What's In My Travel Make-up Bag

Every December, me and my husband fly out to Poland to spend Christmas with our families. It's just such a magical time of the year and there's no way we could miss being with the loved ones, with our heaps of delicious Polish food, Christmas carols, crackling logs in the fireplace, and of course, mountains of presents under the Christmas tree.

This year I'm actually flying home quite early, and as you're reading this post, I'm in the midst of packing my suitcase and counting the time until the departure for JFK airport. I usually dread flying, but since we moved to the East Coast, Warsaw is so much closer than before - just one 8-hour flight away! But anyway, while I'm packing I thought I'd show you what's in the make-up bag I' bringing with me (you can also check out the contents of my last year's carry-on pouch here). Shall we take a peek inside?

I recently got this 'Beauty on the fly' bag from Sephora so that I could stop using those ridiculous ziplock baggies; I'm not planning on packing my make-up in my carry-on, but I wanted to show you the design and how roomy the bag actually is. First off, let's start with base: I like to travel with smaller and/or more compact make-up products, so I chose the small bottle of Face Atelier Ultra Foundation, Bobbi Brown Corrector for under eyes and Becca Compact Concealer for blemishes. I was thinking for the longest time about taking a mineral foundation as well for days when I don't need as much make-up, but decided against - in the case my skin will be behaving particularly well (which it never does during the Holidays), I could try to sheer the foundation out with some moisturizer. I also packed a travel size of Stila Convertible Color in Lillium, my natural warmer blush option and an Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Diffused to set everything.

For my eyes, I decided to overpack my eyeshadows a bit; I feel like I haven't played with eye make-up enough recently and hopefully with some holiday downtime, I'll have more time to experiment while I'm away. I filled my small Z Palette with a lot of shimmery neutral Fyrinnae shadows, Rouge Bunny Rouge Unforgettable Oriole and Eclipse Eagle, one cool matte brown from Inglot to blend out edges, and a La Femme blush in Flamingo Pink for the more vibrant, cool-toned blush option.

I also REALLY want to take my bareMinerals The Finer Things palette although I realize it's probably a bit of eyeshadow overkill. We'll see if I have enough space to squeeze it in! I'm also taking a NARS eye primer, a Laura Mercier Caviar stick in Grey Pearl for lazy days, some eyeliners (fun colors from Sephora and a boring black from GOSH), and a sample size of black mascara. I forgot to include my brow pencil in the photos, but that obviously has to come as well.

Lastly, for lips I've managed to be quite restrained and only pack three products: a Guerlain Rouge Automatique in Shalimar for a cool bold pink, a MAC Viva Glam V for a pinky neutral, and a Fresh Sugar Treatment lip balm in Passion for a sheerer juicy red. I might also pack a neutral lipgloss like Clarins Lip Perfector in Rose Shimmer in my carry-on for shine and hydration on the go.

And that's it! Well, ok, I realize it's actually quite a lot of make-up - but I'll be gone for about three weeks and also need to be prepared for Holiday parties, family gatherings, theatre outings and similar special occasions. As you can see, I like to still have options when I travel, especially for my eye make-up, but otherwise I try not to take colors that are very similar or that I know I don't like wearing often. I'll focus on making an effort to take lots of photos while I'm in Poland and I'll be posting them on my Instagram, or maybe I'll even eke out enough time to write an actual blog post - well, apart from regular blog programming I have scheduled for you when I'm gone.

Do you pack light or are you a make-up overpacker? What is your system for packing cosmetics and skincare? Let me know in the comments!