travel beauty must-haves

Travel Beauty :: Jetlag Busters

TravelBeautyMustHaves

[trip style = any]

Traveling for a living, I keep my five-minute make-up routine basic yet high impact. The same small cosmetic case that comes with me to Hong Kong or Mexico also acts as my everyday beauty bag at home. I never unpack it. 

Sure, the colors in my kit may shift from season to season, but my bases and philosophy remain the same: Find and apply the BEST fatigue-busting camouflage and accent from there.   

Since I started Trip Styler almost five years ago, I've refined {and refined again} my travel and everyday beauty routine into something quick and effective. Here are the products I use daily and pack as if they were attached to my passport.  

Base
Since very few bases are perfect skin tone matches, I use two colors of MAC's Pro Longwear Concealersuggested to me by the make-up artist at the TV station where I've talked traveland mix them in a small, sealable pot to match my complexion {which tends to slightly lighten or darken depending on the climate I'm in}.  

Bronzer
The one bronzer I keep coming back to after having dipped my brush into a bevy of top-rated faux tan powders is Benefit Cosmetics' Hoola because it leaves a St. Tropez glow and is free of glimmer {a travel no-no as sparkles can settle into tired eyes and fine lines}. Bonus: use it as a below-the-cheek-bone contouring cheat to instantly drop 10 pounds.  {See the one-minute how-to video}

Brows
With fair skin and non-Brazilian-supermodel featureslisten, we can't all be Giseleone of the easiest tricks I've learned for an eye-popping look is intensifying the brows. My make-up artist friend selected the perfect color for my skin tonea mid-brown eye shadowwhich I swipe over my brows with an angled brush and set/sculpt with clear mascara for all-day staying power. 

Eyes
Since I'm all about speed and anything that will brighten my eyes and stay put whether I'm traipsing around an urban or actual jungle, I've become a mega-fan of MAC's Paint Pot in Bare Study. For best results, I dip my ring finger into the petit pot and apply the creamy eye shadow to my lid and just below my brow {the cream turns to powder when it's applied}. I've never found a long-lasting shadow as impressive as this. Don't forget to dab a little over the inside corner and along the inner rims of your eyes to "fake" being awake. When you're tired from travel {or life!} this waterproof potion hides any hint of red making it "look" like you've just slept for eight hours.  

Lips
There are two lip products I won't travel without: Stain and gloss. Lip stain is great because it's long-lasting and keeps my kisser rouge from Vancouver to Sydney. Right now I like Revlon's Just Bitten Balm Stain. For gloss, I can't get enough of Maybelline's Baby Lips, a lightly tinted balm-gloss, which I have in almost every shade. 

Related
Carry-On Creature Comforts 
Travel Beauty :: Trish's Picks
Travel Beauty :: Heather's Picks

[images sourced from products mentioned]

Travel Beauty :: Trish's Picks

[trip style = beach + sun]

{Want more travel beauty? Get your fill the third Wednesday of every month. Lauren, our travel beauty expert, is already whipping up her next concoction post!}

This month I chatted with Trish, TripStyler founder and Editor-In-Chief, about her beauty faves. She reluctantly {she isn't so into answering questions about herself!} shared with me her cool beauty finds and travel beauty routines. Read on for some great tips!

What's the coolest beauty product you've purchased while traveling?
Eleven years ago I was traveling solo in Paris, and I stopped into Sephora on L'Avenue des Champs-Élysées and picked up lip stain before it became an 'it' beauty product. To this day, I DO NOT travel without lip stain, and love that it provides long-lasting color even for a 14-hour flight!

You recently visited Mexico and it was ultra-hot. What was your beauty routine in such hot weather?
The 40 Celsius/104 Fahrenheit sans-wind Mexican heat was hot and heavy. I would sweat standing motionless in my clothes. Normally, in that heat I'd be sitting poolside in my bather, but since I was filming a video for Expedia's Find Yours campaign, there was no time for the beach OR pool. Skin: Travel-sized Skoah cleanser, toner and serum, and to finish, Neutrogena Ultra-Sheer Daily SPF 70 Sunblock. Make-up: I had a camera two inches from my face at all times {scary!}, so I just intensified the make-up I normally wear so my features didn't get lost on film. Though, normally in hot weather, I'd use the less is more mantra. Hair: I did the same thing I do at home: wash, blow dry upside-down, and curl with my ionic curling wand. Between takes and at night I'd secure it in a loose top-knot to keep the curls from relaxing too much in the heat.

Do you change your "look" based on where you're going?
100%. I change what and how much make-up I wear based on where I'm traveling and time of day {ie - simple day look, more intensified night look}. For example, if I'm windsurfing in Bonaire, I'll wear a touch of cherry lip stain and a lot of sunscreen, whereas in Paris I'll wear MAC concealer, light Tarte eye shadow for inner corners of the eyes, L'Oreal Voluminous mascara, MAC blush, Guerlain powder and Joe Fresh lip stain. Oh, and I can't travel without my childhood lip love: Lip Smacker's strawberry-scented balm.

Tell us your top three beauty tips for travel.
1/ Less is more, nobody wants raccoon eyes on the plane or at the pool. 2/ Work off of your everyday look, and let your trip style and the climate dictate the intensity of your make-up routine. 3/ Pick one feature---ie, eyes or lips---and go with it. You don't have space in your suitcase to pack your entire bathroom anyway!

More Travel Beauty
How To Prolong Your Gorgeous Glow
Nicole’s Exotic Travel Beauty Picks
In-Flight Beauty Masks
Q&A With OPI’s Founder {Nail Tips For Travel}
Heather’s On-The-Road Beauty Must-Haves
On-The-Go Teeth Cleaning
St. Tropez’ Celebrity Tanning Expert’s Self-Tanning Secrets
Q&A With Dr. Murad

[photos via @tripstyler]