WHAT'S IN MY TRAVEL MAKEUP BAG.

My travel makeup bag is a series of carefully considered pieces. When I'm going abroad, I don't want to be lugging around a trunk of makeup (let alone all the brushes..) with me, telling myself 'at least I have options!', nor do I want to be spending my vacation applying it all. I want quick, I want portability, I want multi-tasking, and I want ease of use. So here are a handful of my current travel faves that make the cut.

Elizabeth Arden Prismatic Highlighter £25 (here for US) | Of all the highlighters from Summer 2016 so far, and although it's a tough choice, I think this is my favourite. I love cream stick highlighters for their ease of use, and this one is done exceptionally well. The texture is so smooth and slick and creamy, without looking greasy on the skin. The shimmer is super fine and refined, and the colour is probably my favourite thing - the perfect mix of champagne, bronze, rosy-gold and beige, check out my full review here.

Tom Ford Correcting Pen £35 (and here for the US) | I love this concealing pen. I've been using it for around 5 weeks and it's quickly become a front and centre product. A double-ended stick, containing a peachy corrector and skin-toned precision concealer, it's the perfect space-saver for travelling. The concealing end is so iddy-biddy, you can pinpoint conceal without a brush and with ease. It's expensive but the portability, multi-tasking factor and excellent formula make it worthwhile for me.

Tom Ford Cream Colour For Eyes in Sphinx £30 (here for the US) | I suppose the point I'm trying to make with this item is my love for cream shadow pots that you can smudge effortlessly onto the eye for a one and done look - my go-to for travel. Let's talk about this colour though. It's so pretty and unusual, a peachy, golden shade that has a warm, pink duochrome in certain lights. If you're looking to save your pennies, whilst I don't have a dupe for the colour, I thoroughly recommend the Kiko cream shadow pots, Shade 06 is a beautiful coppery bronze that I love. (Also, you can still get the TF duo shadow pot in Golden Peach here from Sephora?! Those is the US, take advantage.)

Chanel Les Beiges Healthy Glow Multi Colour £43 | As you'll see further down, we're taking plenty of highlighters on this trip! Although this is my only blush, and a gorgeous one it most certainly is. Some say this isn't different or unique, and maybe not, but it's special. Applied really sparingly, ideally with a stippling brush, it's the most genuinely natural flush I think I've ever achieved with a makeup product - rather like the provocative glow you get after a naughty moment (oo-er) - there's no discernible shimmer on the skin, it's beautiful. Not the easiest thing to get hold of, you can still find it here on eBay.

L'Oreal Nude BB Powder £6.99 | I'm so thoroughly impressed with this powder - it definitely performs like a high end product. In fact I'd go as far as saying that it's like the pressed, slightly tinted counterpart to the Laura Mercier loose, translucent powder. The compact makes it great for travel, as I wouldn't want to carry around a loose powder with me. You get a mirror and applicator sponge inside and the powder itself is so fine and elegantly formulated, it doesn't cake up on my face at all - how is it close to £5?! I've been wearing this almost everyday at home, it's excellent.

By Terry Ombre Blackstar £29 (here for US) | You might remember this from my Beauty Products For Hot Weather post, and it's budgeproof-ability is partly why it's made it's way into this post too - I think these are worth the money in any weather but for a hot climate they're perfect. The slimline packaging doesn't take up much space either and you can quickly draw on a gorgeous eye and blend out with fingers - no brushes needed!

M&S Liquid Highlighter £8.50 | Why have 1 highlighter when you can take 2? (or strictly speaking 4 in today's case) This lovely liquid highlight has a sheer but buildable coverage, mottled with fine shimmer particles that have a beautifully elegant lustre on the skin. I love the small, compact packaging for travel and you don't need an extra brush as it comes with it's own doe foot applicator.

L'Oreal Lumi Magique Concealer £8.50 | Frankly, if I'm going abroad, I'm not really going to have the patience to bother with proper concealing, unless it's a really bothersome blemish, in which case I'll reach for the super quick and tiny pen of Tom Ford, as mentioned above. For some natural highlighting, this concealing/highlighting pen though is so dreamily lightweight and an excellent consistency - it brightens up my undereye area a treat.

Kevyn Aucoin Creamy Sculpting Duo £22.50 (here for US) | This little 'palette' is the perfect travel piece - it's so dinky and has your contour and subtle highlighting requirements completely sorted. I'm still yet to find a more realistic contour shade than the dark, ashen brown - it looks utterly indetectable, and is the perfect texture to blend seamlessly with fingers.

M&S Metallic Liquid Eye Gloss in Bronze £8.50 | This liquid shadow is such a versatile product, and that's why it's made the travel bag. Fairly thin in consistency, you can sheer the colour out for an all over eye wash or build up for something more intense. 'Bronze' is a gorgeous mid-bronze hue with a rosy undertone. For a more evening appropriate look, I like to smudge something dark and bronzey all over the eye then dab this into the very centre of my eyelid like a halo-eye highlight.

Etude House Real Powder Cushion £30 | I'll admit it, I can't kick the cushion addiction, so here I am featuring them in yet another post! For travelling though, they're perfect - portable, compact, and with your mirror and applicator all inclusive. This one from Etude House has a demi matte finish that's ideal for hot weather if you're going abroad, and doesn't look cakey should you want to touch up throughout the day.

Etude House Face Blur £12 | This primer is ideal for travelling. The plastic bottle is pretty hardy and the contents within blur, smooth and perfect your skin, to the extent that I'll happily wear this alone on hols. With SPF 35, it's actually a great one to wear to the pool if you don't want to do a full face of makeup (or in fact, any makeup..).

Pixi Endless Silky Eye Pencil £12 | Like the By Terry Ombre Blackstars, these Pixi pencils are travel-perfect for their slimline packaging and long lasting formula. Bronze Beam is the most excellent colour to smudge into the lashline for an easy, sultry but defined eye, and Oysterglow is a super pretty, soft, shell colour which makes a great inner corner highlight.

Whilst we're on the subject of eyes, I've got to give a quick mention to this Etude House Multi Brush, a 4-in-1 makeup brush that comes with a small pointed brush, flat oval shader, smudgey sponge and angled liner brush, ideal for travel and less to lose.

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P.S Have you seen my heatproof summer makeup look?

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