BEAUTY: TRAVEL FAVOURITES #1

Left to right: Liz Earle Eyebright, Clarins Toning Lotion, Benefit High Beam, Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch, Benefit Dandelion Lipgloss, Benefit Posie Balm Lipbalm and Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish

We all have our Beauty Favourites, right? But what happens when you're off on a short break or a holiday abroad and you realise you cannot physically take your full sized favourites along with you due to weight/space restrictions? This post includes my top Beauty Favourites that travel around with me and how I manage to fit them ALL in my handbag.

Liz Earle travel Beauty favourites: Cleanse & Polish and Eyebright

Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish: We all know how much everyone in the Beauty and Blogging world love this product by now and I'm happy to admit I'm one of the many people that use this cleanser daily. Liz Earle have made this available to buy in this travel sized 30ml tube that you can purchase here for £6. An added bonus is that this size still comes with a Liz Earle muslin cloth so even when you are on the go you can thoroughly cleanse your face using the correct application and rinse methods. Cleanse & Polish is a sure winner if you're on a long journey and need to give your skin a brightening and freshening boost (as long as, like me, you travel make up free).

Liz Earle Eyebright: The perfect product for those of us that love to nap during our travels. Just like Cleanse & Polish, Eyebright is available to buy in a travel sized 50ml bottle that you can purchase here for £6.75 - this size will last you a lot longer than just your travel days too! This product contains Aloe Vera and Witch Hazel Water which help to revitalise tired and puffy eyes during those long journeys and travel days. It's wonderfully selected ingredients mean it's also non oily on the skin as well as being suitable for easily irritated eyes and contact lens wearers - hoorah! Tip: Be sure to carry a few cotton wool pads with you to use when applying this product to your face.

Clarins travel Beauty favourites: Toning Lotion and Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch

Clarins Toning Lotion (with Iris): This alcohol free toner helps to stimulate and refresh your skin when travelling and on the go. I have chosen to keep a sample sized bottle to refill using the full sized product, meaning it will fit in my handbag and I can take it wherever I go - perfect! I love carrying a toner when travelling, especially on flights. I choose to apply this product whenever my skin is feeling or looking dull from being stuck in a confined place for such a long time. Tip: Take this product on long haul flights and use to freshen up your face after waking up!

Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch: Why take a primer product when travelling with no makeup? This product can help to even out your skin tone, great to pop on your t-zone before arriving to your location to smooth out any imperfections travelling may give you (my face often breaks out on aeroplanes or if I have had a long day travelling). Just like the Clarins Toning Lotion I have chosen to keep a sample sized bottle to refill using the full sized product. Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch is suitable for all skin types and lasts an incredibly long time - a miracle product right?! I love taking this product in my bag when travelling because of it's lightweight texture, meaning my skin is able to breathe without being overloaded with product.

Benefit travel Beauty Favourites: High Beam, Posie Balm and Dandelion Lip Gloss

Benefit High Beam: A must have travel product - a highlighter. This smaller sized version is available in Benefit's lip and cheek kits and is a perfect size for carrying with you! I choose to apply this just before arriving at my destination as a pick me up for my skin. I apply it on my cheek and brow bones and just down the bridge of my nose to give me a radiant glow, hiding the fact I've been travelling all day - hoorah! Tip: Dot this product on using the brush provided and then lightly blend using your fingertips, be careful not to apply too much - watch out for that fine line between radiant glow and unwanted shine.

Benefit Posie Balm: Another must have travel product - a lip balm. I've chosen to include Benefit's Posie Balm as it not only hydrates and conditions your lips whilst you travel but it also contains a tint of pink, perfect for giving those lips a healthy amount of colour. Benefit do these lip balms in 4 shades so if Pink is not really your colour, you can check out the other options here.

Benefit Dandelion Lip Gloss: A travel favourite of mine to use just before you finish your travels. After keeping my lips conditioned with lip balm throughout the flight, I choose to apply Dandelion Lip Gloss just before I complete my travels for that added pop of shine on my lips! Just like the travel sized high beam, you can pick up this travel sized Dandelion Lip Gloss in Benefit's lip and cheek kits - travel hero!

Do you have any travel favourites or do you love the same products as I have mentioned for travelling? Let me know in the comments below! Enjoy your travels,

Bea-uty Blog

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BEAUTY: BENEFIT, CONTOURING BLOGGER EVENT

Benefit Blogger Event - contouring master class

Contouring - a technique I've never had the confidence to master. However, I have recently had the pleasure of attending a Benefit Blogger Event where I participated in a contouring master class so can now share the wonders of this technique with you all! 

The stages of contouring: Where to highlight and where to contour

The best way to master this technique is to see each stage of contouring on some one else - I managed to snap away whilst Kirstie (Manager at Benefit Bristol) contoured Brooke's (Beauty Consultant at Benefit Bristol) face. There are many diagrams of contouring easily accessible online, but these can often lead to a huge mess of confusion as to where to highlight and where to contour, especially as we all have different face shapes. You should use a concealer that is a shade lighter than your skin tone to highlight the following areas of your face: under your eyes, above your cheekbones, above and between your eyebrows, down the centre of your nose, the middle of your upper lip and the middle of your chin. Once you have done this you can then move on to using a concealer two shades darker to contour the following areas of your face: under your cheek bones (this should start from the centre of your cheek, in line with the pupil of your eye, and work upwards in the direction of your cheek bone towards your hair line) and the sides of your nose.

Tip: Blend, and then blend some more

Once you have completed the application of your contouring you are now ready to blend - soon to become your contouring saviour. You can use either a brush or sponge to blend, personally I feel a sponge makes the process quicker. When you are happy with your blending you are ready to finish the 'extreme' contour look off with a splash of Benefit's Bronzing Powder in Hoola on the contoured areas of your face (this will stop shine and give you a perfect matt finish to your contoured look).

Tip: For a quicker contour try using just 'Hoola' Bronzing Powder 

If you love the sound of contouring but cannot possibly find the time to apply this 'extreme' contour look, we also got to grips with a 'quick and easy' contouring method during the evening. The steps of this contouring technique are similar to those above, but without the coverage of concealer. Simply give your face a base (I chose to use a CC cream as my base as I was not looking for heavy coverage), then apply Benefit's Hoola Bronzing Powder to the following areas of your face: under your cheek bones (this should start from the centre of your cheek, in line with the pupil of your eye, and work upwards in the direction of your cheek bone towards your hair line) and the sides of your nose. This 'quick and easy' look is completed by applying a small amount of blusher (I chose to Benefit's Dandelion Brightening Face Powder) to your cheek bones to give your face that healthy Spring/Summer glow.

Left: Boi-ing Concealer in 01 - light, Right: Boi-ing Concealer in 03 - medium

Contouring has always scared me as I have such a fair skin complexion, anything darker than the lightest shade just shouldn't touch my face surely? However, this is the exact reason contouring is a great technique for fair skin too - I chose to use 01 (Benefit's lightest shade of concealer) and 03 (Benefit's medium shade of concealer) - not everyone has to use the darkest of shades to contour, a common misconception when talking about experimenting with this technique. The swatches above show the colours I used for my skin tone when using the 'extreme' technique for contouring. Although these swatches are both concealer, they are great highlighting and contouring products, for all skin types - hoorah! The most important thing to remember when applying these products is blend, blend until you can blend no more! 

Head to your local Benefit store or concession stand and ask for a contouring demonstration - they'll be happy to help with technique or deciding which shades are best for you. Comment below or tweet me to tell me your favourite contouring technique, 'extreme' or 'quick and easy'. Enjoy showing off your new technique and cheek bones, 

Bea-uty Blog

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