Sunday, March 17, 2013

What's in my Travel Makeup Bag?

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I hope you all are enjoying the festivities and plenty of green food - I, for one, am simply enjoying being able to see green grass again after a long, snowy winter!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am out of town this weekend at Captain Doctor Boyfriend Person's apartment. With my lack of success taking pictures inside yesterday, I decided to move the show to his balcony today. I love the location of his apartment - it backs up to lots of pretty trees and it feels very private and not like living in an apartment complex at all!



But let's get to the real reason we're here today...


Due to the nature of Captain Doctor Boyfriend Person's grad school program, it's much easier for me to come travel to see him so he can study in his space and he doesn't have to haul 50 lbs of textbooks to my house. So 2 or 3 weekends a month I pack up and head a few hours away to CDBP's apartment. I feel like I've become a professional at packing for a weekend away, and I thought I'd share what I brought this weekend. Before I jump into the exact products I brought, here are my three biggest tips for packing makeup for travel:

1. Keep it simple. You're probably not going to have the best lighting or a vanity to sit at to do your makeup, and if you're traveling you probably have better things to do with your time than spend 30 minutes doing your eye shadow or blending out that hard-to-work with foundation.

2. Pare it down. I look at what outfits I've packed, and then try to pick just a couple of blushes or lip colors to match with them. It's easy to end up with 4 blushes and 10 lip products "just in case", but I promise you that if you make the executive decision before you leave home, you won't miss having to dig through tons of products to find one thing while you're away.

3. Carry it on. If you're traveling on a plane, toss your makeup in your carry on bag, especially powders. It sucks ending up somewhere only to find out that your bag got tossed around and your makeup has shattered. I also don't want a few hundred dollars in product and brushes getting lost, so I always carry it on so I know where it is.

Face Products
MUFE HD Foundation, CG Fresh Complexion Concealer, Maybelline Dream Matte Powder, 
Bobbi Brown Corrector and Creamy Concealer. 

MAC Blushes in Well Dressed and Baby Don't Go

I like to keep my face simple while I'm away. I try to only bring one blush, keeping in mind what lip colors I'm bringing and what outfits I'm going to be wearing. I did bring Baby Don't Go to contour for a date night we went on, but I definitely wouldn't call it necessary. 

Eyes
Naked Palette, UD 24/7 Glide On Pencil in Smog, MAC Brow Gel in Beguile, UDPP, MAC Brow Pencil in Lingering, Covergirl LashBlast, Stila Kitten, L'Oreal Lineur Intense Felt Tip Liquid Liner

I also keep my eyes simple. I always bring a shadow palette so I'm not digging around the bottom of my makeup bag looking for individual pots. I leave gel liner at home, as the brush tends to get black gunk all over everything in my bag. If I need a more defined look, I'll use this fool-proof liquid liner, otherwise I stick to pencils.

Lips & Nails

Gargantuan Green Grap, Revlon Colorstay Top Coat, Cajun Shrimp

Revlon Lip Butter in Cherry Tart, NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Beige

I almost always take advantage of the down time I have during my weekends away and paint my nails. (CDBP does a lot of studying even when I'm here, so I have plenty of time to myself!) I keep my lip colors simple as well - one bold color, and one go-with-everything color. 

Brushes



Brushes are my travel weakness. I can't stand reaching for a brush and realizing I left it at home. They honestly don't take up much room at the bottom of my makeup bag, so having a bunch doesn't bother me. I won't bore you with the long list of brushes, but if you have any questions feel free to ask me in the comments below!

Overall, the amount of makeup I pack has decreased a TON since I started traveling all the time. It's nice to know exactly what I'm going to need and what I'll actually use, but I definitely wouldn't have learned that without the amount of traveling I do. I know most makeup addicts have trouble paring it down for travel - what products can you not leave home with out, and what are you most likely to over-pack? Or are you the kind of person who barely wears any makeup when you're on vacation? Let me know down below!

XOXO Samantha

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