Imagine, you’re planning your next trip abroad. What should you to take? A bikini or two for sure, a pretty dress for at night and … make-up? Of course! Why should you leave your make-up at home if you like wearing some on a regular basis?
However you might need to rethink your daily routine. Taking all of your make-up on a trip is not necessary and would take up to much space. I love having an essential make-up kit for travel that contains only versatile basics. Heavy or dark coverage doesn’t work well on holiday anyway and traveling is the perfect excuse to embrace a more natural look. Moreover your skin will be happy to have a little breather.
You will want to take a minimal but all inclusive essential make-up kit that will last a long time and that won’t take up too much space or weight. Moreover you should go for products that are multifunctional, for example a brush with two sides or a lipgloss that can double as a highlighter. In this way your kit will go much further but you will have to pack less.
Which products should be in your essential make-up kit for travel?
I consulted the expert advice of BE-creative make-up artist, Vanessa Snackart, to give me a hand. I’ve been using and loving the products for some time now and therefore knew that a big portion of my travel kit would consists out of BE-creative products. I love that, at a very affordable price-point, they are able to offer high quality products that last long and that blend well into the skin.
For my travels, I created a minimal travel make-up kit with only 9 items but for this post I added a more comprehensive 16-item kit for those who wish to travel with a bit more products. With these selected items you can create (at least) 3 easy looks that will make you glow at all times. First of all a nude look for everyday (which you see in this post), a more minimal beach look and a simple but bold red lip for New Years eve or for when you want to check out that rooftop bar. With minimal effort, you can achieve a long-lasting result. In this article I will show you what I used for this natural look shot in the Maldives.
THE BASICS
1. Non-waterproof Mascara // Bourjois Volumizer with two brushes: It seems tempting to take only a waterproof mascara since you will be sweating, swimming and partying a lot. Wearing only waterproof mascara however will dry out your lashes, so only use it when it is really needed. Moreover taking a simple non-waterproof mascara will save up on space and anyway, it’s nice to go bare-faced when you head into the water. The Bourjois Volumizer is my go-to normal mascara since it give you a lot of lashes. With the two brushes it is also easy to choose how much mascara you want to put on.
2. Highlighter // Touche éclat by YSL: Hide the dark circles under your eyes, highlight your cheekbones, the bridge of your nose, your chin and the line under and above your eyebrows. This really is a lifesaver, it’s THE highlighter I keep going back to.
3. Bronzer // BE-creative Bronzer Sunkissed c/o: Shape your face or use it as an eyeshadow or to mattify your face. If you really want to be well prepared, include a bronzer that is 1 shade darker in your kit because as you tan, you’re going to need a darker bronzer than your normally do.
4. Travel Brush // BE-creative T02 Powder & Eye Brush c/o: Blush and Bronzer brush with soft tip for eye make-up. Soft multi-tasking brushes make it easier to apply the make-up in your kit. Use the big brush for applying bronzer where you want to shape your face and the little brush if you want to use said bronzer as eye make-up.
5. Brow Pencil // BE-Creative Brow Pencil color 001 Blonde: Even when I’m wearing next to no make-up, I still like to enhance my brows. The brows do so much for your expression that, when I see a make-up free photo, I’m perfectly happy apart from the brows. Some extra attention in the future it is!
6. Lip Stain // Clinique Chubby Stick: I prefer taking Chubby Sticks rather than an actual lipstick as you still get the color from an actual lipstick but the hydration will avoid that dry feeling on your lips. Plus it’s easier to put on when you only have a tiny mirror available.
7. Nude Eye-Pencil // BE-Creative Eye-Pencil Color 007: This pencil is going to be one of the most versatile items in your kit. Make your eyes look bigger or reduce the redness in your eyes by drawing in your waterline and contour your lips when going for the bold red lip. This line will also keep lipstick in place when things get steamy.
8. Nude Lipgloss // BE-Creative Licious Lips Intense Gloss Pure: Another multitasking guru, use it on the lips or as a highlighter on the eyes or on your cheeks to replace a blush.
9. Eye Primer //BE-Creative Photo Perfecting Eyeshadow Base c/o: This little tube will keep your make-up in place and will give a bit of a pale beige color if you didn’t want to bring eyeshadow.
Added products for a more elaborate 16-piece kit
10. Eyeshadow // : BE-Creative Quad Eyeshadow Nude c/o: With 4 colors and 2 textures, this pallet you can achieve a variety of looks. The textures add some sparkle or you can keep it matt depending on your mood.
11. BB-creme // Estée Lauder Clear Difference Complexion Perfecting BB Creme: Never take a foundation to a hot country, it will ruin your glowy summer skin very quickly. The best solution if you want something to cover your skin is bb creme. However once your skin gets a little bit of a tan, you won’t need that anymore either.
12. Bright Red Lipstick // BE-Creative Brilliant Shine Lipstick Color 006 Flamingo : For those who want to take something extra apart from a gloss.
13. Eye Make-up Travel Brush // BE-Creative Eyeshadow Brush 2 in 1, nr. 8: I’ve been using this brush since before I left, the curved side is perfect for applying eyeshadow while the short side is nice for applying the darkest color closer to your eyelashes.
14. Black Eye-Pencil // Bourjois Khol & Contour Color 71 Black: Add a black pencil to your basic kit if you feel like you need something extra. It is perfect for nighttime or when you want to create a soft smokey eye. However during the day it might look a bit harsh. I keep going back to this eye-pencil for years now, it’s easy to put on (meaning you don’t have to go over your eye for 5 times) and it stays in place quite well.
15. Waterproof Mascara // BE-Creative Lash Me Baby All In One Mascara c/o: If you really cannot live without putting make-up on every day, even when you go into the water, this waterproof mascara is the one to add your kit.
16. Transparent Powder // BE-Creative Micro Perfect Loose Powder Color 1: Mattify your face even when it gets really hot. The loose powder also prevent the possibility of falling and breaking your compact powder. Remember that your bag will be thrown around quite a lot so solid powder will most likely break.
For the look in this post I used the following products:
1. BE-creative Bronzer Sunkissed
2. BE-Creative Quad Eyeshadow Nude
3. BE-Creative Licious Lips Intense Gloss Pure
4. BE-Creative Micro Perfect Loose Powder Color 1
5. BE-creative T02 Powder & Eye Brush
6. Touche éclat by YSL
7. La Roche Posay Anthelios Sunscreen for the face
Oh and this gorgeous dress that you’ve seen pass by a couple of times, it will come up in the next post!
All products available in this post, apart from the sunscreen are available at Ici Paris XL. The products marked with c/o were kindly gifted to me by BE-Creative. No other financial compensation was received. Everything stated in this post is based on my own experience and I truly recommend the BE-Creative products for everybody shopping on a budget.
