Hey, guess what? I am back baby! back to the ol' grind as they say. For those of you who don't know I took my first trip out west to California last week!
Fun fact!, It as actually born in California but other than visiting a Target store as a newborn. I had never experienced the glorious California sun or anything the state had to offer until now and it was glorious. My next blog post will showcase the snapshots I took from the trip and video montage is in the works as well. All things to look forward to on The Bats and Rabbits blog!
Alrighty, now onto the beauty essentials!
F A C E
I had not traveled in a really long time. I spent a lot of time thinking about what I would take. One of the most important things was a pair of sunglasses. Which, in the past I have the tendency to overlook, only to be punished by the suns unkindly bright glare in my eye sockets. If you are taking a trip soon into a sunny climate I would highly advise a pair of cute shades for your trip, though that may be obvious. (Make sure your cool shades also protect those ultra cute eyeballs of yours too! That means UVA ray protection baby!) I got these super adorable polka dot sunglasses at Target.(This girl can't get enough of her polka-dots)
The other important essential was a light feeling base that also provided some coverage. (Nobody wants their makeup feeling heavy and slippery in the heat!) so I brought my trusty Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation. Which I have mentioned a numerous amount of times already but, it does provide the look and feel I want in a "summer" foundation. Light and non heavy, looks luminous on the skin but also does a good job at covering any skin problems I am dealing with at the time. This product blends beautifully when used with a Real Techniques Expert Face Brush.
I also brought my holy grail concealer which is the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer. (review here) I won't bore you with another explanation of how great this stuff is but take my word for it. Its amazing and does double duty for covering spots and concealing dark under eye circles. ( I had to buy a second tube during my trip, I feel lost without it in my makeup stash!
For highlighter I brought my Mary Lou MAN-izer from The Balm.(another review here) which also served as a wonderful compact mirror for music festival makeup checkups.
For blush I brought along my recently acquired Ambient Lighting Blush from Hourglass in the shade Diffused Heat. I don't have a lot of blush in my makeup stash yet so this blush is the star of the show. It is a beautiful poppy shade that is marbleized with Hourglass's famous Ambient lighting powder.
It looks marvelous on the cheeks especially for the hot summer weather.
E Y E S
Only brought along three eye shadows for the trip. I considered bringing just my Naked 3 palette. Maybe that would have made more sense but I have been gravitating towards wearing gold eye shadow again. That is where MAC's Amber Lights comes into action. A quick swipe of this on the outer corners of the eye with a MAC 217 blending brush and really you are good to go, I mean if you are on the go that is! That is a very minimal and effortless look! For a little more highlight I put Stila's single eye shadow in the shade Kitten in my bag. It is a ultra shimmery nude//pinky shade that really brightens up the eyes and lastly I brought along MAC's Antiqued a reddish bronze color that looks great in the crease. Sometimes, it can be just as good to bring a couple of great singles instead of an entire shadow palette for a trip. It's limiting yes, but also effortless.
For the brows I brought my Anastasia Brow Wiz pencil but it was on its last leg so I ended up not getting as much use out of it except for using the brush end to at least groom my brows.(#sadbrowgame)
Lastly, for eyes is mascara! I brought along two. One is a mini of Make Up Forever's Smoky Extravagant Lash and the other which is not pictured above was L'Oreal's Miss Manga mascara. The one I preferred was actually Miss Manga. It was still in it's testing stage but I have really grown to love it. For most bloggers out there this mascara is either a full love or a full out hate. For me the weird bendy wand is great for getting into the root of the lash and pull forward to fully coat the lashes. This mascara is excellent at separation, length and a little volumef The Smoky Extravagant is great too, don't get me wrong. Either would be a great choice to bring along on a trip somewhere.
L I P S
On the lips,(not pictured above)I brought two reds (of course) One being the Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in the shade Standout which is a cooler and darker red and feels minty upon application. The other is NARS's velvet matte lip pencil in the shade Red Sq. Which is the warmest red I own but I am so smitten with this shade for the summertime.
S K I N - C A R E
Besides the obligatory 50+ spf sunscreen I brought very minimal skincare with me. My skin still had a major meltdown during the trip but at least I can say I cleansed and moisturized every morning and night!
For my cleanser I brought my Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser. This product is still in my testing stage. So far I really like it! I wish I could say it changed my skin dramatically but so far I still suffer from really bad breakouts. However, this stuff does breakdown all my makeup and feels amazing and even cooling effect on the skin when you first rub it in. Plus you can buy it in different sizes so you can actually get a nice travel size to test out before going for a bigger bottle
My beauty bag moisturizer is the First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream. Which is amazingly cool on the skin and does not irritate or plug up the skin. This product is PERFECTION for the sensitive skin types out there like yours truly. The smaller tube is super affordable at $12! I would highly recommend it.
For my acne prone/problematic skin I like to treat the nastier spots with a spot treatment. Traditional treatments use Salicylic acid or Benzoyl Peroxide but those ingredients do not always bode well on my skin. I chose to bring my Acne Spot Fast Fix by Murad. Which uses other ingredients to treat nasty spots quick. I find that it does a decent enough job. I have bad luck with skincare trying to clear up my face. Nothing seems to work miracles. Though, I do find that this guy works well on nasty and painful spots.
The last thing,which might already be obvious to everyone to bring for summer travel is a good deodorant. I grabbed the Dove Clinical Protection Cool Cucumber Deodorant. Lets just say it kept me feeling fresh under the arms for a very full day at Disneyland!
And that's all I brought along in my beauty bag! I hope it helps any of you who are traveling soon! Safe travels!~
What beauty essentials do you bring with you on a trips? Let me know in the comments below!
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Twitter: @AllegraShortill
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See ya all soon!
-A
