Travel Beauty Essentials!

This is my first year out of school and the first year I'm missing out on Spring Break! It's kind of bittersweet - I miss looking forward to breaks and having an entire week where I didn't have to worry about anything! In reality, though, I'm not a huge fan of crowds so I never traveled to the beach locations that are popular with college students nowadays, but I still love the idea of hopping on a plane and spending just a short couple of days in a new place!

I recently traveled to San Francisco for work and got to thinking about some of my favorite travel beauty products. One of my biggest pet peeves about traveling is packing too heavily. I don't like having to check bags (too many lost luggage stories to count!) so I do my best to limit myself to a carry-on. Since there are liquid limits for carry-on bags, I have to get creative when it comes to packing my beauty products - which are mostly liquid based! In the spirit of Spring Break, I thought I'd share some of my favorite travel beauty essentials with you today :)

Up & Up:  Exfoliating Wet Cleansing Towelettes

I use these Up & Up towelettes for removing my make-up every night and I love that I can easily grab a pack on the go for when I'm traveling! They do such a great job of getting all of the make-up off of my face, I typically don't even need to wash my face a second time (particularly useful for busy travel days!). Personal experience tip: Target sells two types of these towelettes, one named "exfoliating" and one "refreshing". I've enjoyed the exfoliating ones because they haven't been too rough on my skin, but for some reason the refreshing ones make the delicate area around my eyes sting!

Moroccan Surf Paste by Ogx

I have slightly curly hair that needs a little bit of a pick me up in order for it to stay curly. At home, I have about a million products that I use interchangeably but my favorite product to bring on the go is Ogx's Moroccan Surf Paste. It holds curls exceptionally well and my favorite part - since it's a paste, it doesn't need to go in my liquids bag!

Daisy by Marc Jacobs (Eau So Fresh)

This is my favorite perfume because it's super light and is the best blend of fruity and floral!). It also conveniently comes in a little rollerball or spray pen that I can take with me on trips. This is a must-have for me because I always feel a little blah after spending hours on a plane.  A little whiff of this pretty smell is all it takes to bring my energy levels back up.

Power of Love Natural Lipstick by Pacifica in Tender Heart

This lipstick is one of the best (full-size!) samples I've received from ipsy. The shade of this lipstick is a slight nudey brown which makes it very easy to swipe on without having to watch too carefully for color bleeding out of place. When I'm traveling, just a touch of nude lipstick can keep my face looking alive without requiring any extra care or time!

Elf Cosmetics Palette

This is a relatively new addition to my collection but I already love its versatility! I have 4 elf face palettes (contour, cream contour, blush, and bronzer) and when it comes to traveling, there's nothing that beats these palettes. All of the individual pans in these palettes easily pop out and can be mixed and matched with other palettes. This is awesome for travel because I can put my concealer, bronzer, and blush all in the same palette and just bring a single palette that covers almost all of the face products I need!

NYX Jumbo Eyeliner in Milk

I'm not the greatest traveler in the world because I tend to get cranky when I don't get enough sleep - and this lack of sleep definitely shows on my face! A little bit of white eyeliner does a ton for brightening up the eye area so I make sure to carry this jumbo eyeliner with me :)

Elf Powder Brush

Last but definitely not least, I've loved this elf powder brush so much that I actually bought a second one specifically for traveling! I think it's originally intended for applying powder to the face, but I've found that it can actually do much more than that. It's also fantastic for blending both cream and powder blushes or bronzers on the cheeks thanks to the flat top design of the brush. I love bringing this brush with me on trips because it does the double duty job of both applying and blending make-up products!

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Featured Travel Beauty Essentials: 

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Final Tip: Don't forget your toothbrush! Like I did. Last time I traveled. Gah! I don't travel too much now because I'm such a homebody, but it's one of my goals to take more short trips so that I can visit new places without stressing out about leaving my cat alone at home! Got any short trip travel ideas for me? I'm always looking for more must-see locations to add to my list!

Thanks for reading ♥ 

elf cosmetics haul & review ♥

I have been a long-time fan of elf cosmetics and feel that they really have gotten better and better over time! I remember back in the day when elf was just a makeup website with a few $1 products here and there. While their products are for the most part still very affordable, I feel that they've continued to improve the quality of their products - making me a loyal fan! For this haul, I got several classic elf products that I use on a regular basis as well as some of their new palettes that I've been dying to try!

Old Favorites:

Eyebrow Kit

I've already tried this eyebrow kit before and it has really worked for my eyebrows! In the past, I've used different powders and pencils but none have worked as well as these two eyebrow products do together. This kit includes both a darker cream on one side and a light brown powder on the other. The cream is great for shaping and the powder is perfect for filling in all the awkward gaps that are in my naturally sparse brows.

Powder Brush 

Of all the make-up brushes I own, this is my all-time favorite! While it's labeled as a powder brush, I've been using it most to blend out products like foundation, concealer, and blush. With its flat top, it does a fantastic job of blending out these products and eliminating any harsh lines. I would highly recommend this brush if you're looking for something that can do double duty by both applying products and blending them out! 

Concealer Palette 

I love this concealer palette because it's very easy to apply and the cream formula goes on smoothly! I like that the palette provides different shades of concealer because the tone of my skin can be inconsistent. Being able to mix and match my concealer allows me to get better coverage out of the product.

Blemish Control Face Primer 

The only thing I don't love about the elf primers is that the packaging can be very deceiving. I've taken apart the bottle before and there's a much smaller bottle inside that holds the actual primer product - making you think that there is more product in the bottle than there actually is.  Product wise, however, I love the smooth, water-like, feel of the elf primers and use them regularly as a base for the rest of my make-up!

New (For Me) Products:

Blending Brush 

I'm always looking for new brushes to help blend out products and make things look as natural as possible. This blending brush does do a great job of blending out harsh lines, however, I wish it was a fuller brush and not quite so narrow as this makes blending things out a longer process. Since this brush is so narrow though, I think it will also be good for applying contouring color onto my cheeks. 

Angled Eyeliner Brush 

I received a couple of gel eyeliner pots for Christmas this year so I thought it was time I bought a brush that was actually designed for gel eyeliner. I've tried to use little concealer or eyebrow brushes to apply gel eyeliner but they really don't do the job well. Unfortunately, I haven't been all that successful with this eyeliner brush either. It dries out very quickly and becomes stiff and hard to use.

Powder Contour/Cream Contour/Bronzer Palette

Full disclosure - I already own and the love blush palette from elf so I was incredibly excited to try out the rest of their face palettes! I like to contour with both cream and powder to help with the staying power of the contour so I decided to purchase both formats of the palette. The dark contour shades on both of these palettes are matte which I love because it helps make the contour look more natural than sparkly bronzers. The silvery illuminating powder is good for reflecting light at the tops of the cheeks but is a little bit too bright on its own so I've been combining it with a little bit of matte blush to tone it down.

At the time that I purchased this haul, elf was running a promotion where they gave away a bronzer palette with each purchase so I got that one for free! The more palettes the merrier! The bronzer palette itself is pretty similar to the medium contour shades on the contour palette but it does include one sparkly bronzer that gives off a little bit more glow.

One thing I love about these palettes is that all of the squares in the palettes pop out so that you can mix and match whatever products you want to take with you or whichever ones are most convenient for you to use together! I plan on mixing both a light and dark contour shade with a couple of blush squares so that I can easily take a palette to the gym!

I'm very happy with my latest elf haul and truly love their makeup just as much as I did when they first came onto the scene.  As a girl on a budget, I love being able to get a great quality product out of a relatively low cost and elf has always helped me do just that.

What are your favorite budget friendly make-up products? Let me know on Instagram or Twitter! I'm always on the lookout for more great deals! 

Ipsy Glam Bag: January 2016

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I fell in love with subscription boxes when I started in 2012 with a subscription to Birchbox. Since then, I have fallen in and out of love with different boxes, but I'm always excited to try new boxes. I love coming home to a package in the mail and getting to try new beauty samples without having to spend money on full-size products. I originally subscribed simply because I loved the idea of getting a little gift every month, but I've since found that beauty boxes have actually helped curb my makeup buying habits. I find that (contrary to popular belief) I actually buy less makeup since I know that I will always get a new lip product or nail polish every couple of months .

Ipsy is a monthly beauty subscription that gives subscribers 4-5 sample and full size products for $10 a month. All of the beauty samples also come in a handy little makeup bag. I love that all of Ipsy's products come in these adorable bags because they are insanely useful for holding just about anything!

Dirty Little Secrets Cosmetics: Satin Lipstick in Vengeance

Receiving new lip products is my favorite part of getting my ipsy bag! I always get at least one new lip product and since I love trying new lip shades, ipsy is perfect for this. While I'm not in love with this shade - it's a little too bright for my taste - it will still work nicely in combination with some more muted shades. 

Tucker Ashley: Advanced Peptide Eye Complex

I'm always excited about trying new anti-aging products not really because I'm overly obsessed with preventing aging so much as I love feeling like I'm doing something good for my skin, so the more creams I can slather on my face the better - ha! This eye cream has a neutral smell and feels nice and cool on the skin. Plus, the sample is pretty big for an eye cream so it will last me quite a while.  

MARSK: Mineral Eyeshadow

Like I've mentioned in multiple past posts - eye shadow is still a product that I'm learning to use since it can be very tricky with the shape of my eyes. Since I already have a ton of eye shadow that I do not use very often, I really wasn’t looking to receive any more. I always indicate on my profile that I'm not interested in eye shadow but somehow I end up with an eye shadow in every bag. I wish I had the option to opt out of receiving certain products and really feel that this is somewhere that ipsy can work to improve. 

Promise Organic: Ultra Moisturizing Argan Crème Facial Lotion

I love receiving any type of facial lotion in my ipsy bags because I'm always looking for new and better moisturizing products! This one has a nice, natural smell and the consistency is thin. In my experience, many facial lotions have been too heavy and oily for my combination skin so I love that this facial lotion feels light and really feels like it's re-hydrating my face rather than dumping a layer of oil over it!

theBalm Cosmetics: Mr. Write (Now)

I've received a couple of past items from theBalm in my ipsy bag before but have yet to find a product that I'm really in love with.  I like that this eyeliner comes in a twist-up format but it didn't slide on as easily as I was hoping it would despite the fact that I'd primed my eyelids beforehand. 

Unfortunately, for now, I've decided to put a hold on my ipsy subscription. While this likely won't be a permanent cancellation because I do love trying out new beauty samples, I'm really not thrilled with the products I've received in the last couple of months and I don't feel like I'm getting my money's worth of products that are actually relevant to my personal preferences.

Maybe it's time I switched back to Birchbox or tried a new beauty box? I'm still trying to decide! If you've got a beauty box you think I should try, let me know!