WHAT'S IN MY TRAVEL MAKE UP BAG?

If you follow me on twitter you'll probably know i'm off to Holland for a couple of days. I leave on friday and for me, one of the most stressful things about travelling is choosing what make up to bring! I have so many every day essentials so it can be difficult to decide what will be most useful whilst i'm away. After hours of huffing and puffing, packing and repacking, i've come to a happy conclusion and thought i'd share with you what i'm bringing! 

The foundations:

I've chosen my foundations for the trip very carefully. I want something light, moisturising and natural looking which is exactly what illasmasqua skin base and MAC face and body does! However on the evenings I like to have a bit more coverage and want my face to be a bit more dolled up! Both of these foundations are brilliant for providing a natural, light base but don't be fooled, these bad boys are build able and they're my secret weapon. you can layer these foundations to build up maximum coverage without it looking cakey or heavy. Perfect for travelling. 

Concealer/powders:

The only concealer i'm taking is my trusty MAC studio finish, it covers everything from under eye circles to blemishes plus it's tiny and won't take up much room! To set my under eye concealer i'm using ben nye banana powder (made famous when kim kardashian's make up artist let slip it's the secret to her incredible highlighting) which transforms my face, it just really enhances the highlighted areas and keeps everything matte. I'll also be taking my MAC MSF natural which can be buffed into the skin with a buffing brush and used as a foundation or simply to set the foundation you're already wearing. 

Eyebrows:

I'll be using a spoolie to comb my brows and then filling them in with the real techniques brow brush and using urban decay naked eyeshadow if i want a light brow, or MAC's charcoal brown if i want a darker, defined brow.

Highlighter/Blush:

MAC's cream colour base in pearl is my favourite highlighter at the moment. I blend it onto the top of my cheekbone with my ring finger and it just finishes the face, giving a natural, dewy highlight. I'm taking NARS orgasm blush as it's a lovely summery colour and really gives a nice flush colour to my face.

Lips:

I'll use lush's bubblegum lip scrub to exfoliate my lips and use carmex (not pictured) to moisturise. The colours i'm taking are lush lipstick in power, chanel levres scintillantes glossimer in 196, MAC's saigon summer lipstick and angel.

If you want to know what mascara i'm taking then read my last post, I didn't photograph the brushes i'll be taking as i'm currently deep cleaning them! See you when I'm back! x

MAYBELLINE GREAT LASH MASCARA

Maybelline Great Lash Mascara in Blackest Black - £4.99

I bought this mascara on a whim on a recent shopping trip the other day. I haven't bought a new mascara in months and thought I'd pick one up. After spending a good ten minutes confused and dazed at all the drug store mascaras, I picked up Maybelline's great lash in blackest black. I think the bright green and pink packaging won me over. I'm a sucker for packaging. The product itself promises to ''create perfectly defined lashes with a clean, separate finish. A lash building brush for fuller and longer lashes with no clumps or globs.''

When I applied it for the first time I was pleasantly surprised. The small and delicate brush makes application very easy, I was able to reach lashes on my inner corner with ease, which really helped open my eyes up and make my eyes look brighter and bigger! I really love the way this mascara separates and elongates the eyelashes rather than sticking them together with huge clumps. The mascara is a true black with a matte finish. The staying power is pretty amazing, lasting a good eight hours plus. I didn't really notice any major smudging, bearing in mind this mascara isn't waterproof. The thing I love most about this product though, is how build-able it is. The picture of the close up of my eye is two coats. Two coats of mascara can usually clump together and look too much but I find this mascara builds up volume and length in the most natural looking way possible. If you're looking for a mascara that is pigmented, volumising, lengthening and non clumpy and under five pounds - then this is it! Have you tried this mascara out? What's your holy grail mascara?

MY WEEK IN PHOTOS #1

obligatory starbucks photograph - best purchase of the week - having a good brow day - lip saviour - rudimental tickets came - tacky and fabulous dry shampoo packaging - playing around with the OPI 18k gold top coat - friday night's face - miso soup at my favourite japanese restaurant 

CLARINS SPLENDOURS 2013 SUMMER BRONZING COMPACT

Clarins Splendours Bronzing compact - £30

If you read my latest post you will have known i've been lusting after the new Clarins bronzer for a while now. Well, today I caved in and decided to treat myself! The bronzer is made up of golden, terracotta and brown shades. The centre of the bronzer is a beautiful champagne coloured highlight, which you can use on it's own, or swirl your brush all over the product to mix shades, creating a natural sun kissed glow.

Embossed with intricate aztec style patterns, this product not only looks good but does it's job well too as it's super pigmented and very long lasting. Another great thing about this bronzer is how versatile it is, in the winter i'd use the beige tones to contour/bronze but in the summer when i'm more tanned i'd use the darker shades. This means I can wear this little beauty all year round! The powder itself feels so lightweight and luxurious on my skin and it doesn't feel ''cakey'' or heavy. The compact is enriched with mineral and plant extracts so it also cares for the skin. 

This was my first purchase from Clarins but the customer service (House of Fraser Birmingham city centre) was incredible! The lady at the counter also threw in some samples for free. I got 30ml of multi-active day cream, their BB skin perfecting cream sample and a 75ml pure melt cleansing gel! I'm excited to try them all out! Are you a fan of Clarins? Will you be trying out any make up from their summer 2013 collection?

THE MONTHLY BEAUTY WISHLIST: MAY

1. How beautiful is this Clarins bronzer? This bronzer has golden and brown tones rather than those awful orange bronzers that many girls mistakenly go for. This bronzer will look like a natural tan too as it's made up of different colours, think about it, when you tan, you don't just tan one colour, there are many tones and shades, Clarins have captured those real sun kissed shades within this bronzer. I NEED to try this, I better hurry up too seeing as it's limited edition!

2. You can never have too many brushes, which is why I want to treat myself to not only one, but this set of four! I've heard nothing but amazing things about sigma brushes, I love each one of these brushes and I know they'll be so versatile. They're also quite dense as well so they'd be great for really buffing products into the skin, the angled brush looks like it would be perfect for contouring! 

3. The NARS illuminator seems like such a great product as it can be used for many things. I really want the shade 'orgasm' which I could use as a blush or a highlight. This product can be worn over, under and even mixed with your foundation of choice. It's the most gorgeous peachy pink which will give a healthy and radiant glow. Perfect for summer with a tanned complexion! 

4. I love the sound of the new Chanel les beiges powder. It's designed to give a healthy and sheer glow, it's a light powder with SPF 15. I really like the sound of a light, natural powder to set my make up with as sometimes I feel like my make up looks/feels too ''caked on'' when i set my face with my MAC mineralise skinfish natural.

MAC ANGEL LIPSTICK

MAC angel lipstick - £14

Uh oh. Another paycheck, another MAC lipstick… there’s nothing more satisfying than building up a lipstick collection! I currently store my lip products in this, props to Hayley for spotting that little bargain! I own the generic reds, fuchsias and even purples but one thing I felt was missing, was a classic, everyday, simple pink! After ooh-ing and ahh-ing at the lipstick stand in my local MAC store, I decided to go for Angel.

I first heard about Angel after Kim Kardashian revealed it’s her go-to shade. I’m a big fan of Kim’s make up and follow her contouring and highlighting tricks religiously (you can find a great tutorial here). It’s a frost lipstick which MAC describes as ‘‘excellent colour payoff with medium to high frosted shimmer-and-shine finish’’. When first applied it’s very sheer so I really build it up to put a bit more colour into my lips. It’s a soft pink with blue undertones, although the colour isn’t insanely bright or bold it’s still noticeable and definitely makes a difference! Like every MAC lipstick the quality never disappoints and I find this lipstick long lasting, I also found it wasn’t drying on my lips, bonus! Overall I’m pretty pleased with my purchase and can see this becoming my everyday lipstick, as it’s simple, pretty and appropriate for all occasions! 

p.s sorry for the poor photo of myself, I was in a rush this morning!

LIZ EARLE SKINCARE: CLEANSE & POLISH, TONE AND MOISTURISE.

Liz Earle May skin care essentials - £43

Choosing a skincare regime is a very tricky business, with so many lotions and potions on the market it can be difficult to find what products will work for you. I've never really had a clear complexion and over the years my skin has worsened. I used to suffer from mild acne so I've tried many ''solutions''. From creams prescribed by the doctor which felt like acid on my skin, to the clearasil phase (don't lie, we've all been there)! It was finally time to invest in a good skincare regime.

The simple three step system by Liz Earle is cleansing, toning and moisturising your face every morning and every night. The cleanse & polish hot cloth cleanser is a cult product in the beauty world, winning several awards and rightly so! The cleanser is a rich and thick cream, you apply it to your face and really work it into the skin, you then run the muslin cloth provided under a hot tap, ring it out and cleanse away any make up, dead skin cells and daily grime! I noticed how smoother and softer my skin was after the first week. Combined with the toner and moisturiser my skin has really cleared up a lot. My skin feels more plump and smooth and just generally looks brighter! I also think it's helped control my blemishes a lot, I never really break out like I used too. People close to me have even noticed and complimented me on how well my skin looks! The great thing is these products work for any skin type, the skin repair moisturiser even comes in three options: combination/oily, dry/sensitive and normal/combination.

The products are a bit on the pricey side but they last a good 5-6 weeks! If you buy from the website they usually do monthly deals. I got the May skincare essentials which contained the cleanse & polish hot cloth cleanser, muslin cloths, toner, skin repair moisturiser, daily eye repair and I was also sent a sample of their botanical essence no 100 perfume, which is gorgeous by the way! So if you're debating about trying the Liz Earle skin care, go on and give it a try! You're stuck with your face for life so you may as well look after it right... and hey, why not add a little luxury when doing so?