What's in my Travel Makeup Bag?

They say a girl keeps her life in her bag... Now, while I'm not sure that's totally true, I definitely keep quite a few necessities with me in my makeup bag and in todays post, I thought I'd share them with you.

* FYI, I'm calling it a makeup bag but there's really not much makeup in my bag at all, on a daily basis, I only ever really take the lip product of that day with me! *

The bag I'm currently using is one I've had for a few years now and I love it. I originally purhchased it from ASOS and it's by Cath Kidston. It comes with a handy little mirror and I think it's the perfect size to travel with as it holds a really decent amount. 

As you can see, I keep quite an array of products in my little bag and it pretty much keeps me covered with the necessities I might need to grab for on a daily basis. Firstly, I have gathered quite the collection of perfumes and little perfume samples. Every time I get samples, I just throw them into my bag to use on the go - that way you're using up the sample and always have a nice scent on you if you ever forget one. I also carry with me the 30ml Vera Wang Princess as this is just one of my favourite go-to scents!

Moving on to only the real "makeup" that I have in my bag, I firstly carry with me oil blotting sheets. I don't really like to carry powder as personally, I don't like to wear too much of it. I have dry skin, so I'd rather blot any excess oil than powder over it as this can make my skin look ever drier. I also carry with me my beloved lip balms! I have a simple Carmex one and then also one of the infamous Maybelline BabyLips balm in the red shade - it gives a nice rosy / just-bitten colour to the lips. 

Next off, I carry a lot of "emergency" things such as plasters, a cute little tin (that I think once held mints) full of paracetomol, a nasal inhalant and of course, gum. I've been wearing in some awfully painful Dr Martens lately so I've also got some plasters with me, too! Clean and moisturised hands are important so I bring with me my favourite sanitiser; Soap and Glory's Hand Maid as well as a travel sized hand cream from The Body Shop.

And that's everything in my makeup bag! As you can see, not really much in the makeup department and a whole lotta perfume samples.. but hey! That's everything that I pretty much carry around with me whenever I leave the house. 

Now that you've had a peek into my bag, what's in yours?!

My Favourite Lip Care Products.

Hey! Today I thought I'd share with you my favourite lip care products. I'm kind of obsessed with buying lip products - especially lip balms and chapsticks, so I thought this kind of post would be pretty ideal for me...

Good old Vaseline:

I think Vaseline is a product pretty much everyone has and carries around with them, I know I do. It has multiple uses but of course the most popular of which is for moisturising the lips. Whilst I don't think it is super moisturising despite it's super oily feel making you feel like it is, I think it is a great base for other lip products. It does do what you want it too in terms of making you lips feel softer, but I'm not sure whether it really improves the condition of my lips as such. It does tend to dry on the lips fairly quickly - even when it feels like you've used too much. That's not a big issue though because a little bit of it does go a long way.

Burts Bees Lip Balms:

I've been such a fan of BB lately. I just love their skincare range and in particular their lip care products. My favourites and probably the most well known of such are their chapstick-style lip balms. Currently, I have mine in Pomegranate and in Vitamin E and Peppermint. What I love about them is that they don't feel heavy or majorly noticeable on the lips but they are doing something lovely for them. They are very soothing and hydrating on the lips and the Peppermint one gives you that kind of cooling sensation that other lip products like lip plumbers do. These really do work - especially overnight and I think you can see a difference in the condition of your lips after using them.

Vitamin E:

Vitamin E has multiple uses. It's natural and pretty inexpensive which is always a bonus. It is also very moisturising and soothing in it's oil form. This is a Superdrug Vitamin E Balm and when warmed up between you fingers it will melt into an oil like consistency - much like coconut oil does. This has a very similar feeling to vaseline and whilst it can be used on any dry area of your body, for me it does wonders on the lips. Not only is it nourishing and great for softening them, it's perfect for any cuts you may have on them because it's very soothing and gentle. I use this mostly at night and I really enjoy it.

Blistex Intensive Repair:

This is a treatment for particularly damaged and chapped lips. It's mega moisturising and has quite a liquidy consistency. It's white in colour but it will become transparent on the lips as you apply it all over them. It also gives your lips that cool, tingling feeling and this helps to eradicate discomfort from having dry and damaged lips. It also restores the moisture back into your lips and this is the kind of product I would use once or twice a week to sort of 'deep condition' over night.

Lush Bubblegum Lip Scrub:

Sometimes, your lips need a little help in removing all the dry and dead skin so your lips can be softer, smoother and ready for a lip product. This lip scrub is really effective and not to mention delicious. The pieces of sugar help to exfoliate and scrub away the dead skin leaving you with lovely soft lips. The best part is, the delicious smelling bubblegum scrub can be licked away when you're done! I really enjoy this product and you really only need the tiniest bit. I've had it since around December and I've barely made a dent in it. It's a handy product to have - especially in Winter months when your lips are most likely to be at their worst.

So, those are my personal favourite lip care products. I'm always finding and changing up my products but these are the ones that are proving the most effective for me currently. 

What are some of your favourite lip care products? Do you have any recommendations? Let me know!

REVIEW: Maybelline Baby Lips Lip Balms!

So, I have been wanting to try Maybelline's Baby Lips Moisturizing Lip Balms for some time now. I have seen a lot about them, so was really happy to find them in stock at my local Superdrug!

These lip balms are advertised by Maybelline to hydrate your lips for 8 hours as well as visibly renewing them in up to 4 weeks. The balms also contain SPF20 which is always a bonus.

In terms of pigmentation, I found that the particular shades I purchased were surprisingly pigmented for a lip balm. The shades that I have are Peach Kiss and Pink Punch. The Pink Punch is sheer without shimmer and Peach Kiss is more on the shimmery/frosty side. They both look lovely on the lips.

The balms glide onto the lips really nicely. The consistency is not too heavy or too thick and it feels light on the lips. They aren't too sticky feeling on the lips either and they do actually feel moisturizing although I would not say it is exactly for 8 hours.

Both of these lip balms have a really delicious scent to them that isn't too overpowering. The packaging is very cute and the sticks retract fully into the tube which is great because you can avoid knocking them or breaking them when you pop the lid back on.

All in all, I really like these lip balms and I would definitely repurchase them. I can definitely see why they are so popular and for me they are a great alternative to a lip gloss or a lipstick if you don't want anything that is too heavy or perhaps want something that can still look nice but be nourishing too.

I would reccommend you try these lip balms if you haven't already! They retail at around £2.99 in your local Boots, Superdrug and some supermarkets.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this post!

Makeup Haul!

Hey lovelies! I have a little haul post for you all today.

So, I have recently started University and I actually picked up some make up from the Freshers Fair there as well as a few bits from Superdrug.

So, lets start with the fair! From there, I was approached by a woman who worked for a cosmetic brand called Oriflame which is Swedish. She handed me a bag full of make up goodies and of course I didn't decline! The first thing I got was this lip balm, it smells delicious and contains almond.

Next, I got this shimmery white jumbo eye pencil.

I got this eye crayon in the shade Desert Brown.

I also got this pretty pink nail polish. It doesn't seem to have a shade name though!

Finally, I got this lip gloss. It is very shimmery and is this lovely orange shade called Nectarine Frost.

So after the fair, I popped into Superdrug. From there I picked up four things. Firstly, I finally got my hands on Maybellines' Baby Lips lip palms. I picked up two in shades Pink Punch and Peach Kiss.

I then got an MUA KissProof lip stain in the shade Fruitilicious.

Finally, I picked up an eyebrow pencil from Rimmel in the shade dark brown.

That's my little haul post, guys! I hope you enjoyed reading this post - thank you for doing so!

Have you tried any of the products I picked up?

Levinia x

My Daily Makeup Routine!

In this post I thought i'd share with you my every day makeup routine; what products I use, how I use them and all that good stuff. My every day makeup is a spin on a classic natural pin up kind of look and it's my go to when I am in a rush to get ready!

So, to begin: I always moisturise my face to prime it and I then apply my foundation. The foundation I am currently using is Rimmels Wake Me Up foundation. I apply it with my Real Techniques buffing brush. Sometimes, I like to stipple my foundation on and then buff it in!

Once I have applied my foundation, I move onto concealer. I use my Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection concealer. I just apply this using my index finger under my eyes and a little bit on the lids to get rid of discolouration and I also apply anywhere where there still remains a little bit of redness not covered by my foundation.

I then set my foundation and my concealer with powder. I use my Rimmel Stay Matte powder and I pat it onto my face lightly using my Real Techniques buffing brush.

Once my face is done, I move onto my eyebrows! I like to use powder on my eyebrows to fill them in. I use a Revlon brow powder duo which has a mid brown and a dark brown powder in it. I use a Real Techniques slanted eyebrow brush to fill my eyebrows in with short, feathered strokes.

Moving onto eyeshadow, I like to keep in quite natural. I firstly highlight my brow bone using a shimmery white shadow. Then apply a light beige shadow all over the lid and a mid brown on the outer corner and into the crease. I blend this out and up towards the brow bone a little bit. I then apply a darker brown shadow onto the outer crease, blending it out and keeping it on the lid and working it into the crease.

After applying my eyeshadow, most days I will wear a cat eye. To create my cat eye, I like to use a liquid liner and the one I am using at the moment is Collection 2000's Fast Stroke. I also line my waterliner with a black kohl liner.

To finish the eyes, I curl them and then I apply my favorite mascara which at the moment is L'Oreal's Telescopic Mascara in black.

Moving back onto the face, if I am in a hurry I will use my Face Form palette from Sleek which has blush, highlight and contour powder in it. I apply the blush on the apples of my cheeks and outwards a little bit using a fluffy powder brush that i got from Boots. To contour, I suck in my cheeks and apply the contour powder onto the hollows of my cheeks with my Real Techniques contour brush. Using the same brush I higlight with the highlight colour, applying it along my cheekbones and along the length of my nose.

Finally, I base my lips with lip balm and then apply a lipstick of my choice. Usually I go for my Soap and Glory Cheekmate lipstain or a coral/pink shade from MUA.

And that's my every day look complete! Thanks for reading and I hope you liked this post. Leave a comment or suggestion below, I love to hear from you!

Levinia x