NYFW Beauty Basics

Hello, lovelies!

Are you all enjoying your holiday weekend? How many of you actually get a full three days off in a row? That's something I'm not accustomed to, and didn't get to enjoy this weekend. So goes the retail life. And the DJ life. And such. 

I've been super busy trying to prepare for my trip to NYFW! I arrive in NYC in a week and like 12 hours! That's crazy, and I couldn't be more excited. I've already started packing, if you can believe that! I'm always a last-minute, throw-everything-in-the-bag kinda girl, but this is such an important trip to me that I knew I had to start prepping early on. 

I've begun packing up my beauty basics that will come in handy while on the trip. Let's take a peek inside my travel case! 

I definitely like to play around with my makeup from day to day, but I know that I'm going to probably stick to a basic look while in NYC. There's nothing more day-ruining than spending every second wondering if your eyeliner made a run for your chin. I've started using bareMinerals' Bare Skin liquid foundation, and I'm really liking it so far. It has a very soft, serum-like texture, because there is serum built into the ingredients. Of course, you have to top it off with bareMineral's Mineral Veil. I wasn't a fan in the past (maybe I was using a different version?), but I feel like it's working well on top of the liquid foundation. For my eyes, I ALWAYS prime with Urban Decay's Eyeshadow Primer Potion. I'm sticking with Urban Decay shadows as well, in the colors Virgin and Stray Dog. These will help give me a nice, neutral eye, but because they have a great shimmer to them, it won't feel too "basic." For my brows, I typically fill them in with an eyeshadow powder, but I discovered Benefit's Gimme Brow fiber gel from an Essie Button video. If you're not familiar with Estée, you should check out her channel. She's adorable. The brow gel really helps keep those pesky hairs in place, and deposits a bit of color for definition. I always have a rotation arsenal of mascara, but right now, I've been using one of my all-time favorites a lot lately, which is Covergirl's LashBlast Voluminizing mascara. I have medium-thick lashes, but they are also fairly long. Here's the thing - if I try hard enough, and use enough mascara, I can get my eyelashes long enough that they get stuck in my eyebrows. No joke. My face is too tiny and everything is too close, ha! But what I love about LashBlast is that it has a wand with little skinny silicone sticks, not a fuzzy fiber brush like many mascaras. For my eyelashes, I feel like the pokey little silicone wands work best. 

I picked up this BEAUTIFUL little brush kit at Sephora yesterday called Rare Find. Let's be honest, I love makeup, but I'm a cheater. I rarely actually use brushes for my eyeshadow unless I'm doing a smokey eye that needs lots of blending. I knew I'd be wanting to look 110% fab in NYC, which calls for the right tools. I saw that this involved leopard print (you know I have an addiction!), had all the right brushes I needed, and I was sold. 

For my hair, I've started using a lot of Not Your Mother's hair products. I've had this little sample of the texturizing sea salt spray for a bit, and like it a lot. Since many of their products are compact sizes, I knew they'd be perfect for traveling with. The hairspray from John Frieda is a classic in my hair product collection. 

And what with all the makeup I'll be wearing, I'll want easy removal. I LOVE these Neutrogena makeup remover cloths. In my experience, if I use one of these to remove my makeup every night, and then cleanse afterward, I have much better skin overall. I think because the cloths are fibrous and almost exfoliating, they really help dig out any makeup on your skin. I'll be touching a lot of random stuff and subway railings and taxi doors and such, so antibacterial gel is a must. This one from ULTA smells divine. I'm a contact lens wearer, and I like cute things, so oh my gosh when I saw this little travel lens case at Target I had to have it!!! 

Do you have any travel items that ALWAYS go with you on trips? Or do you customize with each vacation? 

***

All products were purchased by me.