How To Pack Cosmetics For A Vacation

Hello beauties!

Since I recently traveled, I decided to share with you what I pack in my makeup bag. I absolutely hate packing! It takes me a few days to plan out outfits and decide if I really need to bring a certain beauty item along or not. I work in the airline industry, therefore I see people that are missing their luggage all the time, so in order to avoid that issue, I manage to pack everything that I need in my carryon bag and in my oversized purse (sounds impossible, but it isn't!) - so proper packing of everything I bring with me is crucial.

My travel makeup bag!

Pack the essentials. I know its hard to condense what you want to bring, but think about the things you will actually use. This goes for clothes, hair products and of course your makeup. I am pretty sure you won't have the time to go through your full routine in the hotel room. I personally want to spend more time being a tourist than spending time putting a full face on!

What activities will you be doing? If you are going to be on the beach most of the time, then its obvious you will not be needing much besides sunscreen. I always bring my Nars tinted moisturizer, It gives me the right amount of color, and it also has SPF in it as well. If you do have a dinner planned out in the evening however, you may want to put a little something on. Make sure you bring a palette with you, with a variety of colors to create different looks. I prefer the Naked and Naked Basics palette - perfect for a neutral eye for the daytime or glam it up at night with a smokey eye. I also bring along my contour kit for a quick contour.

Travel sized items. I cannot stress this one enough! Not only do they save space and are less heavy to carry around, but it is TSA compliant, so you will not have issues going through security with it. Try to get your hands on sample items at Sephora as well. Also, your local drugstore should carry tons of travel sized items such as makeup remover wipes, shampoo/conditioner, soap, hairspray etc. If you want to transfer some full sized products into something smaller, you can buy the empty travel size containers also found in drugstores. For things like shampoo, I put it in a ziploc bag just in case it leaks at some point along the way. Below is just a few of the travel sized items I have.

Left to right: UD All Nighter setting spray, Benefit Watts Up! Highlighter, Benefit They're Real mascara, Algenist moisturizer, Clean & Clear facial scrub, Benefit The Porefessional, UD eyeshadow primer.

These are other things I bring along with me...

Left: Nars Bronzer in Casino Middle Top: MAC blush in Peaches Middle Bottom: Hourglass Ambient Light in Dim Light Right: MAC MSF Highlighter in Soft & Gentile

Left: MAC Pro Longwear concealer Middle: Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz Right: Maybelline Eye Studio gel eyeliner

Multipurpose Makeup. They are a great way of saving space in your bag, and saves you application time as well. Products like Nars The Multiple can be used as blush, lip color, eyeshadow and highlighter. Benefit's Benetint can be used for cheeks and lips as well. 

Lips and blush. Figuring out what blush and lip products I want to bring along is always tough! I always want to bring 5 blushes and 10 lipsticks, but of course that isn't possible. As for blush, I decided on just bringing a color that will compliment many different looks. With lips, thats a different story. Again, think of the activities that you will be doing and bring the appropriate shades. As for me - I bring a perfect everyday pink shade, a nude for that smokey eye, a red lipstick just in case I want to be a little dramatic, and a lipgloss when I don't want to wear a lipstick, but still want a hint of color.

Left to Right: Hot Passion #305 by Cover Girl, Lovelorn and Shy Girl by MAC, NYX Butter Gloss in Peaches and Cream

Brushes. Again, I only bring what Im actually going to use, and I put them in a separate makeup bag. Unfortunately I don't own a brush roll (yet!)

Excuse my dirty brushes! 

And there you have it! How do you pack when you go on a trip?

Vincent Longo Perfect Shine V Gloss in Sexty Review

I'm definitely in love with this shade! 

Perfect Shine V Gloss in Sexty

According to the Vincent Longo site :

"Perfect Shine V Gloss’ full-body, non-waxy formula layers light-catching pigment on lips while it moisturizes, leaving your lips looking camera-ready and feeling soft as silk. The rich, long-wear texture keeps V Gloss’ colour in place throughout the day and into evening. A unique plumper developed from a natural tripeptide fully hydrates the lip surface and volumizes fine lines, so you get a perfect natural pout with superstar-quality sheen every time."

This gloss has a great color pay off and is the perfect shade of pink. I find that it pairs perfectly with a dramatic smokey eye, or can be worn with a softer look. This gloss is not at all sticky (thank goodness) and glides on effortlessly. Sexty did not dry out my lips, but it did settle into the lines of my lips after an hour or so. As far as their claim of it volumizing fine lines - I honestly didn't notice a difference. I was able to get about 2 hours wear before I had to reapply, so the long wearing claim didn't apply to my lips. 

I would recommend this product, because it is such a pretty shade of pink - and no girl has enough pink in their stash! Also because it isn't drying, and that is always a plus.

Vincent Longo Perfect Shine V Gloss in Sexty retails for $22 USD on their website, and can also be purchased at Nordstorm .

DISCLAIMER: I received this as a sample. My review is 100% honest, and entirely my own.

Benefit They're Real! Push-Up Liner Review

I don't think I've ever seen so much buzz for an eyeliner before!

Being that I absolutely LOVE Benefit's They're Real Mascara, I squealed in excitement when I found out that they will release a gel liner pen (don't judge!).

Benefit describes this gel liner pen as innovative, and heres why:

 1 - Its the first ever lash hugging gel eyeliner in a pen.
2 - The innovative AccuFlex tip makes it easy to get close to your lashline.
3 - It is a waterproof, matte black gel formula that doesn't smudge or dry out.

Sample sized

The AccuFlex tip

Now, for my experience with the liner... 

In order for you to use, you must twist the end to dispense the product out. It said it takes up to 10 rotations to dispense product, but it look me like 20 to see it come out the first time.

The formula for this gel is pretty dry and I found that you have to work rather quickly before it sets, because once it dries, it stays put! When applying along the lash line it worked as promised - it lined as close as possible. One thing I did find myself doing was wiping off excess liner off of the tip a few times. The AccuFlex tip does make it very easy to do a cat eye, but the line wasn't as crisp as I'd like. Once my line was drawn I wanted to go over it one more time to make it darker, but it was very difficult, as it skipped along what I had on already. 

So, is it really waterproof? YES! This stuff did not move at all! Even after eye makeup remover, there was still traces of it on my eyelid.

Is it worth it? Only if you aren't good with liquid eyeliner, and also if you want to make a fool proof, quick cat eye look. You just have to work really quickly with this product. This product will retail for $24 USD and will be available in July.

What are your thoughts?

DISCLAIMER: This product was given to me for my consideration. My review is 100% honest and entirely my own.

bareMinerals bareSkin Serum Foundation Review

Hello beauties!

I have been a fan of bareMinerals mineral foundation for years, and was super excited to hear that they were coming out with a liquid foundation! I actually thought that bareMinerals would never come out with their own, but here it is! 

So what is so special about this foundation, you ask? According to bareMinerals, it is "a tone correcting mineral foundation and skincare serum in one", and it is supposed to have an adjustable coverage according to your needs all while making you look like you have nothing on. It is formulated for all skin types and skin tones, and keeping true to the bareMinerals way, it was formulated to be good for your skin. It contains key ingredients like lilac plant stem cells, vitamin C, and titanium dioxide to improve dark spots and brighten skin, provide antioxidants, and of course provide suncscreen protection of SPF 20.  It does not contain any water, oil, silicone, parabens or fragrance. 

You actually apply this foundation by the drop, yes thats right! Depending on how much coverage you need 2-4 drops will be enough for your face! I wasn't able to get my hands on the special brush that was made especially for this foundation - from what I have seen, it is unlike any brush in the market! 

I used the bareMinerals Prime Time primer before applying bareSkin. Make sure to shake the foundation really well before applying! For me personally, I only used 3-4 drops of foundation. I was matched with the color Bare Latte 11-and it is perfect! I like to apply it with my Real Techniques buffing brush.


I found that it is definitely light weight, and made it look like my own skin! It is in a league of its own, not like any other foundation I own to compare it to. It is runny, but at the same time it definitely has that serum feel to it as you buff it on. It leaves a slight dewey look on my skin as well. I should mention that I do have combination skin (thanks T-zone!), however I had no issues with looking excessively oily throughout the day, and didn't have the need to touch up. I usually set this foundation with bareMinerals mineral veil, but i've also set it with my Hourglass Ambient light powder, and Urban Decay All Nighter spray and haven't had issues with any of them. So far, I'm absolutely loving this foundation! I am curious as to how well it will hold up during the summertime.

This is how it looks on me! (Taken in natural lighting)

I do feel that my oily skin/dry skin beauties may have an issue with this foundation, unfortunately. This seems to be a hit or miss with many. If your skin is too oily, you may have separating issues, and on dry skin it may cling onto dry patches on your face.

bareSkin Serum Foundation retails for $29 USD for 1 fl. oz.

Have you tried bareSkin yet? How are you liking it so far?!

XOXO,
grace


DISCLAIMER: I received this product free for me to sample at the Generation Beauty event. My review is 100% honest and entirely my own.

Generation Beauty 2014 Recap and Swag!

Posing with the Pillow!

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend Generation Beauty this year with a group of friends in Los Angeles - mind you we flew all the way from New York City!! This was our first time in the city of Angels, and couldn't wait to see what it had to offer. 

To those of you that aren't familiar with Generation Beauty, it is an event that encourages all makeup enthusiasts to come together and learn from one another, network and to have fun! The main event was on May 31st, and June 1st (May 30th was invite only). As an attendee, you also get to walk away with TONS of free swag during happy hour for both days!

Get ready for tons of pics!

Inside the Tent

the Generation Beauty/ Ipsy screen

The graffiti wall 

I left my mark on the wall, can you spot it?

A lot of the companies in attendance encouraged you to take a selfie, or a picture of their products, use specific hashtags, and upload them to social media in exchange for free goodies! 

I took a selfie for Pixi, and made it on their screen!

NYX was giving away free eyeshadow and chunky dunks if you posted a pic of their display on instagram!

We were all excited to get our hands on the new Benefit They're Real Push Up Liner! The line to receive one was super long! 

The display for the liner

em cosmetics! 

London Soho gave away great bags and a brush as well!

Body paint in progress at the Temptu booth

Being that it is a beauty event, you will most definitely get the chance to meet some of your favorite YouTubers, bloggers and makeup artists! There were panels going on at different times, discussing various topics. 

missmavendotcom, clairmarshal, makeupbysona

dope2111 , desireeperkinsmakeup

SO happy I bumped into WhatWouldLizzyDo! We had a nice little chat - and she filmed it all! 

Such a super sweet, fun girl!!

Selfie! (...Excuse my tired face!)

I absolutely love Chrisspy! 

Julie G posing with the Benefit cops!


On day 2, I got the chance to meet Chrisspy again, along with Desi Perkins at the City Color Cosmetics booth! They were both super sweet, and even more gorgeous in person! ( I definitely felt tiny standing next to them though haha!). Desi's husband was there filming and taking pictures for her, I thought that was great! So nice to see him supporting her, and they make a great looking couple!

With Chrisspy and Desi Perkins

Desi suggested we take a selfie!

I saw girls walking around with such pretty braids, and I later found the source! The ladies at the Oscar Blandi station were braiding hair non stop!

Sitting at the Oscar Blandi station about to get my hair braided!

The results - I wish my hair would have held the braid better :( 

And now, for the goodies! We got so much stuff I had a hard time squeezing it all into my carry on bag! 

All of the swag in the bag!

I was able to take a pic of all the goodies in one shot!

Overall it was such a fun experience, and definitely worth flying all the way to the west coast for! I met some awesome ladies (a special thank you to Amber from Amber's Trendy Thoughts !) and got to explore a city I have never been to before. I do hope that I am able to go for next year's event! I will start testing out some products and have reviews up soon. 

XOXO,

grace