Travel Makeup Kit Essentials

travel makeup kit

As you probably know, I’m quite a minimalist when it comes to packing to go abroad. I like to travel light so that I can go hand luggage only and so minimalist backpacking is the way to go! That being said – there’s one thing that I don’t cut out completely – the make up! I’m married, so I certainly don’t need to attract make attention…but I do like to keep my skin healthy, lips soft and looking good for any Facebook lives! Here are my travel makeup kit essentials.

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Depending on where you go – Miss out the Foundation

There’s one thing that I do often miss out on when travelling and that’s foundation. This is mainly due to the fact that I like to travel to warm places – Southern Europe in the summer and South East Asia in the winter (UK Winter so Nov-Feb!) If you wear too much foundation in a hot country, it can literally slide off your face! Or it can just look really clogged when you’re sweating.

Travel Make up Kit Essentials – Face

Trade Foundation in for a Primer or Tinted Moisturiser

I often trade foundation in for a primer or tinted moisturiser. One of the best product that I have found for travel is the Estee Lauder Daywear tinted moisturiser, with inbuilt SPF. It comes out white but then adjusts to the tone of your skin. This is great because as your skin darkens when you get a tan whilst travelling, this will adjust with your new darker tone as well!

Estee lauder day wear travel make up essentials

Another great option is BB (Beauty Balm) or CC cream (color control cream), which smoothes, primes and evens out your skin tone. When travelling you can easily swap your primer plus foundation for one single item – a BB cream so that you have 2 in one to make your backpack lighter, as well as your coverage! I like the MAC Prep and Prime BB Cream.

Blusher or Bronzer – Clinique and Benefit

Pretty much everywhere I go, I take my Clinique blushing blush rouge to add colour to my complexion. My go to colour is smouldering plum. It’s got a sturdy silver case to protect it well on the road, and a built-in mirror.

clinique blushing blush

Another good option is a simple bronzer – I love the Benefit Hoola bronzing powder as it’s a lovely shade, comes with a small brush and is a great size for travel.

Travel Makeup Kit Essentials – The Lips

I skip the lip liner, lip balm and lip gloss in my travel makeup kit, and just go for one or two excellent lipsticks that will serve every purpose.

Clinique Moisture Surge

The one Lipstick I don’t travel without is my classic CATKIN lip balm in dusty rose. It is the perfect colour for my skintone, long lasting and easy to apply. I love the beautifully decorated case, and the fact that it is a lip balm rather than a lip stick means that your lips are always moisturised.

Catkin lip balm

Lipstick – Frog Prince by Lipstick Queen

My leading travel lipstick (clinique) has now been replaced by a new contender that I only recently discovered this summer in duty free on my holiday to Tunisia. The novelty hasn’t yet worn off – with the frog prince, it looks green but goes on lip colour! The colour changes and compliments your natural tones. It’s also very moisturising due to the shea butter – it’s almost in between a lipstick and lip balm. Perfect for hot climates – I can’t get enough of it!

There are other gimmicky variations by Lipstick Queen lipstick variations. The ‘Morning Sunshine‘ is yellow but goes on the correct shade for your lips and the ‘Hello Sailor‘ is the same but blue. If you are interested in trying all three, they do come as a Mini transformative trio set. There’s also the Black Lace Rabbit (a black lipstick) and Venetian Masquerade (purple) to look out for. In fact there are a whole host of these, so follow Lipstick Queen on Instagram to get the full picture!

The LQ Mini transformative trio set with the three best sellers. Great for holidays is the Blue by You Duo set. Here are some of the other fabulous Lipstick Queen lipsticks that you can get.

Travel Makeup Kit – Eyes

I like to take just one small eyeshadow palette and mascara when I travel. Sometimes I make the decision to skip mascara altogether because you really need to pack it with eye make up remover and that’s another thing to pack and carry!

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Palette

Travel makeup kit - Naked Basic Eyeshadow palette

For eyes, you just can’t beat Urban Decay. I love the high quality shimmers and the way that the colours compliment each other in their palettes. I either opt for one single colour that I can wear daily (such as chocolate) or a simple palette (I use the Smokey eye palette or Naked) depending on my trip and how much I will be going out.

Benefit Mascara

Whether or not I pack a waterproof mascara depends on the activities I will be doing when I travel. I avoid waterproof if I can get away with it as it’s often quite hard to get off. My go to Mascara is Benefit’s ‘They’re Real’. Simply, not clumpy and effective..

benefit mascara

And That’s it!

That’s all folks! I honestly don’t pack more than that when I travel, unless it’s for a special occasion such as an awards ceremony or major conference, in which case I might add in eyeliner, lip liner and face shimmer. I’m honestly really happy with the products that I take around the world with me. It’s taken some time to establish what works for me and what doesn’t. I sometimes even pair it back to CC cream, one eyeshadow and a lipstick if I’m going hand luggage only. But I’ve got to admit girls – you will never find me totally going without!

Top Tips for your Travel Makeup Kit

  • Gather free samples or small testers in advance and pack these as travel sized makeup kit essentials.
  • If you are Shopping for travel make up, look out for offers such as summer make up bundles and Clinique Bonus time – they work out cheaper.
  • Pair down as much as you can. Decide what you can skip or live without and what two items you can merge into one.
  • Pack for the occasion and activities you will be doing. Come on, hiking rarely needs mascara!
  • Remember to pack the bulk of your makeup in your checked luggage (if you are checking in a bag in the hold)
  • Or minimize and pack in clear see through airport bags in hand luggage to go through security.
  • Duty Free is a great place to stock up as it’s usually at least a third cheaper. I sometimes purposely don’t pack items I run out of and stock up at the airport!

You might also read about Best Travel Makeup Palette for 2020

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