My holiday make up bag

Since I really enjoy reading about what make up people take on holiday with them, I decided to write my own post about it. As you know (or don't, but will now), I was away in Florida for 2 weeks last month. I always struggle with packing, usually end up taking far too much, clothes, shoes and make up alike, and while I will not go into details about the clothes and shoes, I can assure you, I did the same again - both for me and my 3 children (my husband packs his stuff). I swear we could have left at least one suitcase behind and not be without anything. I mean who would've thought you don't need long trousers, sweaters and raincoats in Florida at Easter? I always pack warm clothes just in case, but honestly, I didn't even wear a light summer cardigan, it was always over 25 degrees even at 10 o'clock in the evening. Anyway, moving swiftly on, here's what I took with me make up-wise:

My 88 Shimmer and Metal Mania palettes

All other make up products I took with me

As you can see, all of the products are fairly cheap, drugstore or similar products. I'm always really afraid to take expensive high end and limited edition products with me in case they get damaged or lost in transit. I find the 88 eyeshadows palettes (especially the Shimmer palette) very useful as they contain all the colours (including some really good highlighters) you ever need. Although the quality of the eyeshadows isn't that good, with a decent primer they lasted through most of the day, and it was usually over 30 degrees, so I guess that's not too bad.

So what else did I take? I managed to photograph it upside down, but you can see my Maybelline Dream Creamy Foundation (reviewed here) which I actually managed to finish on the last day of the holiday, talk about great timing eh? I took my Collection 2000 Illuminating Touch concealer (reviewed here) as well as my  Mac MSFN & Shimmer in Medium, great for setting foundation and highlighting. Not sure why I needed an extra highlighter, but I took a Ruby & Millie one, not sure what it's called though, it's from a set. I took 4 blushes: First Kiss and China Pink by 17, Sleek Rose Gold (see review here) and Laura Geller Tropic Hues (a handy travel sized one, full sized one reviewed here).

I took numerous eyeliners, all Urban Decay 24/7 ones, as I love their eyepencils and I like the variety of colours. I also took 3 mascaras: L'Oreal Telescopic Explosion mascara (reviewed here), Max Factor More Lashes waterproof mascara and a Rimmel waterproof mascara (its name escapes me completely, sorry). For my brows I took my trusty Mac Brow Set in Show Off. And of course my favourite eyeshadow base: Barbara Daly for Tesco (I've reviewed it here).

I took 2 lipliners and 8 lipsticks, plus 4 double ended lipglosses as well as several of my GOSH eyeshadow brushes, 2 blush brushes and a cheepo noname face brush. Oh and a double pencil sharpener.

Now, do you want to see how many of these products I actually used over the 2 weeks? See after the jump!


As well as my 88 Shimmer and Metal Mania palettes, I also used all the products shown in the picture below:

I'd say that's not too bad. In the end I didn't use 4 lipsticks (I found that it was too hot to carry lipsticks around with me as they were in danger of melting in my handbag, or they were simply not suitable for waterparks), the 2 lipliners (all lipsticks I wore were light coloured ones), 4 of the Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliners (I did take 11 of them and I just didn't need greens and khakis), and the Rimmel waterproof mascara (why would I need 2 waterproof mascaras???). I also didn't need the pencil sharpener, although it did come in very handy when my little boy needed his pencils sharpened. :)

Just for fun, I swatched the lipsticks and blushes that I took with me. The 4 lipsticks on the left are the ones I used, the 4 on the right I didn't.

L-R: Rimmel Moisture Renew Sweetheart Tulips and Rose Sorbet, Avon Crystal Coral, Lancome Color Fever 312, Avon Natural Gold, Plum Gorgeous, Sparkling Peach, No 7 Carnelian

L-R: Sleek Rose Gold, 17 First Kiss, 17 China Pink, Laura Geller Tropic Hues

Finally, just wanted to say a few words about the products that I loved the most and the one that I got really really annoyed about. Firstly the bad: the L'Oreal Telescopic Explosion mascara has this black print on the red tube that melts off after continuous use. I ended up with black yuck all over my fingers every time I applied it as well as the inside of my make up bag. I think that's one of the reasons why I will stick with my Givenchy Phenomen'eyes from now on.

However, I have rediscovered some fantastic lipglosses, namely my Strictly Fabulous glosses that I bought before Christmas and never really used (see original review here). I wore them a lot instead of lipsticks and I have fallen in love with them. The sheer ends (top ones in the picture below) are lovely and sparkly and a bit on the sticky side (think Mac lipglasses), but the more opaque glosses are non-sticky and really nicely pigmented. I wore every colour except for the clear sparkly one which would look great with lipstick under it and loved every one of them. I swatched them for you to see how wonderful they are (swatches are as in photo below, left to right, bottom shade first then matching top shade).

Right well I hope you enjoyed this epic post!