My Travel Makeup

Hello everyone! I wanted to take a moment to write about the makeup I take with me when I travel. I don’t travel a whole ton, but I am a college student who tries to visit home as often as possible, which means lots of two-day-long trips. It also means I’ve finally figured out what I really like to bring with me and what I actually use on trips.

Long story short, I bring wayyyy less with me than I used to. This is in part because my daily go-to look has become a lot less complicated as time has gone on and in part because I figured out that unless I have a very specific event planned where I want to wear a specific look I will not be wearing anything complicated in terms of makeup (and even in the case of there being an event, I will likely stick to something simple, like a bold lip with mascara).

So without further ado, here are the contents of my travel makeup bag!

Actually, a quick disclaimer first: not everything in this post is indie. I use what works best for me, and unfortunately there are some products that I just can’t find in the indie market. Furthermore, a lot of these products are products I use on the daily, so y’all are probably going to be products you recognize!

First, the tools:

I have a few brushes that I always bring with me when I travel. First, I bring a Colourpop blending brush. The one I have is the bigger blending brush, and I frickin’ LOVE IT. Seriously, it’s the best brush purchase I have ever made. I use it to blend out the edges of my eye shadow and drag it down to my lower lash line. I also bring a big fluffy powder brush (the one I have is from Real Techniques), as well as a Colourpop blush brush to apply, well, my blush. And bronzer.

Finally, I bring a Beauty Blender (the one pictured is an actual Beauty Blender. I personally no longer support the company but I take forever to “use up” my Beauty Blenders so here we are), an eyelash curler, a pair of tweezers, and my ELF mascara wand, which I use with the eye tint. I store the ELF wand in a travel toothbrush case so it doesn’t smear the eye tint everywhere!

The Face Stuff:

As y’all know, I don’t wear foundation on a day-to-day basis. That being said, I do like bringing *something* to cover up if I really feel it is necessary. 99% of the time, I end up not covering up at all, but sometimes I am glad to have my Glossier Stretch Concealer, which I set with the Wowder. I love the Stretch Concealer; jury is still out on the Wowder. The concealer has to be set, though, and the Wowder is the powder I am using at the moment!

There are two products I do use every day, though: the Fat and the Moon cream highlighter in Beam, and the Kjaer Weis cream blush in Desired Glow. Beam is a beautiful, glossy highlight. It has a trasparent base, so it should work on most skin tones. However, if you are very warm-toned or prefer a more golden undertone in your highlight, Fat and the Moon also sells Glow. The Kjaer Weis blush is simply stunning. It gives a natural sun-kissed look, and it is pretty buildable.

Finally, I included my Colourpop concealer for no reason, because I actually don’t usually bring it with me. I don’t particularly like it, either. I use it as a powder eyeshadow primer, and since I don’t bring powder eyeshadows with me normally when I travel, I don’t usually bring it with me. Whoops!

Brows and Lashes:

For my lashes, I use my holy grail, the Eye Tint. Y’all know how much I love this stuff. I created a video showing how I use it here. Since I don’t use it on my lower lashes, though, I bring whatever other mascara I am going through at the moment. Right now, it’s the Chanel sample I got ages ago. Finally, for brow gel, I use the Colourpop Brow Boss gel. I love this stuff so much. It has great hold, and I haven’t yet found an indie alternative to a tinted brow gel.

Eyes and Multi-Purpose Products:

For my eyes, I keep it really simple when I travel. The one-shadow look is my go-to, so I throw in a couple of my favorite cream shadows to choose from. On this particular trip, I brought the Coloupop Super Shock Shadows in So This Is Love – and believe me, it is indeed love – and Bandit, a matte shade.

I also brought the new Fat and the Moon Lip Paints I got a few weeks ago. I have always wanted to try them and I saw someone on the Fat and the Moon story using them as an eyeshadow, so I picked two shades up from a local zero-waste store. The two shades I got are Clay Idol, a beautiful mustardy brown, and Mortar and Pestle, a rusty red orange. I use these on my eyes as well for one shadow looks, but be warned: they crease. I have hooded eyes, so they don’t stay put throughout the day. I don’t really mind this, though, as I don’t mind a lived-in look, and I also can easily pat them back into place if I feel the need to. I also love using them as the actual lip tints they were created to be used for, especially the shade Mortar and Pestle (y’all know I’m a sucker for red oranges!).

Lipssss:

I keep my lip options really simple – I have found that I stick to my tried and true products when I travel. I always bring a clear gloss, a “my lips but better” (MLBB) or nude shade, a tint or two in various tones, and a bold lip. The specific products I take can change, but the lip gloss and the MLBB shade I brought with me on this trip – Ami Hearts Beauty Coconut Milk gloss and Kjaer Weis Sensuous Plum lip tint, respectively – have become staples for me. The lip tints and bold lip colors change much more frequently. The products I brought with me this time around were the Duet Beauty Take My Ass To Fiji lip tint – a beautiful bright corally red – and Ami Hearts Beauty Popsicle, which is a lovely bright red. I’ll actually be doing a post all about my favorite indie lip tints soon!

Bonus: The Bags I Use

Finally, I always use the same bags to pack my makeup and skincare. I always carry my makeup and skincare bag with me, which – aside from avoiding powder products – prevents any breakage. I fit all of my makeup into a Fresh bag I got as a gift with purchase a long time ago. My skincare goes into a clear plastic pouch I got from Muji, also a long time ago, and not pictured. The Muji bag and Fresh bag fit perfectly side by side into the beautiful handmade Frankie and Coco PDX bag, which I have had for literal YEARS.

So there you have it! My travel makeup! Feel free to ask me any questions at all below! Also let me know: what are your travel essentials? Do you have your packing down to a T?