What's in my Travel Beauty Bag?

Following on from yesterday's post on What's in my Airport Bag?, I thought it would be handy to share what Skincare/Makeup/Beauty bits I took with me for my recent trip to Nigeria which I am sure you are tired of hearing about now. I still have a few more posts on my trip so stay tuned for more and bear with me if there are not the kind of posts you prefer. This is my second travel beauty bag essentials on this blog and if you fancy reading the first one, check it out here. The first one was for a very short work trip and what I packed was very limited. For this trip, I tried to be disciplined with my packing but somehow, some products still found their way in....

Skincare: Before travelling, I went to Primark and purchased their travel decanters for skincare/makeup which is amazing and it retails for only £1 which is a massive bargain considering what other stores charge for theirs. It also came with some labels which were useful. I never take full size skin care when travelling because they take up too much space and they can get damaged which is why these small travel containers/decanters are wonderful. I decanted some of my Estee Lauder Gelee Cleanser which is one of the best I have tried and it was perfect for Nigeria which was little humid and dusty. I also decanted my Pixi Glow Tonic toner which is a very good exfoliating toner. Sunscreen was one of the first items I packed because I knew the weather was super hot and I was prepared. I armed myself with La Roche Posay's Anthelios XL with SPF 50 and it was perfect (a review will be up soon). For serum, I took my Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair which comes in the cutest miniature packaging and I also decanted some Nip+Fab Glycolic Acid Serum into one of the small tubs for day time. For face cream, I took my La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo sample which I did not really use as such and I took my full size LRP Effaclar A.I. spot treatment because I knew I always break out when there is a change in weather. For removing my makeup, I took my Astalift Cleansing Oil sample which was such a sweet saviour all through my trip and I also took loads of flannels for my face. Lastly, I took my No 7 Cleansing brush which was perfect for getting off any dirt, grease and grime on my face along with my cleanser.

Makeup Tools: Let’s just say I was very, very bad when it came to packing my makeup and makeup tools because I was very indecisive and I really don’t think anyone needs to pack this much for just 10 days. I took all my Nanshy Eye Brush set which I adore, my Real Techniques Core Collection brushes along with the Expert Face Brush. I took some other unbranded Concealer brushes and Lancome brushes as well. I am terrible I know. The good thing is I had these cute makeup bags which made packing so much makeup look so compact and easy to use. The L'Oreal makeup bag (I won this in a competition) is the best for packing my brushes because it has a brush compartment underneath which is so handy and you can still stuff a few things at the side and inside the makeup bag itself. The red and black makeup bag are from Lancome and they housed the rest of my makeup.

Makeup: Again, I was uncontrollable and very undisciplined. However,I tried my best. For foundation, I took my Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation which was perfect for the weather as it gives a matte finish and felt really light -just like skin as the name implies. Concealer saw me packing my Estee Lauder Concealer and the Becca Concealer which are both amazing. For brows, I took my MAC Brow Pencil in Stud and Sleek Eyebrow Stylist in Dark as they both serve different purposes. For eye shadow, I took my MAC customised Palette and Estee Lauder Palette (which I never used). Primers were Benefit Porefessional sample and Becca Primer for the face and Benefit Stay Don’t Stray for the eyes and they were all fabulous. The Sleek Face Form was one of the most useful makeup items I packed because it housed my contour, blush and highlighter-I just love it.  Eyeliner has and always will remain my lovely L’Oreal Super Liner and I have not used anything else that can beat it till date with a matching price. Mascara was Chanel Sublime Mascara sample along with my YSL Baby Doll Eyes which were perfect and clump free. Lips had me pack all my MAC lipstick- Spirit (bought in Duty Free), Girl About Town, Vegas Volt and Hug Me. I also packed my nude lipsticks which were all from the L’Oreal Privee Collection including the Eva, Julianne and Frieda. Powders were Chanel Les Beiges and MAC Mineralized Skin Finish in Dark (also bought in Duty Free). The good thing was I used 85% of everything I packed so I don't regret packing them :-).

Fragrances: In my mind, I was going to buy some perfumes at Duty Free but that did not happen and I am so pleased I took these fragrances with me otherwise I would have had to deplete my sister and mum's perfume stash. I took only one proper perfume and that was the Elie Saab L'Eau Couture which just smelt even better in Nigeria..don't ask me how/why. For Mists, I took the Body Shop Atlas Mountain Rose which is still one of my favourite scents. The two tiny miniature perfumes from Britney Spears (Midnight Fantasy) and Salvatore Ferragamo (Eleganza) lived in my handbag and were my perfumes on the go which served really well in the humid weather conditions. Phew!! I never realised I packed this much but I so did. It was easy to pack them even if they looked a lot because many of the items were samples/miniature sizes and I have these amazing makeup bags that make everything so easy to pack. Hope you enjoyed this little peek into my travel beauty bag essentials. Are you a disciplined packer? See you in my next post...x