From my observation, they would let a certain amount of lightning pass holders go through- the average amount was 5 lightning pass holders to every one general admission holder unless you were in a group.  As you can imagine, this caused the general admission lines to become extremely long.  Shoot, there were even times when the lightning pass lines were longer than the GA lines. I heard numerous complaints from lightning pass holders, but this was due to the lack of organization that some booths had or the activities at the booths itself.

Final Thoughts…

I felt the lightning pass was a horrible idea because it provided a negative experience for so many.  Ipsy makes most of their money from makeup lovers who are on a budget and can’t really afford to go and splurge on numerous makeup items and brands.  C’mon, their makeup subscription is only $10 a month.  I say this because many go for the general admission ticket because that is what they can afford.  We all paid for the same experience, but just because most couldn’t splurge on the add-ons doesn’t mean they should not get what they paid for.  In previous years attendance, I have been able to make it to all the booths- this includes waiting through the long lines and doing all the activities.

I will say that they have managed to keep the ticket pricing the same throughout the five years that I have attended- good job!  So in all, I still had a good time and met some amazing people.  Afterall that is what this experience is all about- networking!