Going on holiday is an exciting thing to do, whether it's with family, your partner, friends or even on your own. But, the one thing that stresses me out is packing. Even though I've been on many holidays, I always take far too much, despite writing up a list of what I'll need. But hey, I'm pretty sure most people will take about 5 pairs of shoes even though they are going for a 4 day holiday, just incase an occasion arises to wear a specific pair.

I'm currently on holiday so I've been through the whole 'What do I want to take with me'. Not only did I have to think about the clothes I'll be taking, but also my makeup and skincare for the week. Luckily, I'm only within the UK so I'm not restricted in what I can take, like liquids, aerosols etc. but I still wanted to be as reasonable as possible. I'm not looking at wearing makeup everyday but just wanted to take some items with me so if I'm going out for dinner or a trip out, I can atleast look alive, it won't too heavy on my skin and doesn't take forever to do. I've taken some skincare pieces also, as it's important that I still look after my skin, regardless if I wear any makeup or not.


Because my skin hasn't been too bad lately, I've not been messing with the skincare products that I've been using, as I'm worried something may flare it up, so what I'm not actually taking too much. So, coming with me is:

• Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water: I've been loving this again recently. I used it ages ago, stopped and now I use it every time I want to get the makeup off my face. You don't need to use too much water to get rid your makeup, so this is a big thumbs up from me.
• Clinique Moisture Surge: I've had this for so long and I still love it. If my skin is feeling on the dry side, I only have to take a small amount and spread it over my face and it'll instantly feel so moisturised. It comes in a small pot so it's really handy to take with you on holiday.
• Pixi Glow Tonic: I've reviewed this product on my blog before and I was saying how much I loved this. I still do, which is why it's part of my travel essentials. I usually use this after I've used the Micellar Water just to fully cleanse my skin. This has been such a saviour and something that I've used where I've seen a noticeable difference.
• Superdrug Pure Cotton Wool Pads: I'll be using these with my Micellar Water and Pixi Glow Tonic. Pretty standard cotton pads, which you can get from drugstores or supermarkets. These are the ones I had lying around and it doesn't appear that I have many left but I can get some whilst I'm on holiday if I do run out.
• Simple Kind to Skin Cleansing Facial Wipes: I used to use these before I used Micellar Water, and used them again when I stopped. Even though I'll mainly use the water, it doesn't harm to take some wipes just incase. Sometimes they are good to get rid of some stubborn makeup.
• Garnier SkinActive Moisture Bomb Tissue Mask: I love these! These tissues are incredible. Whenever they are on offer in Boots at 99p a go, I tend to buy a handful because they are that good. Similar to the Moisture Surge, this is good to help moisturise my skin but I use it more of a pamper session, so I can sit back and relax for 15 minutes whilst it does it's thing. My skin just feels so refreshed once I peel it off so it's something I'll try and do once or twice whilst I'm away.

• MAC Prep + Prime Primer: I used to use the Babyskin before I was gifted this for Christmas. I've been using it the last few times I wore makeup and I feel that this helped my makeup stick to my skin slightly better. It has a SPF 50 rating so incase it's a tad sunny, this will keep my skin sun-safe.
• NARS Sheer Glow Foundation: As you probably know by now, this is my regular foundation so it's no surprise that this is mentioned in this post. This foundation is lightweight, so it's perfect that it won't be heavy on my skin.
• Collection Last Perfection Concealer: Again, the pretty regular concealer that I use all the time. This lasts a long time and can cover my blemishes and darkness under my eyes really well. I'm slowly running out so may need to locate more whilst I'm away.
• Rommel London Stay Matte Powder: I've mentioned this in previous posts but this powder just does what it needs. It's lightweight and doesn't make your makeup look cakey.
• Makeup Revolution Blush Palette: This palette is so pretty and very spring like so I thought it would be a great product to come along. I've only really used one colour but it's good to have variation.
• NYX Matte Finish Setting Spray: Once the base has been complete, I would apply my favourite setting spray from NYX. I prefer the Matte finish over the Dewy because I don't really want to look that shiny.
• For the base, I have some of my Real Techniques brushes and complexion sponge to put it all together. My good ol' trusty tools, which need a good clean (oops).

Two years ago (where has that time gone) I wrote about 'What's in my Makeup Bag', showing you what I was using. Well, many moons have passed and I must say that there have been some significant changes and thought it would be fun to see how much it has changed in the past two years. Although some items won't technically fit in my Makeup Bag, they do travel with me as part of it. So here goes, the 2017 edition of what's in my Makeup Bag.

As you can see the Makeup Bag itself has not changed because I just love it so much. As mentioned before, I got this from Primark. I purchased it long before I did the original post so it's very unlikely that you'll be able to find this, although I'm sure you can find similar elsewhere.


Before I apply my makeup, I use the Babyskin Instant Pore Eraser, to prime my face. However, for Christmas, I got a MAC Prep + Prime, which I've started using occasionally so I keep both on me. I have upped my game a little bit in terms of the foundation that I now use. If you've not read the post before, I used to use the Rimmel London Match Perfection Foundation but after I walked into a Space.NK stored, they used NARS on me. That's it, I switched over. I roughly started to use the NARS foundation 6 months after that post and I still have the same one. I use my Real Techniques Foundation brush to apply this and it gives me really good coverage. I only started using the Collection concealer because of the amounts of people who were raving about it, so that was another switch. Similar to foundation, I use the Real Techniques Concealer brush or occasionally, I'll use the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge. Something that hasn't changed, I still have kept with my Rimmel Powder. I know the packaging doesn't look appealing and I've hit the pan but it is how it is. Still going strong though. I normally use the Real Techniques Powder Brush. I absolutely love my Real Technique brushes. Don't know what I would do without them.


I love Makeup Revolution's palettes, whether it's eyeshadow, contour or blush but they are becoming quite popular in my collection. Not that I use them everytime, I love these two. First, it's the blush palette called Sugar and Spice. I only bought this late last year but I'm so glad I did. There are lovely variations of blush colours and you can easily use the shimmy ones as a highlighter. Such amazing pigmentation and can blend fairly easily. Love it. I also use the the Ultra Cream Contour Palette. Again, only purchased very recently, you can see that it's had some usage (sorry for not cleaning that for the pictures). I'm still fairly new to contouring but the cream formula is really easy to use. Once again, I use brushes from Real Techniques, using the Blush Brush for blush and the Sculpting Brush for contour.


Moving onto eyes, I actually use quite minimal stuff. As you can see, I don't have any eyeshadow pictured. I don't normally opt for eyeshadow if I'm putting together a quick makeup look and normally use them for events/special outings. Don't get me wrong, I love eyeshadow and all the looks you can create, I just don't normally go for it for everyday looks. Anyway, let's focus on what I do use. At the top, where all of the detailing has smudged off is the Soap & Glory Archery Brow Pencil, which I've had for quite a while now. I got quite a light colour as I didn't want to have really dark brows against my pale skin but I really love using this. For mascara, I love and use the widely-popular Maybelline Lash Sensational. It's so incredible, making my lashes so long and curly. In terms of eyeliner, I primarily use the Avon Glimmerstick Diamonds. I've used Avon's eyeliner for quite a few years now and I never get bored of them. Not that I use it everytime, I also have the Barry M Liquid Eyeliner. This is so good to get a fierce wing, just need a bit more practice.


For lips, my absolute favourite is Mehr from MAC. This is quite a subtle colour that it doesn't overpower a pretty basic look but you can tell that you're wearing it. Previously, I used the Rimmel London Kate Moss lipsticks, which I still own. I'm just really into this shade so much. Like eyeshadow, I do normally change up the lipstick if there is a special event/occasion, but this is the standard one on most basic occasions.


To finish this all up, I use the NYX Matte Finish Setting Spray, so that everything stays into place. I didn't have this in the last post. It's something that I only got last year and it's definitely something that I'd recommend people to buy if they don't own some sort of setting spray. It really does help keep your makeup intact and doesn't make my face feel too wet from it. So glad I invested into this.

There you go. That is the 2017 update of What's in my Makeup Bag. It has amazed me how things have changed, not just in terms of the contents of my bag but how my writing and photography has changed since the original post. But that's what Blogging is about, developing and becoming a better creator.

Do you use any of these products? Is there anything you'd recommend?

Look after yourself,


This blog post is not sponsored and all opinions are my own and honest!

Last Friday, it was my works' Christmas party and wanted to get dolled up for it. One of my colleagues that I work closely with has never seen me with a proper full face of makeup. I usually wear minimal or nothing when I'm in the office so she was excited to see me looking different but she offered to do it for me. She's so bloody good at doing make up so I happily accepted the offer.

I had no clue what colour scheme we were going to do so I just packed lots of stuff, different colours, different products and just hoped that it was going to be enough for her to work with. She spent almost an hour doing it for me and this was the final result:


Although I can't give you a 'Get ready with me' type post, I just wanted to share the products that I used so that if there was anything you liked, you know what it is.


For my face, I used the Maybelline Baby Skin pore eraser, so just to that my skin was soft and would allow the makeup to be applied nice and evenly. For the base, I used my favourite foundation, my Nars Sheer Glow Foundation. I absolutely love this foundation, such good coverage and then on the blemishes and the dark circles under my eyes, I just used the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer. I used a bit of the Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder just to to make my face a little bit more matte looking, as the foundation makes me look a little dewy. Finally, I used my B. Glowing Shimmer Block Blush 196. We used some of the white powder and used it for highlight (stupidly, I forgot my newer blush/highligher palette so we used this as an alternative, which still worked just as good).


For the eyes, we used 4 different ColourPop Eye Shadows; Brady, Drift, Shop and Supermodel. These colours go so well together that it created some kind of shimmery, rose gold smokey eye and the final result looked gorgeous. We also used some Barry M black Liquid Eyeliner, to get a nice wing and compliment the eye shadow goodness that was created. So that I didn't get my eyes poked, I did the eyeliner and mascara myself. I used the Avon Glimmerstick Diamonds Eyeliner in Smokey Diamond. Although you can use any regular eyeliner pencil, this is what I had in my makeup bag at the time but because there is a little bit glitter/shimmer, I thought it would go with the festive look. I also just my Maybelline Lash Sensational mascara, to give me super long lashes.

To finish off the eye area, we filled in my brows with the Archery Brow Pencil and then tidied them up using the brush on the other end.

For lips, I decided to go for a newbie to my collection, Viper by ColourPop. This colour looks so different in the tube than how it actually came out, but I think it really finished this look off nicely.


To keep everything intact, I used my NYX Matte Finish Setting Spray, so that it will keep the look together for as long as possible (although I drunkingly cried/smudged it all off by about 10pm, oops).

I hope you enjoyed reading this post and if you have a Christmas party coming up, it helped you come up with your makeup look.

Do you have a set look for parties, or do you like to mix it up?

Look after yourself,


This blog post is not sponsored and all opinions are my own and honest!

What better way for you guys to know what products I use on a - more or less - daily basis than doing a 'What's in my Makeup Bag' post.


THE BAG:

I bought this from Primark in September/October (I think) so I don't know if it's still available but I soon as I saw it, I know it was something that I'd be leaving the shop with it. IT'S SO PRETTY!

FACE:

♥ Rimmel London | Wake Me Up Concealer in Ivory
♥ Rimmel London | Match Perfect Foundation in Ivory
♥ Real Techniques | Foundation Brush
♥ Rimmel London | Stay Matte Pressed Poweder in Silky Beige 5
♥ B. | Glowing Shimmer Block in Blush 196
♥ Real Techniques | Powder Brush
♥ Real Techniques | Blush Brush

EYES:
♥ Barry M | Smokin' Hot Palette
♥ Maybelline New York | Master Graphic Eyeliner
♥ Avon | Glimmerstick Diamonds Eyeliner in Smokey Diamond
♥ Barry M | Showgirl Extra Volume Mascara

LIPS:


♥ Rimmel London | Lasting Finish by Kate Moss Lipstick in shade 05
♥ Rimmel London | Lasting Finish by Kate Moss Lipstick in shade 30

OTHER ESSENTIALS:


♥ Simple | Spotless Skin Rapid Action Spot Zapper
♥ Bourjois Paris | Magic Nail Polish Remover
♥ Maybelline New York | Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser
♥ Clinique | Moisture Surge

HAIR:


♥ Claire's | Pack of 100 clear Hair Elastics
♥ Matalan | Pack of 50 bobby pins
♥ Claw grip - unsure where I got this though!

What's in your Makeup Bag? Do you have any favourite brands? Do we share any products? Comment down below.

Look after yourself,


This blog post is not sponsored and all opinions are my own and honest!