Travel 101: 5 On the Road Beauty Basics

As mentioned a thousand other times before, I'm a busy gal.  I travel, I work, and I make time to go to New York on weekends to see silly individuals that I care deeply about.  To prep for seeing that silly person and for looking fabulously while working, a girl's got to have the right tools to do it.  Not to mention, being practically a nomad comes with the added challenge of keeping everything under 300 milligrams.  What's girl to do?  I try to stick with basics (nothing too elaborate) when I travel for work and pleasure.  That way, you can save that $25 luggage check-in fee to buy something more useful... like clothes.  Packing the essential gels and liquids might be a hard battle to fight especially against your make up.  Each week, I try to prioritize and pack the essentials as to not clutter up my bag too much.

Left to Right:  Clinique Butter Shine Lipstick, Benefit They're Real! Mascara, Sephora Retractable Waterproof Eyeliner, Make-Up Forever HD Foundation, Chloe Eau de Parfum Rollerball (Pictures courtesy of Sephora)

To read actual descriptions, click below.  You know I don't like clutter.  Just do it to amuse me.   Click away!

1.  STICK TO WHAT'S TRIED AND TRUE
LIPSTICK:  CLINIQUE BUTTER SHINE LIPSTICK

I've been using Clinique's Butter Shine Lipstick in Berry Blush for as long as I've been using make-up.  It's the perfect lipstick to use on trips because it both colors well but moistens/shines it like a lipgloss.  I try to stick to a shade that has a natural color to it, but has a little bit of a pop (which shows in the shine).  As one of my mentors always said, "Keep doing the same thing until it stops working."  It's been almost five years now, and this routine hasn't stopped working.
GEL & LIQUID COUNT:  0 ML.

2.  DON'T BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR HELP
MASCARA:  BENEFIT THEY'RE REAL! MASCARA & EYELINER:  SEPHORA RETRACTABLE WATERPROOF EYELINER

There are two places that you're probably most likely to find me at the mall.  The first is J. Crew (clearly), and the second is Sephora.  The ladies at Sephora are a gold mine of information as long as you find the right one with the right connection with you.  Some of the best products I've gotten at Sephora have been through ladies who I've shared a cadence with -- no nonsense, will tell you straight up what her opinion is, and cares about you long enough to spend more than two minutes talking to you.  In looking for long-wear eye makeup, I deferred to the ladies of Perimeter Mall in Atlanta for guidance.  I love both Benefit's They're Real! Mascara and Sephora's Waterproof Eyeliner.  Both have been able to elongate my eyelashes and keep me from looking like a grisly raccoon for 12 hours at a time.
GEL & LIQUID COUNT:  0 ML.

3.  INVEST WHERE NEEDED

FOUNDATION:  MAKEUP FOREVER HD INVISIBLE COLOR FOUNDATION

If you couldn't tell by the endless posts on sales and me blatantly calling myself a cheapo throughout the entirety of this blog, then it's no surprise that I'm pretty spendthrift when it comes to a majority of items.  One thing I don't skimp on is skincare.  I have some of the most God-awful, prone-to-breakout skin in the world, and to make things worse, I work 9 to 12 hours a day, and then hope on a plane.  As such, I tend to invest a little more on long-lasting, oil-free foundation and primer.  Unfortunately, my go-to liquid foundation (Korres Wild Flower) discontinued, which means I'm on the search for a new foundation.  Until then, I'm sticking with a sample of Makeup Forever HD, which feels incredibly light and airy and lasts for hours on end but is a little bit on the pricey side.  Any good recommendations, readers?
GEL & LIQUID COUNT:  30 ML.

4.  KEEP IT MOBILE & LIQUID-LIGHT
PERFUME:  CHLOE EAU DE PARFUM ROLLERBALL
I love perfume. It can make a girl feel sexy or classy from one spritz to the next.  For the longest time, I had been hauling bottles of perfume with little success (i.e. losing half the bottle from suitcase spritzing because the cap is loose).  Rollerball perfume is perfect for any traveler, with its screw caps, compact size, and the fact that it's under 10 ML!  Chloe's Eau de Parfum is my personal favorite (and as I learned two months ago, Nicki Minaj's favorite), because of it's light scent (a mix of peony, lychee, magnolia, and other lovely things) making it great for work and for playtime with the boys.
GEL & LIQUID COUNT:  6 ML.

Left:  Kate Spade Abstract Garden Shiloh Make-Up Bag; Right:  Benefit Wristlet and They're Real Mascara

5.  STYLE YOUR CONTAINER, FOR CHEAP OR FOR CHIC
My biggest advice for packing is compartmentalize!  As such, I keep all of my tolietries, make-up, and liquids/lotions packed away in three different bags.  It goes without saying that you can go with a variety of means to do so ranging from ziplock bag to designer make-up bag.  I particularly love Kate Spade's Abstract Garden Make-Up bag for $70.  However, being a spendthrift, I generally stick to special deal bags that you can find at Macy's, which hold up surprisingly very well (like the Benefit one that comes with a purchase of the Benefit mascara listed above.  My current rotation is a blue travel bag that came with my luggage for my tolietries, a Bloomingdales brush-set bag for my make-up, and an free Estee Lauder bag for my lotions.

There you have it.  What's your go-to make up for travel, darlings?  More importantly, what foundation should I switch to?  Girl conundrums can not wait!  Share the love below.