What's in my Travel Makeup Bag?

I finally managed to get some time off to visit my family back home in Texas, so I figured I could do a quick post on the makeup I took with me. The lip and cheek products are some of my faves for the summertime, so hopefully they will be interesting if you are looking for any new summer products :)

The makeup bag I took with me was my neon pink Ted Baker bag. I LOVE the color. I also unfortunately love every other color that this bag comes in…and it was a serious dilemma picking this one out since the neon yellow and mint were serious contenders as well. The material of this bag allows for easy clean up with a makeup wipe or paper towel and it’s quite roomy.



During the summertime I like to use a light weight foundation and supplement with fuller coverage concealers for any blemishes. I really like that the Laura Mercier concealers are thick and peach/orange toned since they last through just about anything. I recently re-discovered my MUFE HD powder and am kicking myself for ever having put it in the back of my drawer.



Ah the cheek products. You’ll notice that I really like peach/orange/bronze products for the cheeks and lips in the summer! I like to layer a cream blush with a powder blush for added staying power and the MAC MSF in Cheeky Bronze is basically my new holy grail summer item. I highly recommend checking it out if you have a medium/tan complexion for use as a blush topper or highlighter. If you have fair skin, I bet it would be a fantastic bronze goddess all over bronzer :)







For the lips I brought a few bold options and a more neutral one. Again, I love peach/orange so Maybelline Vibrant Mandarin and MAC Ravishing were a no brainer. For an alternative bright I packed MAC Girl About Town and to tone down any of the colors I added my MAC Cremesheen Glass in Kiss Don’t Tell (sadly LE but one of my ultimate fav lip glosses). I added the MUFE Aqua Lip Liners because I find they last really well through meals, and a trip home always means lots of eating.





I packed pretty basic for my eyes and eyebrows. The Smashbox eye primer is my new holy grail primer (previously NARS, but this one is just as good and cheaper) and a must have for the summertime.



Last but not least, I included two palettes by LORAC. I love how compact the packaging is and am pretty much obsessed with all the colors inside. The texture of the powders are so buttery smooth and pigmented, and there’s plenty of neutrals along with a few pops of color. I pretty much planned to keep my eyelids neutral and play up the color on my cheeks and lips.





That wraps up what I packed for my trip!

Empties: February 2014

It's time for another round of empties! I've got a mix of different makeup products that I have managed to use up and have well-formed opinions on to share :)

Let's start with the face products:

• Revlon Photoready Color Correcting Primer: This is a lotion style primer, and I really did enjoy it. I think it's the best drugstore primer I have tried thus far (though I have my eye on the Rimmel Matte primer) and I love that it came in a glass bottle with a pump. Not sure it really color corrects, but it definitely helps your makeup last.
• Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer (Caramel): I have a love hate relationship with this. It's a fantastic match for my skin and wears really well in the winter time, and in humid weather. But, if it's hot, it will not last. Even with a good primer I can't make it work. For now I'm going to hold off on re-purchasing this and try out other tinted moisturizer formulas.

Next, to my lonely lip product:

• Buxom Full On Lip Polish in Sugar (sample size): Oh man, this is my absolute FAVORITE formula of lip gloss. They come in tons of colors, are really glossy with only a slight tacky feeling, and they have this wonderful minty plumping sensation. I will always always repurchase this product. PS: My friends who I've told about this say their boyfriends request it for makeout sessions ;)

And lastly, what I go through the most, eye products:

• Diorshow Maximizer Lash Primer: Hot damn, this stuff is really good. Honestly, I was kind of hoodwinked into purchasing it but it really makes a difference. Since using it, my lashes are softer and fall out way less. The lashes on the very inner corners of my eyes have also grown significantly while using this, and they were non existent before. I'll repurchase when I can get 20% off.
• Eyeko Skinny Liner: Basic felt tip liquid liner. The tip isn't very flexible so it's not amazing for winged liner, but its solid for any basic liner you would wear regularly. I won't repurchase since I have a $3 Jordana liner that I love more than this.
• Tarte Lights Camera Lashes Mascara: Really nice and volumizing formula to this mascara. It doesn't give much length, but it's good at not being clumpy. I have purchased a full size.
• Smashbox Full Exposure Mascara: The brush on this thing is GIGANTIC. Because of that, it took me a while to figure out how to use it. It gives good separation, but not enough volume for my liking. I won't be repurchasing.
• Lancome Hypnose Drama Mascara: LOVED this mascara. It's quite a wet formula and gives you both volume and length. The only issue is that since it's wet it can get a bit clumpy, but this is easily sorted out using a lash comb. I have another two sample tubes of this and can't wait to use them!

All righty, that's it for now. Hopefully in the upcoming months I'll be able to have some interesting products like blush or eyeshadow since I'm shopping my own collection.