Long Weekend Away Picks

So in Canada, last weekend was our Canada long weekend, and I took the opportunity to get away, even if it was just for three days. Travelling light, especially when I'm just gone for a few days is always something I strive for. I hate to lug around a ton of products, not to mention, I hate spending a ton of time in the morning when I could be out walking by the water or sipping coffee on a patio! So I thought I would show you my very minimal long weekend look that allowed me to fit everything in my travel bag and still have room for my non-makeup essentials! 

Here is what I packed:

Face products

I've been trying a new foundation for summer - it is the Vichy Normaderm Teint Anti-Imperfection Foundation. This is a very light foundation that is meant to mattify and even out combination to oily skin. I like it so far, but I've only been using it for a short time, so a review may be coming soon.

Since the Vichy foundation is quite light, I used the Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Flawless Wear Concealer. This provides very nice, long-lasting coverage and can be built up to cover just about anything. I use it on my face, as well as under my eyes, so it saves on having to carry two separate concealers. 

To set my face makeup, I brought along my Lancome Dual Finish Pressed Powder. It provides a smooth matte finish, and it is nice for touch-ups as well.

Cheek products

For bronzer, everytime I travel, I bring along my Tarte Amazonian Clay Mineral Bronzer in Park Ave Princess. It is a perfect, natural bronzer to add colour allover, as well as for contouring. 

I've mentioned my Bobbi Brown blush in Nectar before. I think it is turning out to be an all-time favourite - it is a pinky coral that is so beautiful. I reach for it so often that it made sense to bring it along as my only blush colour.

Eyes

I went for a really simple eye look. I used L'oreal's Infallible Eyeshadow in Amber Rush allover the lid and then blended it up into the crease. That's all I used. This eyeshadow is such a gorgeous shimmery shade and it comes off with a lot of dimension depending on the application. 

For eyeliner, I used a combination of two NYX Slide On Pencils - I used Golden Bronze on my top lashline and Azure on the lower waterline. It is such a pretty and summery combination, plus if you haven't tried these liners yet, they are amazing. So creamy and extremely pigmented. I know I've mentioned these before as well, but they are must haves.

I grabbed one of my many mascara samples to take with me. Clinique's High Impact mascara is one of my all-time favourites as well. It makes my lashes look amazing. I received this one as part of a bonus, and it is actually a double ended product, with their bottom lash mascara on the opposite end. I love two-in-one products!

Lips

I love Tarte's LipSurgence Lip Luster sticks, and the colour Achiote is my favourite. It is a gorgeous shimmery pinky coral with gold in it. I love how pigmented it is and how comfortable it feels on the lips. It is quick and easy to apply and great to keep in your purse for easy touch-ups. It goes especially well with the Bobbi Brown Nectar blush!

So that is all I used for the long weekend! Of course I had a few brushes with me, but overall, I was pleased with how minimal I was able to keep everything.

Have a great weekend, whether it is long or normal!

Thanks for reading!

What's In My Z-Palette? AKA - My Favourite MAC Eyeshadows

I've been loving my Z-Palette, especially for travel. I have a bunch of palettes that I had purchased, thinking they would be good for travel (Lorac, Urban Decay, etc.), but it is really nice to be able to pick and choose what colours you want. I selected my most wearable favourites from MAC to take with me on my last vacation, and it worked out perfectly. I used the small size Z-Palette that fits nine MAC shadows. I don't have any depotted MAC blushes, but if I did, I would probably take out four of the shadows and insert a blush instead, if I was trying to travel light.

You can see in the above picture, just a peek of my larger Z-Palette in which I store my depotted Wet n Wild shadows. 

from l to r: top row: Woodwinked, Cork, Dazzlelight
middle row: Satin Taupe, Star Violet, Orb
bottom row: Shadowy Lady, Mystery, Mythology

I find that these shades are very neutral and wearable, but can still be built up for a more dramatic look. 

For a bronzey neutral eye, I like to use Woodwinked all over the lid, Cork in the crease, Mystery in the outer V, and a mixture of Dazzlelight and Orb as a highlight.

For a pretty, taupey neutral eye, I like to use Satin Taupe all over the lid, Cork in the crease, Shadowy Lady to darken the outer V, and again, a mixture of Dazzlelight and Orb as a highlight.

Another look I like is Mythology on the inner third of the lid, Star Violet on the outer two thirds of the lid and blended into Mythology and then darkened into the crease and outer V with Mystery and a bit of Cork for blending.

As you can see, these colours provide so many different combinations, so it is great for travel. I also get a lot of use of these colours on a daily basis.

top to bottom: Woodwinked, Cork, Dazzlelight

top to bottom: Satin Taupe, Star Violet, Orb

top to bottom: Shadowy Lady, Mystery, Mythology

What are your favourite MAC eyeshadows?

Thanks for reading!