I recently went away for about a week to visit family, and since it was super hot and humid and I knew I was mostly going to be doing pretty casual makeup, I tried to pack things that were easy, reliable, and all worked together. I only ended up wearing makeup about half the days, and when I did, it was the same 15-minute look every time.
This is honestly a pretty normal amount of travel makeup for me. I really don’t like to overpack makeup (especially now that I have to bring all of my toddler’s stuff). I don’t like bringing anything huge that would make it difficult to stuff back in a bag or so expensive that I’m going to be upset if something happens to it. I always pick my blushes first and then everything else has to work with them. For this trip I started with Lilybyred 14 and NAMING Taro, so that immediately ruled out anything too warm or orange. Everything else ended up being some version of mauve, beige, pink, or neutral brown.
In this post, all links are affiliate links (thank you for your support!), but all opinions are my own and I bought all these products myself. Swatches are under a ring light to show true to color (photo #1) and then standard lighting to show the formula a little better (#2) for all the products.
Afform Medium Traveller – I bought this a couple of years ago and I’ve taken it on basically every trip since. I love this bag so much. It has a ton of pockets in different sizes, including stretchy mesh ones that you can really fit a lot in. Some of the compartments are adjustable with Velcro in case you want to create more (or less) space. The rigid bottom is probably my favorite part because everything stays standing up in the bag. The sides also fold down, so I can open this on the counter and use my makeup straight out of it. I don’t have to create a giant makeup explosion in whatever room I’m in and can just zip it all back up.
All of the makeup in this post fit super easily with lots of room, so I could also add in my BK Beauty travel brush bag with all my brushes too. I’ve never had anything break or leak all over it, and it’s held up really well after years of travel. It’s absolutely very expensive for a makeup bag but I would also immediately buy another one if I lost it, no questions asked.
Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Dew Drops – I use this as my usual primer at home and have the jumbo bottle because it’s such a standby for me. I happened to have a couple minis on hand already that were either gifts with purchase or came with sets. These are perfect for travel, and not surprisingly, it worked just as well away as it does at home.
Erborian CC Red Correct – This was a super easy choice to bring as my foundation because I didn’t want to have to worry about something that perfectly matched me. Most all my foundations need a little something to look just right, and I don’t want to have to bring things to fix a foundation when I’m travelling. I had also just been using this a ton as a base layer anyway before I got my current foundation favorite (the new Westman Atelier – I seriously can’t stop wearing it).
This mostly just gets rid of redness and evens everything out, and I am honestly green enough that using a green color corrector as foundation works completely fine. It’s not very high coverage (you can barely see it in the swatches), but I didn’t really want high coverage when it was approximately one million degrees outside anyway. It held up really well, it has SPF, and the tube takes up barely any space.
Kulfi Main Match Concealer in Paan Party – I’m currently using so many different concealers because I’m putting together a concealer tournament. I just picked one from the pile I knew was easy and hoped for the best. Paan Party works well for me as a brightening concealer, the formula is really blendable, and it works well under my eyes. It wasn’t necessarily the concealer I would have picked if I were trying to find my absolute perfect shade match, and this doesn’t mean it won anything. It did work perfectly well and is still one I’d recommend though.
Canmake Marshmallow Finish Powder Abloom in 03 Plumeria Wreath – I always pack this powder. It’s my much less expensive version of the Givenchy pressed powder and one I can bring without worrying about. On my face, they do almost the same thing, and many of you who have bought this powder have told me you love it too. It smooths and brightens without making my dry skin look super powdery and helps blend everything together.
MAC Fix+ Stay Over – I had a mini of this literally in my bag already from my last trip, so I brought it as my setting spray. It didn’t win my setting spray tournament, but it still works really well and definitely didn’t disappoint during the trip.
I’m Meme I’m Multi Stick Shading in 005 Neutral Brown – I love this as a brontour type product. It’s actually neutral and not warm or cool on me like most of these products are (I tend to find things that are ORANGE or GRAY). I love how travel friendly the stick is, and I can apply directly from the stick or with a brush. It blends out really easily, and I like it so much I already have the blush version on the way to try out.
Soshe Blurring Pillow Bronzer in Olive Bronze Drift – I know I just talked about this last week but I really do love the formula enough that it was the bronzer I brought with me. Olive Bronze Drift isn’t my perfect bronzer color of all time, but it’s a really nice option for olive skin and I don’t have to worry about something like the Marc Jacobs bronzer getting broken on a trip.
Judydoll Highlight & Contour Palette in #02 – This is such an underrated palette. I used the beigey yellow powder to blend and set anywhere where I needed a little more coverage than the Canmake, the highlighter as my highlighter, and the powders when I wanted to blur and mattify my bronzer even more. You can see the bronzer shade is super similar to Olive Bronze Drift but a little less orange, so next time, I’d probably just bring this palette.
Lilybyred Luv Beam Cheek Balm in 14 Rosy Beam – I also just talked about this last week, but it’s really such a perfect cream blush for the vibe I’m going for. It’s a cool pinky purple that’s just so extremely easy to use and doesn’t turn into anything close to orange on me. I almost always put powder blush over cream blush anyway, and this works really well as the first layer because it gives me the color I want without getting too intense. Those of you who have managed to already get this from last week’s post have told me it’s one of the best blushes you’ve found for olive skin, and that makes me so happy!
Naming Fluffy Powder Blush in Taro – This is one of my favorite powder blushes of all time. It looks like a very desaturated mauve in the pan but is a perfect beigey rosy blush on my face. I know this blush is always going to look good, so this was the starting point for the rest of the look. The formula is also really easy to throw on and build up and looks so pretty on the cheeks.
Makeup by Mario Master Mattes Long-Wear Cream Eyeshadow in Mauve – This is the eyeshadow I’ve brought with me on every trip since I bought it. It’s just so easy to throw on with a finger, blend it out, and then be done. It makes a complete makeup look without being “too much” and looks super natural while covering up the discoloration on my eyelid, so I don’t need a primer. It’s more of a neutral brown with a touch of rosy tones than a true mauve, but that still works really well as a “I put something on but didn’t try too hard” kind of shadow, especially with these blushes. It also stayed on all day in the heat and humidity without creasing. I also intended to use this as an eyeshadow primer for the Moira shadow, but it looked so nice I just stopped here every time.
Moira Chroma Light Shadow in 02 Tempting – I brought this because I thought I would want sparkle, and I just didn’t end up using it. I would probably still pack it again because it’s tiny and I really do love the formula and the color.
ColourPop Creme Gel Liner in Sunnyvale – This is my favorite affordable brown eyeliner. I have much more expensive eyeliners I love, but this works great and it’s not a huge deal if I have to replace it. It’s a really good dark brown liner that isn’t too warm or too cool, and it has amazing staying power. It held up incredibly well on my eyes in the heat and humidity.
Maybelline Lash Sensational Sky Tubes Tubing Mascara in Black – I’m actually in the middle of testing so I figured East Coast summer was a perfect time to continue testing. I’m always trying to find an even better tubing mascara, and this one is actually really great. No smudging, no flaking, my lashes looked incredible, and it’s really easy to remove. It’s everything I want from a tubing mascara, and it’s affordable. I think this probably knocks Finding Ferdinand out of my top three tubing mascaras, even though I still really love that one.
rephr Eyelash Curler – My favorite eyelash curler. It works with my eye shape, doesn’t pinch me, and actually gets my corner lashes. 10/10 no notes.
Benefit Precisely, My Brow Pencil in 5 – This is the brow pencil I’ve been using for years and always have with me. It’s the best one I’ve found for actually sticking to the skin where I need to fill in my brows and have it stay all day. If you have recommendations for amazing brow pencils, please let me know in the comments because I will test it (I have a lot of brow space to fill in because I have a big chunk of missing brow from a childhood accident).
Rare Beauty Brow Harmony Flexible Lifting Gel in Clear – Still the best clear brow gel. It keeps my eyebrows where I put them and doesn’t get weird and crunchy. I’m currently resting the deep brown version and couldn’t be happier with it.
ColourPop HydraPop Glossy Lip Stain in 90s Babe – All of these products have been sitting in a pile on my floor while I’ve been working on this post, and I have gone back specifically to pull this out of the pile and wear it. It’s a super pretty reddish rose that just looks like my lips but better. I have more on why I love this and swatches here. Mostly, it’s super easy to throw on and the stain lasts really well.
Revlon Super Lustrous Shine Lipstick in 014 Glistening Purple – This is the lip product I ended up wearing the most. It’s a sheerish wash of lavender that really pulls this look together and makes my lips look just a little less red and a little more muted. I’m currently testing the Chantecaille Lip Chics, and those are honestly way more nourishing and last better than the Revlon formula. I’m not trying to imply that this is secretly the same experience as a $50 lipstick, but I really, really love this Revlon color so much that I would absolutely buy it again. The formula is still really nice and nourishing even though it isn’t luxury.
OleHenriksen Pout Preserve Chillers Peptide Lip Treatment in Maldives Melon – This is one of my favorite lip treatments of all time (and it’s on sale!). I own almost every color/scent/glitter ones even, and I keep them all over my house. I actually had more Pout Preserves in my backpack for this trip. I used this for lip prep and whenever my lips were dry. Maldives Melon Chiller also just smells really nice, and I like the color. I think I like the color of Bora Bora Blackberry Chiller more but they’re not opaque enough that it makes a huge difference.
And the lip products I love but didn’t use:
Etude Fixing Tint in 15 Woody Pink – I didn’t use it, but I would still pack it again. If I were only bringing one matte option next time, this would be it. I love this formula too much not to have one with me just in case.
Mac Powder Kiss Lip + Cheek Mousse in Velvet Teddy – I love this product so much. I didn’t even remember I brought it.
NYX Lip Lingerie Lip Liner Stain in 06 Up To No Good – I really love this. I also didn’t use it at all and didn’t even consider wearing lip liner. If I packed again, I would pack almost entirely the same products, except for the MAC mousse and NYX stain.
What’s your makeup packing routine like?
Makeup and Skincare Reviews 