A look at the makeup I wear when travelling.
A few readers have asked me to do a post on the makeup I wear when I travel so I figured I’d shed some light on what’s in my travel makeup bag. Coincidentally, my friend Adventurous Kate recently shared her beauty routine on her blog, and we have a lot of the same philosophies when it comes to putting your best face forward on the road.
I’m far from a makeup expert and don’t really have a routine. But I do like to look nice and feel that makeup enhances my features, so I wear it daily. While I used to wear quite a bit of makeup (in very aggressive colours!) in the past, I find that as the years roll on that I have been simplifying my look more and more (primarily due to laziness).
Less is More
Simplicity is even more important when I travel: I’m a serious underpacker (having heavy luggage/carting around too much stuff stresses me out!) so it follows that I bring the bare minimum of makeup when I’m on the road.
The picture above is the makeup I brought with me on my Egypt trip, and generally my travel makeup for all seasons. You’ve probably noticed that I’m a M.A.C. girl — my mom got me a gift certificate for their products when I first starting makeup and I enjoyed their stuff so much that I’ve never really tried anything else. At any rate, here’s a list of what I normally pack:
Face:
- 1 Foundation (M.A.C. Studio Tech in NW 45)
Eyes:
- 1 Eyeshadow (M.A.C. “Woodwinked”) -I usually use this to highlight under my brows, I love the sparkle!
- 1 Eyeshadow brush (purchased randomly in a drugstore years ago)
- 1 Concealer (M.A.C. Select Cover-up in NW45)- I sweep this under my eyes to hide dark circles.
- 1 Liquid Liner (Revlon Colour Stay in “Blackest Black”)- I’m a liquid liner fiend. I usually do a cat-eye.
Lips:
- 2 Lipsticks – Both are from M.A.C.: “Paramount” (which is a deep brown colour I absolutely love and goes well with my skin tone) and “O” (a frosty, gold-ish colour).
- 1 Lipliner (M.A.C. in “Burgundy”) – I usually wear this with the “O” lipstick.
Other stuff I may or may not bring:
Above are the makeup staples that I pack on every single trip. But there are a couple of things that I sometimes include, sometimes leave behind.
– Mascara: A lot of the time I leave the mascara behind simply because it’s a pain and a half to get off (ain’t nobody got time for that!).
-Blush: I tend to only wear blush in the winter or on special occasions. It’s not essential for when I’m travelling. I love the colour “Breezy” by M.A.C.
-Liner sharpener: Nothing worse than a dull eyeliner or lip pencil! I bring this along whenever I remember to.
When it’s hot outside:
I’m currently typing this from the Balkans where it’s been scorchingly hot: the mercury hit 37 degrees celsius today! As a result, I haven’t worn any makeup except for lipstick since the beginning of my trip; when I know I’ll be sweating there’s really no point in applying makeup since it will literally just melt off. The added bonus of all this heat and sun? My skin gets really dark, making my blemishes and imperfections invisible and giving me an enviably deep, even skin tone without the aid of additional foundation. Love it!
A note on skin products:
Confession: I’m one of those bad people who doesn’t bring any proper face wash or cremes when I’m travelling — I use hotel soaps and random body lotions to keep my face clean and moisturized. However, I don’t recommend this to anyone. The skin on my face has proven itself to be pretty resilient and acne-free over the years, but if you have sensitive skin it’s definitely worth your while to bring your skin products — no matter how much they weigh. Bottles too big and bulky to fit in your luggage? Think about pouring small amounts into travel-size vials you can purchase at your local drugstore!
What’s in your travel makeup bag? Is it different from your every day makeup?
47 Comments
Hi Oneika ,
I always wondered about you beautiful makeup . Girl , you look really nice and that simple classy makeup suits you and its kind of a signature for you ( like kim kardashian signature makeup , but you are much better Oneika :p ) . Keep it up girl and i thumbs up for you . By the way , your leibling is such a hunk , nice catch girl . lol . Keep it up and i hope that you can visit beirut soon , its a beautiful city and when you come it will shine 🙂 . You visited our neighbors ( jordan , israel ) now its our turn right ? 😀
beautiful complexion!!
I think some men would benefit from this post as well, not just ladies…
Aside from my MAC lipstick (Diva) and plain, cheap, and clear lip gloss, I don’t wear makeup on a daily basis, but it was still nice to see this post.Thanks!
You’re so lucky that you can use hotel soaps for your face. While I was backpacking a few years ago I did this but as I’ve got older my skin freaks out if I even look at a bar of soap.
I try to keep it as simple as possible while I’m travelling too. I go for waterproof mascara and (confession time) I basically just never take it off, a good tinted moisturizer with SPF25 and a tinted lip gloss for the evenings. If I try and put lots of make-up on I end up looking worse as it melts all over my face. Not a good look!
I’m guilty of bringing WAY too much make-up with me when I travel. I don’t wear it on a daily basis, just for special occasions, but still bring three different looks along which fills a small ziploc bag. I need to get it back to just the essentials like you. I’m a MAC girl too!
P.S. Best thing for getting off make up is Vaseline! I use it for a tonne of different “jobs” when I’m travelling – lip balm, overnight hand and foot cream, slicking down fly-away hair. It’s the best!
Brow pencil (gotta have eyebrows – lol), mascara, and chapstick. That’s usually it! If I’m going out, I’ll add some powder and blush. Otherwise, I hate the feel of makeup on my face.
I take on my travels what I normally use every day. It really doesn’t change. It just gets smaller, like compact brushes, etc. But, then again, I don’t use a lot anyway.
If I’m doing a short-term trip, I will very rarely wear or even pack make-up! I find it to be a hassle. But if I’m going to be staying in one place for awhile then I definitely bring as I also like to look nice.
It’s also very rare that I’ll wear make-up if it’s hot. Sweaty foundation ain’t cute!
Yours in Travel,
Alyssa
I don’t really wear make up, so I only bring face wash, moisturiser (two different kinds one with sun block for the mornings and one without for night time).
37? Ew.
Love this post! I think I am one of those who harassed (LOL) you to post your beauty routine. Shamefully I am one of those girls who always goes through my friends handbags checking makeup, hand cream etc (nod diaries!! I hasten to add, just the girly stuff)
I overpack makeup and skincare when travelling and love setting out my little pots and jars on the bathroom counter when I arrive. I like MAC too!
When travelling, I am even happier than usual about having a wife who doesn’t need any make-up.
I am not like a lot of backpackers – I wear makeup every day (unless at the beach or hiking or something), and I bring a lot of different options. I always have concealer, powder, bronzer, liquid liner, and mascara…and then I bring five bright lipsticks, some glitter, bindis, and perhaps a sparkly eye shadow. What can I say? I love to dress up and I’ve always had lots of fun with makeup, so that doesn’t change when I travel. It really doesn’t take up that much space in my bag, and it brings me such joy to wear!
I am always travelling, but for work. Work consists of hiking up mountains and getting covered in dirt so makeup is not the best. For work I always wear mascara (thin blonde eyelashes), high factor suncream (found a nice light Boots spray suncream) and I always carry disposable makeup cleansing wipes. I love them for freshening up and removing make-up.
I like my BB cream but with temperatures +40deg C at the moment I can’t handle having anything creamy on my face. I usually pack my eye lash curler, liquid liner, mascara, one light gold eyeshadow, BB cream, lip gloss (LOVE Lucas pawpaw cream – it can be used for everything) and a natural pink lipstick.
I overpack on travel medicines!!
Great post! So many female travellers say they don’t wear makeup on the road and I was beginning to think I was the anomaly. I wear my foundation even in humid heat because it doubles as SPF.
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