In My Kit: Travel Beauty Must Haves

Today I wanted to share some of beauty favourites and the contents of my travel makeup bag, which help keep me 'glam' on the go..
For keeping my skin fresh with an almost-perfect base, I like to use Laura Mercier's Tinted Moisturiser (shade Bisque). This evens out my skin tone as I tend to have some redness on my nose and cheeks, and although it doesn't cover all imperfections out completely it creates a more 'naturally flawless' face. As mentioned before my t-zone area is the most oily part of my face, so Mac's MSF lives with me everywhere I go. A light handed dusting of the finely milled powder goes a long way, and does a great job at keeping shine away without looking chalky.
As a long term user of Bare Mineral's skin makeup, I've grown a love affair with this bronzer in the shade Warmth. This is definitely a red based bronzer so it isn't great for defining and contouring your face, though it does a great job of creating the illusion of sun-kissed skin.

Although I've developed quite the 'signature' look featuring my everyday feline winged liner, on some of the more lazier days I like to focus just on the brows and lashes (at the least) to keep me looking healthy (alive). Benefit's Roller Lash is perfect for those no liner days, as it seperates the lashes whilst curling them. And the best part? The curl is held all day! I also keep my 'Gin & Tonic' perfume by The Library of Fragrance with me as it's super travel friendly - this 30ml bottle is the perfect size for my makeup bag, and I've never had issues with the lid coming off.

For an everyday lip I wear Burt's Bee's lip balm underneath one of my favourite matte nudes - Mac's Yash. Due to the texture of this lipsticks, I need to carry a lip balm with me to avoid any gathering of dry, dead skin and this Burt's Bee's addition does the trick. Yash accompanied by No 7's Precision lipliner in 'Nude' is the perfect nude combo on my skin tone, so I never leave the house without this holy grail pair! I also like to keep this nude lip Mega Shine gloss from NYX (colour Natural) just in case I fancy changing up a matte lip to a more glossier look.

What are some of your glam & go items?

Saina
xo

Top 5 bronzers – Featuring: Soleil tan de Chanel, Nars Laguna, Dior Bronze Amber etc.

 

Finding the right bronzer for your skin tone can sometimes be a tiring task, some are wary of looking too orange, or perhaps looking ‘dirty’. And despite the thrill that comes with purchasing new makeup products, sometimes a splurge can end up being a waste of money if you are left with a product that just does not work for you. Factors such as tone, colour, texture, are all definite things you should consider, however you must also ask yourself what look you want to achieve. A natural, healthy glow? A sun kissed skin effect? A heavily structured and contoured face? Or perhaps you lean towards the Jersey-Shore-girls side of things? All that is entirely up to you and will play a part in the product you choose whether it be one shade darker, or more, shimmery or matte etc.

Here, I have created my top 5 favourite bronzers, and I hope this insight will help anyone on the hunt for a new bronzer. (In order of swatches left- right: Soleil Tan de Chanel, Mac Format, BareMinerals Warmth, Dior Amber Bronze, NARS Laguna)

Chanel  Soleil Tan de Chanel: This product is ideal for those who are looking for a multi purpose-bronzing product. It works well as a standard bronzer, a tanning effect makeup base to be used under or in conjunction with foundation, a complexion enhancer to be used alone, cheek colour, or as a contour colour. It consists of a light creamy-mousse texture leaving a velvety finish on the skin. The colour could be applied with a light hand to create a subtle apricot glow. I find this product to work best with the Real Techniques Expert Face brush.

 Mac's blusher  in Format appears shimmery in the pan, but actually applies as a subtle golden glow throughout the super pigmented pink toned brown bronzer. This is definitely another buildable colour, and depending on your skin tone you should decide on application. For lighter skin tones this will make your skin appear way too red, although I think this will work as a great bronzer for medium-darker skin tones. The depth to this blusher works as a great 2in1 bronzing and contouring colour on my skin and I use this with the Real Techniques Contour brush.  

Bare Minerals  all over ‘warmth’ is a heavily pigmented mineral loose powder, which requires careful application. Due to the powders colour depth it can be quite dark, and therefore a little goes a very long way! It has slight shimmer passing through it, adding to the flushed glow it creates. As it’s very pigmented and quite dark I use this as a contour colour and I find the Real Techniques Contour brush collects the right amount of colour on the tip of the slight tapered brush for controlled application.  
 

Dior Amber Bronze: This bronzer is my favourite as it’s perfect for medium skin tones, the finely milled powder is orangey-brown in tone and can definitely be applied in layers to build up the colour intensity. If your complexion is already warm in tone, this powder will enhance a golden sun kissed colour. This bronzer has an ever so slight hint of shimmer running through it, which complements the glow it creates. I do not recommend Amber Tan for those with lighter complexions, as it will probably end up creating the dreaded Oompa Loompa orange. To create an overall glow to the face, I apply this with the Real Techniques Blush brush.

Nars Laguna  is well raved about and I can understand why. This is my go-to bronzer on casual days where I am looking for a ‘no makeup-makeup look’. Laguna is a finely milled dusky brown powder defused with subtle golden shimmers. This bronzer is not orange at all and therefore can be used for a natural golden tan glow or as a contouring shade. I use this to add colour to my complexion using Sigma’s F25 Tapered Face brush.

What are your favourite bronzers? 

xo