Woman Seeking: A Traveling Makeup Kit

As I mentioned in my previous post, I took a trip to the east side of my state at the beginning of the week. I have a terrible habit of overpacking, and am trying to get better at bringing only what I truly need. I did a fairly good job overall, except I forgot pajamas. Whoops. I was proud, however, because my makeup bag actually has room in it! Win! I didn’t pare it down so much that it was just the bare minimum, but I’m getting the hang of it. I still packed some things I didn’t end up using, but not nearly as many as usual. I’ve included the things I brought but didn’t use so you can get an idea for yourself (and I can have a reminder for myself!) and tried to put things in the order I applied them.

Benefit The Porefessional Primer – This is my favorite primer, and having this little sample size takes up almost no room in my makeup bag. I try to wait a few minutes after applying primer before going in with my next product. Additionally, if I notice a visible pore after applying my foundation,I’m take an extra dab and apply it on top. Works every time!

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion – Another favorite, this eyeshadow primer makes my shadows go on smoothly, look true to color, and last all day without creasing. I have a few samples of this that should last a good long while since I only need the teensiest of bits for each eye.

EOS Lipbalm Stick – While I’m doing all my priming, I like to throw on a lipbalm. Not only does this prep my lips for any lipliner or lipstick I may put on, but if I get a little wild with my face makeup, I can easily wipe it off. I’m a lipbalm junkie, I’ll use any opportunity to give my lips a boost of hydration!

Covergirl Ready, Set, Gorgeous Fresh Complexion Foundation – I’ve really been loving this foundation lately as I find it to be quite versatile. I can apply it lightly or mixed with facial lotion for a light wash of color, or apply a couple layers for more medium coverage. The color match is pretty good for me, and blends out well so I can make it work if I’m a shade lighter or darker from what I was when I bought it.

Too Faced Cocoa Powder Foundation – I received this little sample card of powder with an order I placed, and this was the perfect time to use it! Again, it took up almost no space in my bag and there is a lot more product on the sample than I expected, meaning I can use it again. First impression : I didn’t love nor hate this powder. It worked on top of my liquid foundation wonderfully but I wasn’t like “Oh Wow!” about it. It says it minimizes the appearance of fine lines and pores, and while my Porefessional clears up most issues I have so I can’t say for certain this helped, this didn’t make them reappear. The color blended in to match well even though I expected it to be a bit too dark, so that was good.

NYX Eyebrow Cake Powder – Like I said when I went over my favorite products for brows here, this is my go-to eyebrow product. It works great, isn’t too big, and has wax and both a lighter and darker shade to customize my brow. I like to do my brows before my eyes or cheeks because I find if I do them last, I can look overdone.

Stila The Natural Collectable Palette – I have been reaching for this palette a lot lately as it is so handy. It’s a mini book containing 6 eyeshadows (3 matte, 3 shimmer), am all over shimmer, a bronzer, and even has a mirror on the inside. There is also a little cheat sheet of the a look you can create using this palette printed on the inside. The colors are soft and I don’t experience much trouble blending them. They are pigmented (better than drugstore but maybe not quite as good as Urban Decay), though if you use a light hand or super blend them out you can make them more sheer. It’s a super random palette and I never see it anywhere but Ulta in the checkout lanes, but a good one to own.

Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eyeliner in Black Amethyst – I doubt the claim of this being waterproof, but I love this color so I can give it a pass. I’m a huge fan of purple eyeliners, and this deep purpley black is great. It goes on incredibly creamy (to a fault creamy actually, it could crumble if I don’t use a light hand) and smudges so beautifully, then stays put once I give it a moment to set itself. I even smudged this on my lower lash line (not waterline though) and it didn’t make me look like a raccoon.

Make Up For Ever Smoky Extravagant Mascara – Again, another great travel size item. I like that the formula is buildable without clumping up on me. This means I can use it for both day and night. It’s not the blackest of black mascara, but it’s not an awkward grey either.

Urban Decay Naked Flushed in Naked – Another sample card of powder, this also had more product that I was expecting. Although I do like bronzing, I am not a huge blush or highlighter person as I already have a rosy face, and my skin is textured from acne scarring, so I’ve had this sample card for a few months now without even wanting to use it. I’ve been a little skeptical of these palettes in general as the bronzers looked more orange to me, but the colors on my sample ended up working wonderfully. It’s buildable and blendable and I’ve definitely changed my opinion on these palettes. I still have more product left to sample, and I’m actually excited to now.

Essence Lipliner in (11) In The Nude – Literally my favorite brand of lipliners ever, this particular one is the exact same color of my lips so it works under any lipstick I want to wear to help the lipstick stay put. It’s creamy, not too drying, pigmented, and cheap. I have almost every color they make that my Ulta sells.

ELF Makeup Mist & Set – I was wanting to test this makeup setting spray since it is such a budget buy, so I brought this along with me last minute. I don’t like the scent of this quite as much as my usual Urban Decay spray, but I only notice the scent when I spray it on my hand and sniff to smell it specifically, not when I’m spraying it on my face, which makes the smell a non issue. I’ve only used this once, but my first impression is a positive one. My makeup stayed in place and I didn’t have any adverse reactions from this.

Tarte Amazonian Butter Lipstick in Ethereal Pink (Tartelette LE) – I love this line of butter lipsticks, and this color is such a great nude on me. It’s so easy to use and hydrating. Plus, cmon, the design on the tube is just too cute! The cardboard packaging isn’t ideal for travel, but it is sturdy cardboard. I feel like it wouldn’t really break any easier than your typical lipstick tube as long as you’re careful.

MAC Creamsheen Lipstick in Créme in Your Coffee – I’m obsessed with this lipstick, and I combined it with my Tarte lipstick to create a really pretty shade. Between the lighter nude of the Tarte and the darker browny nude of the MAC, I figured my lipstick needs were probably covered. That being said…

Urban Decay Lip Junkie Lipgloss in Wallflower – I did bring this easy gloss along as well. I know, I know, I brought a total of 4 lip products, but I figured since this was a mini sample size it couldn’t hurt! Right?! It worked perfectly with the lipsticks I brought and is also great to use alone (though I didn’t this particular trip). It’s not too sticky, not too slippery, glossy and pigmented. And the cap is cool.

Clean Eau de Parfum Rollerball in Skin – I wanted to take a scent but didn’t want to take more than one, and I think this is a great one to take me from day to night. It’s warm and cozy and musky but light at the same time. I didn’t feel over perfumed when I wore it during the day, and still felt romantic and sultry when I wore it at night. The rollerball makes it perfect to store in my makeup bag or slip in my purse.

To apply my products, I brought my Real Techniques Stipping and Setting brushes, my ELF Complexion and Blush brushes, my Anastasia Beverly Hills Small Angle Cut #15 brush, and my Shiseido eyelash curler. I’ve already done posts on brushes so I not going to go over it again, but you can click here to get a more in depth review. As for the products I brought but didn’t use:

Anastasia Beverly Hills BrowWiz – I actually did use the spooly end of this, so I guess that kind of makes it useful, but I could have left it behind and probably not noticed.

Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch Highlighter/Concealer – Totally forgot to use this, and I don’t think my face looked tired enough for me to really need it anyhow. I didn’t have to get up early or stay out late while on my trip, so I’m not sure why I thought this was necessary.

Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray – Originally I had packed this, then at the last minute remembered I wanted to test my ELF spray and tossed that in without taking this out. Simple error. Luckily this is the travel sized version.

Bite Beauty Luminous Creme Lipstick in Palomino – I brought this in case I needed something to make my look POP, buuut honestly it was so unnecessary. I was only there for two days. It was a tiny sample size, but it was silly. I think I just wanted to bring a Bite lipstick. I love the duos I have, and those are what I usually pack for traveling, but I was trying to mix things up which is why I packed my other two instead. And then I panicked and threw this in. Because what if? 😌

I’m sure there are plenty of things I could have cut out if I was trying to bring fewer products, but I’m happy with the choices I made. It may be a bit crazy how much I brought for a two day trip, but I enjoy makeup and wanted to have both day and night looks covered since I didn’t know what I’d be doing while there. If I’m packing super light I’ll simply take a BB cream, mascara, lipgloss, and eyeshadow trio, so I would probably consider this a more medium, everyday sized makeup bag, at least for this time of year and for this type of trip. My bag would look completely different in the middle of the summer packing for a concert or beach trip! Even though I was only gone for a few days, this is probably the amount of products I would take if I was gone anywhere from 2-7 days. Too much? Not enough? What do you pack in your makeup bag for a trip away?

XOXO, WSM