If at some point you don’t ask yourself ‘What have I gotten myself into?’ then you’re not doing it right.
No matter how you say it, there’s no denying that the best part of traveling is leaping outside of your comfort zone.
Hi everyone!
As some of you can guess, I’m going to be traveling! I found the quote above from somewhere on the Internet and to be honest, I have no clue who said it but thought it is very fitting for how I’m feeling right now. I decided around three weeks ago that I wanted to go travel to Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong. It will be my first time in Japan (Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, etc.), my third time in Taiwan and my sixth time in Hong Kong. Besides the nervousness I’m feeling for traveling alone, I’m quite excited :). Just a warning, this post is a little text heavy.
I wanted to share with you guys what makeup and jewelry I’m bringing with me on this three week long trip. As for my travel outfits, you’re just going to have to tune in to see the outfits of the day ;).
But before getting into that, I wanted to share a recent find :). I recently bought something I saw in a YouTube beauty guru’s video (lol…be honest, who hasn’t). MissGlamorazzi posted a video on packing tips (as she was also traveling to Asia) and I saw these Eagle Creek packing cubes and knew I wanted to get one for myself, as I was preparing to pack for travel.
As you can imagine, if all of my clothes fit into those three packing cubes, I will have much room for souvenirs and shopping….which is most important >:).
OK! On to the good stuff. I’m trying to pack light, but I also want to bring just enough makeup to create a variety of looks. First off, I always bring my Sigma travel makeup brush set. Unfortunately, this particular style isn’t available anymore (I had bought this at least 5 years ago) but I found a similar set here on their site.
Below, you can see all the makeup I’m bringing on this trip. An eyeshadow palette, two blushes, a bronzer, two mascaras, two foundations (one with SPF and one without), primers (one for eyeshadow and one for face), lip products, eyelash curler, perfume stick, concealer, tweezer, and eyeliner.
I’m bringing two blushes. The Marc Jacobs Shameless Bold Blush in Promiscuous is a recent purchase and I’m totally in love with it. A little goes a long way. It’s completely matte, so there isn’t any shimmer in it. The Benefit Hervana blush, on the other hand, does have shimmer but it’s very subtle and very beautiful. This blush provides a lighter pink glow than the Marc Jacobs blush, which is a little more bold (as the name suggests). These two blushes are different enough for me to create a variety of looks during my three weeks abroad.
I only have one bronzer and that’s the Benefit Hoola bronzer. As you can see, I’ve hit pan. It’s completely matte (which I like) and is the perfect shade for contouring (it doesn’t make my face look orange).
For foundation, I wanted to bring something light with SPF for the daytime. It’s going to be humid in Asia so I wanted to use a foundation that had enough coverage but still light weight. Chanel’s Vitalumiere Aqua does the job. The sleek bottle is also travel friendly. I brought along my NARS Sheer Matte foundation as well, for evening looks, as this foundation doesn’t have SPF (so when I take photos with flash, my face won’t be white casted).
For the eyes, I’m only bringing my trusty Urban Decay NAKED palette. It has enough colors for me to create a variety of looks, ranging from daytime to evening. This is my all-time favorite eyeshadow palette. The minimalistic packaging also makes it ideal to take along for traveling.
A look can change drastically with the change of a lip color, so I decided to bring five. I know….is it really necessary? Maybe not, but these are the final contenders. I may or may not drop one or two from my bag.
I had bought the Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in Beso after watching Wendy (from Wendy’s Lookbook) do a video on her March Favorites and she raved about this. It really is a beautiful true red (more neutral than blue toned) and it stays on like no other red lipstick/gloss I’ve ever tried.
I had gotten the mini Makeup Forever lipstick from Sephora on my birthday as the birthday treat of the year. It’s a nice, warm red/brown color. The Givenchy Le Rouge lipstick in Rose Taffetas is a recent purchase of mine and it was a splurge for sure. But the color plus the creaminess of the lipstick enticed me and I got it during the 15% off Sephora sale last week :). The Dior ‘Nude Rouge’ lipstick in Carnelle is nude in color and will allow me to create looks that are more eye intense.
Below are the various accessories I’m bringing with me. I’ve worn all of these in my past outfit posts. The Hello Kitty Swarvoski necklace can be seen in ‘By the Sea’, the multiple rings Swarvoski necklace and sunglasses can be seen in ‘City Life‘, The love bracelet, hoop earrings, and pearl necklace can be seen in ‘Sunshine and Lace’. The Michael Kors rose gold watch can been seen in almost every post. It’s my favorite watch, but unfortunately I think the model has been discontinued so I’m not able to find the link to it. I put all of the necklaces into the Swarvoski box and then the tinier earrings, bracelets and rings into the Kate Spade box. That way, not only will I keep them all protected, but I can keep them organized as well.
And everything goes into these three makeup/accessory bags.
Thank you friends for taking the time to read this extremely long post. Talk to you next time, when I’ll be posting about my adventures in Japan!
With love,
Jenn
