Travel Beauty

Hello lovelies! I have been doing quite a bit of travel for my job this year and I thought it would be fun to do a little "What's in my travel beauty bag?" post for you. This post will be solely about make-up, if you would like a hair or skincare travel post, please let me know in the comments below.

Regardless of whether I am traveling for work or play (the exception being the cabin, I bring nothing in terms of makeup there), I always like to bring some options when it comes to my make-up routine. I take in to consideration what I will be doing while I am away (is it a conference? will there be a formal dinner or other dress-up type event while I am there? will I be outside in the heat or cold a lot?) in order to plan out what I bring.

For the items pictured above I was attending a one day expo that had a red-carpet, movie theme to the event. SO I upped the glam factor a bit. But in this photo you can also see some of my essentials. We'll break those down first and then go into the glam add-ons.

Essentials:

Lorac Pro to Go Palette - Regardless of whether you are traveling or not, this is a great palette! It comes with 6 shadows, 1 bronzer and 2 blushes. All the colors are neutral but can be used to create a wide variety of looks. You can also use some of the lighter shadows to highlight your face and for some the shadows may even work to fill in your brows. This palette folds up into a sleek compact that can fit into the smallest of bags.

Foundation/Concealer - Above is my new foundation love from Maybelline and a concealer for under my eyes. Jet lag is not fun and neither are bags under your eyes. Conceal that mess. I also brought this great Sonia Kashuk concealer palette just in case I have anything else on my face to conceal (zits, redness, etc). This is a great product because there are three different shades in there along with a setting powder.

Eye Primer - Always a must whether I travel or not, and this one from Lime Crime is awesome!

Eye Liner/Mascara - Again I always use these everyday and right now I am still loving my Voluminous mascara from L'Oreal and my Maybelline Line Stilleto liquid eyeliner.

Eye brow mousse - This is a quick and mostly mess-free way to define my brows. They really do shape your face, I recommend doing this on the daily. Even if you just do brows, mascara, tinted lip balm and a tinted moisturizer. Try it.

Lips - Most days I'm a sheer gloss or Baby Lips kind of girl so I bring those in my purse. But for travel I will bring a couple of options for various looks.

Glam Add-Ons:

False Eye Lashes - For this particular trip, I was going for full on old meets new Hollywood glam so I lashes were a must.

Single shadows - Since the palette I brought only has neutrals, I thought these might be a fun add-on in case I decided to go with a more dramatic eye look. These single shadows from Milani are affordable (from CVS) and such amaze-balls quality. The emerald shade with the gold is STUNNING.

Multiple Red Lip Options - Nothing says Hollywood Glam like a red lip. I used to be terrified of red lips and then they grew on me. Anytime I want an easy glam look or I want to feel a little more badass and powerful, I do a red lip. I brought several options on this trip (lip crayon, lip balm, lipstick and gloss) to create a red lip that would last through the expo and still look good after 4 hours of networking.

I also bring a full array of brushes, which I could do a separate post if you are interested??

What do you bring in your travel bag?

New Go-To Foundation: Neutrogena Healthy Skin

I have some big news!! I have a new go-to foundation. This is big. Seriously big. I have been a die-hard Revlon Color Stay Foundation user since 1995. I have used other foundations along the way (CoverGirl, Maybelline and others) but Revlon has always been my go-to. Until a couple of weeks ago.

I've been kind of looking for a new foundation for awhile, I'm not unhappy with the Revlon Color Stay, but just wanted something different. I tried E.L.F., Maybelline, L'Oreal, a couple of Rimmel and CoverGirl ones, but nothing really blew my mind and I returned all of them (except for the CoverGirl Stay Fabulous/Outlast one, that's some awesome stuff too!). Side Note: L'Oreal True Match Lumi broke me out like no other. Seriously not impressed and I know everyone and their mamma loves that one, but not me (and not my mamma either).

I had always over-looked Neutrogena as I feel like they are expensive and just not really something I considered. BUT I had a coupon and a Cartwheel for Target and had seen several commercials, ads and reviews on the Neutrogena Healthy Skin Foundation (all part of the 14 touches, lol if we work together, you will get that). So I decided to take the plunge and try the foundation. It's $11.99 at the store (Target, Walmart, drug store) and with the coupons I had, I was able to score it for $8.99. FYI the Cartwheel is still out there if you want to take advantage of 10% off.

The color I chose is Classic Ivory, which I believe is the lightest shade. The formula has SPF and antioxidants in it which is supposed to actually make your skin better in four weeks. I can say that my skin does look better but it hasn't been 4 weeks and it doesn't look that drastically different, just better. The foundation itself is easy to blend (I use a Sigma foundation brush) and doesn't smell. It's a natural to sort-of-dewy-but-not-really finish. I don't set it with powder but that's because I have dry skin and don't want to enhance that. It lasts all day (my day starts at 4AM and ends at around 4PM, give or take) but if you had oiler skin, you might want a primer. I just like the fresh look I get with this and the coverage is medium, but you could build it up to full.

The only bummer for me on this particular line is the color selection is minimal. So if you are super fair or super dark you may not find a match. Also, the lighter shades seem to be very "pink" but once blended in that goes away, but just an FYI.

Overall, I love this and have used it daily since I bought it. I will still use my Revlon ColorStay (especially in summer or on extra long days, special events) but this is an awesome day-to-day foundation and I highly recommend it. I will definitely re-purchase when this runs out.

Have you tried this? What about any other Neutrogena cosmetics? Anything you think I should try or avoid? Tell me in the comments below.

How to not look like total $#!% when you are sick.

In a perfect world no one would ever get sick. And if for some bizzarre reason they did, they would never have to go out and face the world until they are 100% better.

But, this is not a perfect world, and we all get sick. This winter has been particularly harsh. I have just spent roughly the last two weeks battling the mother of all colds and so I thought I would take a minute and share my tips for not looking like total shit when you are sick.

First off, get rest, drink lots of water and hot tea. Eat soup, take meds, etc. But in the event that you have to go out, go to work or attend some event where the "I look like I'm dying" look isn't appropriate, I recommend the following.

Wear bright colors. When you are sick you tend to be washed out and look pale, and purple-y (esp. under the eyes). Wearing gray and black will only make it worse. Try a bright green or orange sweater. A bright cobalt blue cardi and tank. You get the idea. Also, wear a statement jewelry piece. It will take people's focus off of your face.

As for make-up I recommend using a medium to full coverage foundation. Apply with a brush or sponge, but not your cold, clammy fingers. Once that has had time to set in, apply under-eye concealer, with a light hand, under your eyes. Waiting until your foundation sets (about a minute or two) will allow you to see how much coverage it will provide and not cake on the concealer. Do NOT bother with concealer around your nose. You're blowing it every 30 seconds, concealer is a waste of time there.

As for blush, if you are pasty and pale, I say it's okay to swipe some on. But go easy, when you are that sick a ton of blush (read: the normal amount you apply) can look weird. If you are feverish, skip blush all together as it will only enhance the feverish glow.

Use a nude eyeliner on the bottom waterline of your eyes. This will cancel out any redness you have going on and help you look less sickly.

Then I recommend eyeliner to define your eyes. When you are sick your eyes are red, puffy, sleepy, etc. so eyeliner (I use liquid just on the top) will help carve out those gorgeous peepers. I would also recommend NOT using eyeshadow, unless it's a brighter, flesh toned concealer to help cancel out any red or purple veins that are super visible. But a smoky eye is no bueno when you are sick.

Finally I recommend the holy grail of all lip salves. Smith's Rosebud Salve. I have been using this since high school and it is the original bomb dot com. I'm not kidding. It's $6 and comes in other scents and even in a tube, but the classic salve in the tin is where it's at. You can use this on your lips to keep them hydrated AND you can put this around your little red nose to help it heal and prevent major peeling as you get better. Another fun fact is that you can use this on your eyebrows to keep them in place, you can put this on dry patches all over your face. The possibilities are endless.

And once you have done all of that, pop some cold meds, and smile. You're sick, no one expects you to look like Giselle. It's okay.