What's in my travel makeup bag?

When you go away you're faced with a number of stresses. Have you booked the right kind of accommodation? Will the weather be what you were hoping for? And the most stressful of all; what makeup will fit in my travel makeup bag *gulp*. 

Seriously though, when you go away, whether it be for the weekend or two weeks, it's not practical to take your entire cosmetics collection. Choices have to be made. You need to pick products that will take you through from day to night and give you an assortment of different looks, all whilst keeping your luggage under 22kg. 

I recently I went to Center Parcs for a week. I needed make-up that would hold up through sun & rain, bike riding and tree top climbing.... all whilst looking semi-pulled together but not too done-up. Here's what I took with me.

My travel makeup bag:

Kipling Kari Purse in Celo grey.

Love this bag, super lightweight and holds surprisingly quite a lot. You can bung it in the washing machine if it gets grubby or something leaks. 

Base/skin:

bareMinerals Prime Time Daily Defense Neutralizing Foundation Primer SPF 30. 

Lovely product. Evens out skin tone, keeps oil at bay & helps my foundation last so much longer. 

bareMinerals Original Foundation in Fairly Light. 

All time favourite. Great coverage, 'my skin but better' look. 

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Cool Medium. 

Amazing drugstore find. Budget product that covers brilliantly and lasts all day. 

L'Oreal The Touche Magique True Match Anti-Fatigue Illuminating Concealer in Ivory Beige. 

Perfect under-eye dark circle cover-upper and highlighter in one. 

bareMinerals Mineral Veil in Perfect Light. 

Gorgeous lightweight setting powder. Sets makeup and gives an airbrushed finish. 

Colour:

Body Shop Bronzing Powder in Light Matte.

Really lovely light shade bronzer for my super pale skin. Enough colour to contour and warm my face without looking orange or too tanned. 

bareMinerals Blush in Sorbet.

Great all round blusher. Buildable colour. 

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Ethereal Glow. 

Another all time fave. Gorgeous colour with lighting powder, two products in one. 

theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer Highlighter.

Another 2 in 1, a stunning golden highlighter but can also be used as an eyeshadow. 

Eyes:

Nars Pro-Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base.

The ultimate eyeshadow primer. Using this bad boy makes my eyeshadow last all day & night. Couldn't be without it. When I go to take my makeup off of an evening my eyeshadow is still perfect as when it was first applied when I use this. 

Maybelline Colour Tattoo 24hr eyeshadows in Pink Gold & Permanent Taupe. 

Amazing eyeshadows. These two look lovely together. 

bareMinerals Ready Eyeshadow 4.0 pallet in The Possibilities. 

4 beautiful shades for countless combinations. Great daytime and evening looks from one pallet. 

Y.E.T Catgirl Waterproof Pen Liner in Black. 

Super fine brush tip. Really easy to use and long wearing. 

Soap & Glory Archery 2-in-1 Brow Filling Pencil & Brush in Blondeshell & Hot Chocolate. 

Great pencils. I used both colours to get the perfect shade for me. 

L'Oreal Mega Volume Miss Manga Waterproof Mascara in Black.

One of the very few waterproof mascara I actually like. Doesn't flake and gives great volume. 

Lips:

bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie Lipgloss in Future Star. 

Beautiful peachy pink colour, not at all sticky, great shine. 

Maybelline 14hr Superstay Megawatt Lipstick in Burst Of Coral.

My current favourite lipstick. Neon bright and lasts amazingly well. 

So, there you go. The contents of my travel makeup bag (along with eyelash curlers & an assortment of makeup brushes). I guess for a lot of people this would be a lot of products but for me it's just right! 

Check out why I can't stop buying bareMinerals blushers' here & a full review of the Soap & Glory Archery Pencils here. 

I'm off to reorganise my makeup bag, 

Love Emma 

XOXO 

101 Faces of Mascara Application

Mascara. A makeup necessity. Even if we're super short of time I'm pretty confident in saying that, out of all the cosmetics we own, mascara is one stage we just won't skip. I probably apply mascara 6 days a week, 52 weeks a year. Maybe more. That's a whole lot of mascara application.

Why, in that case, do we feel the need to pull such *HIDEOUS* faces when we apply it? Like, really super scary, embarrassingly bad faces. Faces that could easily scare small children.

The thing is you don't actually need to pull a face - it doesn't help or improve the mascara application. In fact it's actually possible to apply it with a normal face, but yet face pull we do.

Next time you go to put on your mascara stop and have a quick look at the face you're pulling. It may well be one of these:

My gerbil just died face

'The Scream' face

I've just seen something really really horrifying face

The goldfish face

The lean your head back as far as humanly possible face

The pouty pout face

The mouth open as wide as you can get it face

The blow-up doll face

Thank you to Laura Willis & Abi Vaughan for also sharing their Mascara Faces. Next time you're in the mirror check out your mascara face and share it!

Check out the really stupid questions you'll be asked if you have a baby here!

I'm off to pull a face or two!
Love Emma
XOXO

5 Product Face Tag

So, hands up. I'm a complete make-up addict. 

On a typical average day I'll use around 14 different cosmetics on my face. Yep, 14. (Primer, foundation, concealer, powder, bronzer, blusher, highlighter, eyeshadow primer, eyeshadows x2, eyeliner, mascara, eyebrow pencil, lipgloss). 

Do I need all of that day to day? Nope, definitely not. 

If I'm in a rush I will simplify my 'routine' but the truth is I love the process of applying it just as much as I love buying it & wearing it.  The more the merrier in my book. Don't get me wrong, I don't bust a drag queen look but less is more certainly does not apply not me. 

I first saw the '5 Product Face Tag' on YouTube and then Alison from Rock & Glitter posted her 5 which spurred me to join the bandwagon. 

The concept is what the title suggests, makeup using just 5 products. (Shock, horror). I'm not one to shy away from a challenge, and let's face it this was going to take to some serious thought. 

Not only did I manage it but I was actually pretty impressed what you can achieve with a handful of products. 

Here are the 5 I went with.

Foundation: Original bareMinerals foundation in 'Fairly Light'. £25

I'm a huge fan of this powder foundation. I went for this as it's totally buildable and can double up as concealer if you switch to a smaller brush if you're having a good skin day. 

Blusher: Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in 'Etheral Glow'. £28

One of my all time faves. The swirly mixture of colour and Ambient Lighting powder gives you two products in one. Great cheek colour and then a touch of subtle highlight in one swipe. I used a pencil brush to pick out the lighting powder to pop some under my eyebrows and down my nose for a touch of highlight. 

Eyeshadow: Maybelline 24 hour Colour Tattoo in 'Pink Gold'. £4.99

The colour tattoos are one of my favourite drugstore eyeshadows. They are seriously long wearing so you can totally skip an eyeshadow primer. I applied mine with a brush and took a few seconds to blend well to avoid a harsh edge. 

Soap & Glory Archery 2-in-1 Eyebrow Pencil & Brush in 'Hot Chocolate'. £8

Love this eyebrow pencil, easy to apply and long wearing. I used my imagination and doubled this up as an eyeliner too. Genius!

Mascara: L'Oreal Volume Million Lashes so couture in 'Black'. £10.99

Great mascara. Gives volume and length. Doesn't clump or flake. 

So there you have it. I was actually happy with the result. I would totally do a 5 product face if I was short of time. Perhaps adding a little under eye concealer. And a touch of lipstick. Oh and maybe a swipe of lipgloss.... 

I tag YOU. Do a 5 product face and share! What 5 products would you use? 

Check out a full review of the Soap & Glory eyebrow pencil here. 

I'm off to pop on some lipgloss! 

Love Emma 

XOXO