My Travel Makeup Bag.. Can you guess what was in it? I packed all of my favourite makeup for our recent trip to Las Vegas and New York. However, I only used about 30% of what I brought! Sound familiar? I get asked on my Instagram all the time for a capsule makeup bag and I thought what better products to mention than the ones I used day in and day out during seven days away from home.
I am a notorious over packer. Always feeling like I’ll need something ‘just in case’. The fear of not having everything I love close to hand!!! On this trip I really discovered the products that could take me from day to night and everything in between.
An SPF Is An Essential…
The Elizabeth Arden Prevage City Smart Broad Spectrum SPF and Hydrating Shield is a product I waited to test out on this trip. I mean if you are going to be in the desert or one of the largest cities in the world, testing out a product marked ‘shield’ makes sense right? I wish I didn’t like this product as it is on the pricey side but oh my, it is beautiful. A slight tint evens out the complexion while the formula provides a glowing base. My foundation applied so evenly over top without feeling greasy. I will 100% repurchase this product again and again.
The Only Primer I Used From My Travel Makeup Bag Was….
The L’Oreal Lumi Glotion. I hate recommending this product as it is only sold in the USA but its brilliant. So good that while I was away I bought two tubes as back ups. It hydrates, mixes well with foundations and gives the skin a healthy, radiant look. If you can get your hands on this then do.
My Travel Makeup Bag – had only two foundations…
I really packed four foundations but I only used two. One lighter for day time, one with more coverage for night time! Both are new to me products that I purchased in the last four weeks and I am so glad I did. Both are beautiful.
Mac Cosmetics Face and Body Foundation in the shade C3 saw my skin looking healthy and glowing all day. It is light, buildable and wears really well on my skin. I must be the last makeup obsessive to try this product. If you are without this in your collection, I urge you to give it a try.
Armani Beauty Power Fabric Foundation in the shade 5.5 was my chosen night time base. I avoided buying this for so long as I tend to stay away from matte foundations. After wearing is several times I now realize I should have bought it sooner. It gives a medium to full coverage, satin to matte finish that applies beautifully and still looks like skin. I mixed it with my L’Oreal Lumi Glotion for added luminosity and it is a beautiful combination.
One and Only Concealer….
Was the Clarins Instant Concealer. Since I bought this it has over taken all of my other much loved concealing products. I wear the shade Light. It is smoothing, hydrating, long lasting and the perfect colour for a naturally bright under eye. You get plenty of product for your buck compared to other concealers. This is one of my favourite finds of this year so far. More people should be talking about it!!
The Powders I Brought In My Travel Makeup Bag..
Will come as no shock to any of you. I brought my Hourglass Loose Powder and a new find, the Laura Mercier Translucent Glow Powder. The Laura Mercier Powder I bought a few months ago now and avoided using as I thought it was like a highlighter. In fact it is a beautifully glow giving finishing powder. I love it. You won’t want to read me raving about the Hourglass powder again, but let me just remind you that I love it! I decanted both powders into travel sized pots and used both day and night.
Bronzer and Contour
Oh gosh, I brought four bronzers, a liquid contour and two contour powders with me but I only used two of those products. First my chosen contour was the Charlotte Tilbury Bronze and Glow palette. I don’t use the highlight much but the bronze powder I love. It is smooth, natural and my perfect contour shade.
The second product is the Becca Sunrise Waves bronzer. I use this religiously as you can tell from the photo, I’ve hit pan. The only thing disappointing is that it is limited edition and as I near the end of mine I sincerely hope they bring it back. It gives a gorgeously glowing and buildable bronze tone to the skin. Pray they bring it back!
The highlight I used every day and night was the Becca Champagne Pop highlighter. I can’t tell you how much I love this product. It is iconic and everyone should own it.
Just One Eyeshadow Palette
and that was the Nars Skin Deep Palette. I chose to bring this over my Pat McGrath Bronze Sublime as it is more versatile and in my own opinion a much better purchase. I will talk about the Bronze Sublime palette in another post. For now lets focus on this beauty. It has everything you need to create a natural day time eye or a deep smokey eye. Great mix of matte and shimmer shades. If I could pick one thing that it is missing? I wish it had one of the new hardwired shadows and it would be the perfect palette. Nars Ignited Palette has six glitters, surely they could have spared one for this. None the less I am getting great use out of this and it was well worth the spend. I also packed Pattaya which I used for all my glitter needs.
Mascara and Eyeliner?
I only packed one mascara and that was the Lancome Monsieur Big Waterproof. It has yet to let me down for volume, length and longevity. I have repurchased this several times and will continue to do so! The Marc Jacobs liner is another great product. Jet black and stays put. I packed so many different liners but literally just gave my water line a rub of this and went on my way.
Lip Products From My Travel Makeup Bag
were plentiful .I must have packed 5 nudes, 2 reds, a pink and a dark colour. There were also several options for gloss! What did I actually use? Just three products. Each one has become my favourite both for colour and wear test. For a nude lip I wore IsaDora Perfect Moisture Lipstick in Bare Beauty. A beautiful peachy nude that lasts well and feels hydrating. I’ve worn it daily for the past three weeks. The only dark lip I ended up wearing was Charlotte Tilbury Opium Noir which applies evenly and lasts all night. I find the formula of these lipsticks really good. Finally, for gloss I used Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb in Fussy. Man, what a perfect lipgloss. Non sticky, tastes great and gives the lips an almost glow. I will repurchase this for as long as Fenty manufactures it.
There you have the only products I used for our entire trip!! I know what to pack the next time! The only product I havent mentioned is setting spray and blush. Both are from Mac and I have used them hundreds of times before. Mac Mineral Blush in Warm Soul and of course Fix Plus. Would you like a post on my travel skincare? Any questions leave them under my latest Instagram post.
Louise x