Travel Makeup Essentials

So this week I have had the amazing opportunity to go on a trip to Bellingham, Washington, for a glorious 2 weeks. I've been beyond excited, to say the least. Now I am very organized/ slightly psychotic when it comes to packing, as I like to pack everything a few days before the flight and live out of my suitcase to make absolutely sure that I am missing nothing. There is nothing I hate more than getting to my destination and finding that I am without something crazy important. Since I go rather light with the clothes, making sure only to take basic pieces, I go a little heavy with the makeup. How could I not?! 

My flight was scheduled to depart incredibly early in the morning. Needless to say there was no way in hell I was going to get up even earlier to do my makeup. Sorry guys it just wasn't going to happen. So I prepared and put together a makeup essentials kit for my carry on bag, just in case. This is what it consisted of...

For base I went simple with my Maybelline Fit Me concealer in the color 'Sand Sable' paired with my ELF concealer brush. I dotted the product where needed and blended it out with my brush. Don't fret if the color doesn't match you perfectly because we will fix that in a second. 

Over the concealer I took this Diorskin Forever Compact in the shade '030' and buffed it all over my skin. I enjoy using powder when traveling because its lighter, easier to apply when on a plane, and overall foolproof. 

Next I chose this eyebrow duo from ELF in the shade 'Medium'. It comes with wax, powder and a brush to apply them with. I like the wax side because, if applied correctly,it can give a very natural look to the brows. I use the wax towards the tail of the brow and blend the powder through the front. 

I then continue on to cheeks. This is a NARS duo with the color ( yes this is actually the name) 'Orgasm' blush and 'Laguna' bronzer. I like to sweep the bronzer under my cheekbones and apply the blush to the apples of my cheeks. 

Moving on to eyes I applied this cream Maybelline 24 hour color tattoo in the color 'Barley Branded' with my finger over the lid. Making sure to keep the color only on the lid and not on the crease. If you bring it up to the crease it will begin to look messy and muddy when you apply the shadows on top of it. 

I love this pallet when traveling. This is my handy dandy Naked Basics pallet by Urban Decay. I use the lightest color 'virgin' over where I applied the cream color. I just use a flat shader brush for this step. Then I use a fluffier blender brush and take the color 'naked 2' and blend it into my crease. Lastly I take a mix of the dark brown 'faint' and the black 'crave' and push it into my lashes with an angled liner brush. 

I finished off the eyes with The Rocket Volume Express mascara from Maybelline in the color 'black'. Focusing on the roots of the lashes and the outer corners for added definition. 

For the lips I used my favorite gloss product by Maybelline (are you seeing a trend here?). The Maybelline Color Elixir in the color 'Caramel Infused'.

{I used all of these products the day before to make sure I had everything.}

Here is the completed look! Using just the few products in my carryon. 

I did do this look later on during one of my layovers and it was easy as pie. 

Thanks for reading. 

Samantha 

Get Out of Jail Free Card

I dress in a lot of black. In fact a good fourth of my dresses happen to be black!  Since its warmed up a little where I live I was on the hunt for a great base piece that had loads of class (and I am pretty sure I hit the nail on the head with this one).  So when I stumbled upon this amazing piece from H&M I absolutely had to have it (this particular dress is no longer available but they have similar ones on the website). It sort of reminds me of a high end prisoner haha. I love the high neck line and the sleeves. They give a very Audrey Hepburn feel to the overall look. I kept the look very clean and chose not to add jewelry. However you could always go for some sparkly earrings a chunky necklace or some killer arm candy! Shoes {$24.95} and Sunnies {$7.95} are also H&M and I scored the awesome hat from a thrift shop! 

Out in a Hurry

There is probably nothing worse then waking up and realising that you are running behind and you don't have time to get completely ready so you get to pick and choose what is more important. 

Your hair, your makeup, or your outfit.

I usually choose my outfit. 

 Now we all have late mornings. This one happened to be way more late then I planned so here is my

 'Out in a Hurry" solution for those dreaded late days.

When in a hurry I always try to pick a dress and jacket depending on the weather. This day I was very lucky and  it was around 60* and partly cloudy. You can never go wrong with a dress. Its a fuss free outfit all on its own and it always makes you look like you tried harder then you actually did. This striped navy and white one with brassy type hardware is from a boutique in Franklin, TN called Philanthropy. I got it on sale for around $25. The jacket that I picked was a denim jacket from Forever 21. If  I can remember correctly I got it for around $15 or $20. (looking back on it I would have also thrown on a brown belt). The shoes I wore (even though not shown) were just some brown sandals from target. Finally my beloved sunnies are from my all time favorite store H&M and they were $8. When in a hurry always remember to

 keep things simple!

Don't let a late morning get the best of a potentially great day! Always make the best of things given to you.

Thank you for reading! Stay beautiful!

Samantha <3

Life gets me down every once and while.

When it does I turn to youtube for inspiration. I search the latest beauty related products looking for something groundbreaking that I simply HAVE to have. From there I usually watch a few reviews and decide if I can make room in my budget for it (and I do). Then I call my most beloved side kick Miss Jasmyne and we head off to the land of all things luxurious, Sephora. 

We are greeted by the decked out Associates and are escorted to stools where they can work their magic on us. They wipe away whatever was bothering me earlier with a little blush here and a little highlighting there and of course the perfect 'my lips but better' lip color. They sample me out pots of face masks and oils that I will use to pamper myself later and take me to the checkout. This whole time I've been distracted by the sparkly tile on the floors and the vast collection of Make Up Forever single eyeshadows. I never thought to once look at the price of the most expensive NARS product in the whole store (which the Associate is currently placing in a bag for me to take home). 

Jasmyne at this point is currently dying because of the new Urban Decay naked lip glosses and has completely forgotten about anything or anyone else in the entire store. I have lost my side kick to a 26 dollar tube of glittery goodness. I have no one to talk me out of splurging and going temporarily broke for a week and a half (even if it is shopping therapy). Now I have the decide on whether or not I want to eat this week or mooch off of my loved ones for their scraps. I give in to the enticing temptations and buy it. Jasmyne comforts me on the way home and says I needed it and I will use it and blah.... blah... blah......

We arrive at home and treat ourselves to mani/pedis, face masks and disney princess movies. Little did I know that the $45 NARS Shear Glow Foundation sitting in my beautiful black and white striped bag on my vanity is the wrong shade.....joy.

We all hate this situation. We have all been in this situation. So how do we avoid it and make better life choices? We buy the $9.99 Revlon colorstay foundation instead and go a shade lighter then usual. 

Damn you Sales Associate. Damn you.