“There are a lot of answers here,” said MakeUp in NewYork co-founder, Jean-Yves Bourgeois, regarding the innovation at his trade show, which featured 110 exhibitors and drew more than 3,000 visitors, including representatives from brands such as Estée Lauder, Chanel and Benefit. “It’s an exclusive show with the key players.”

Upon walking into the doors of the event, located in midtown Manhattan across from bustling Penn Station, guests were immediately greeted by a curated assortment of vintage beauty products organized by Le Musée à la Carte, including a turn-of-the-century powder from Caron and a glass jar of rouge from Guerlain circa 1907.

“There’s always time for makeup,” said vintage beauty guru J.M. Martin Hattemberg, who helped organize the mini exhibition, as guests ventured up the escalator of the bi-level show in search of newness. To be found was a slew of inventive textures, curious technologies and updates on recent trends. Here, the standouts seen by Beauty Insider:

Reverse Cushion

For every trend in beauty, there is an equal but opposite future trend. This year, in addition to the multitude of cushion compacts on the floor, one new take on the delivery system caught our eye. It came from South Korean manufacturing brand, Easy Powder, who was showing off a unique cushion applicator filled with liquid or powder. “This takes away the need for a cushion compact because the contents of the product is inside the applicator itself,” said Katherine Kim, the company’s Business Strategy Consultant. Meant to be replaced every two to three weeks, the applicator, which is 99.9% antibacterial, can be housed within an empty compact, giving women a more economical refilling option. Look for this technology in Sephora stores this October via a new product line by Korean makeup artist Chosungah.

Slurry Slurry Everywhere

Part powder part cream, slurry formulas were another omnipresent technology. Created by blending wet powders with liquids then “vacuuming” the contents, slurry is essentially touchable, blendable color-saturated magic. Among the brands showcasing this in-demand texture was AirCos, who was looking for increased US distribution with a new slurry pressed powder, Fusion des Teintes. Found in everything from eye to cheek to face products in various prismatic hues in products found at multiple booths, expect to see slurry lines hit stores as early as this fall.

B2B Beauty Boxes

Just when you thought there was no way to innovate the over-saturated beauty box market, Cosmetica has upped the ante. With an impressive roster of sleek products on display, the Canadian company sends out its newest batch of innovations to brands every other month via a B2B box subscription. “We always highlight new molds and stress formulas that we’ve discovered,” said Jennifer Pau, the brand’s Product Development and Marketing Associate. Among the show standouts were the Amazing Technicolor Dreamsticks, inspired by the viral beauty blogger trend of color correcting with lipsticks, and a Pop of Blush stick, which adds a “second skin” flush of color with minimal effort.

Jelly Formulas

This year’s event featured a bevy of bouncy, sheer gel formulas, namely a unique “jelly technology” from Korea, which were found at multiple booths from multiple brands. Why are jelly textures interesting for makeup? “They are long-lasting and have a very creamy application,” said Ahmi Cho of Cosmax, a manufacturer of makeup and skin care, who shared with CEW

Beauty Insider the brand’s almost mouthwateringly touchable foundation (look for it in Stila’s new Putty foundation coming this fall), and yet-to-be-launched highlighter and eyeshadow formulas. Attendees couldn’t keep their hands off it!

Magic Water Drops

There was another moment of disbelief after witnessing a futuristic new technology from Korean manufacturer, Cosmecca. Ned Jang, the company’s Global Business Team Manager, showed us a cream compact formula that actually produces liquid drops when mixed, as if from thin air. “The customer is able to actually see the amount of hydration in the product,” said Ned, who added that the formula is customizable to feature a brand’s key ingredient like glacial water or serum. “More than half a million have already been sold via Korean direct TV because it’s so visual, and we are excited to bring it to the US.”

Accessory Update

Two particularly intriguing updates on traditional beauty tools, in this case a makeup brush and blending applicator, also caught our eye. One was the Tip and Blend Brush Collection by Italian brand Pennellifaro, who showcased its range of softly bristled brushes with a tiny tip atop them to precisely distribute concealer on the face before blending. The other was a soft touch vividly-hued silicone spatula (think miniature neon kitchen tool), with a travel-sized sponge on the end, meant to apply then blend cream foundations from Hyangnam Beauty.

No Water Needed

We’ve seen a lot of cool beauty innovations in our day, but a waterless skin-cleaning formula from Cosmetic Group USA is one of those products that made us wonder why no one else had thought of it. The transparent jelly-like gel, which comes housed in a lipstick-shaped tube or a small jar, can be used to virtually erase makeup mistakes. “It removes even very long-wearing formulas and really cleanses skin,” said Andrea Chuchvara, the brand’s CEO. The LA-based manufacturing company had a few other key offerings on hand, including its new Matrix formula lineup, a collection of creamy foundations and supple skincare formulas that literally melted into our skin.

All-in-One

Brands have definitely realized women like to have everything in one package. Among the multi-purpose stand outs were HCT’s fall collection, “The Art of War,” which included travel-friendly products designed with on-the-go features like airless components, built-in brushes and a unique jelly tip for lip and face, meant to mimic finger application. Product benefits were also abundant, and tackled everything from sun and pollution damage to skin aging. Other multi-functional offerings included Albea’s wax-powder-applicator eyebrow compact and concealer-and-sponge applicator in one, treatment-packed BB Lip Balm formulas from Kolmar, and an eyeliner-eyebrow-gel combo from Mexican manufacturing company Swan Cosmetics.