{Honeymoon} Beauty Essentials
It’s a bright lip and bronzer time of year again and I’m celebrating by packing away my knitwear, boots, oxblood lipsticks and wine nail varnish till England’s almost perpetual chilly breeze decides to unleash her wrath on us again in a few short months.
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Last summer was easily my best one yet – my 25th birthday, the most fantastic trip to see James, exploring London, Wales, Manchester and Chester and finally capping it off with getting engaged.
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This summer looks as if it could come very close, if not beat last year, as we’re setting of on our honeymoon to Italy! Long walks along the Amalfi coastline eating gelato, lounging by the pool at our hotel in Sorrento, going on photo expeditions to Pompeii, taking boat rides to Capri and eating all the pizza we can in Naples calls for a beauty look that is fresh, glamorous, romantic and stays on all day, without having to worry about touch-ups. Here’s what I’m packing for our dream trip:
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1. Garnier Protect and Glow SPF 20 Moisturizer
I personally love a gorgeous bronze, sun-kissed look, but peeling, red, sunburned skin isn’t a good look on anyone, which is why it is absolutely essential that the building block of any of my summer makeup looks not only moisturizes, but protects from the sun, too.
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2. Clinique Superprimer Universal Face Primer
If you need your makeup to last for ages like I do, I wait for my moisturizer to be absorbed into my skin completely (about 10mins) and then apply a light coat of primer to smoothen the skin’s texture and prepare it for makeup.
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3. Maybelline Dream Flawless Nude Foundation in ‘Fawn’
Hands down the best foundation I have ever used, period. It is so light, silky and natural looking but still provides great coverage. Two of the makeup artist friends I have introduced it to say it has the exact same consistency to a YSL foundation they use on their clients regularly. I buy this stuff in bulk. No jokes.
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4. Natural Collection Sun Tint Bronzing Powder
After applying my foundation, I move on to a light powder bronzer. I love this shade because it doesn’t make you look orange, but provides the just the right amount of bronze to leave you with a healthy holiday glow. I use a blusher brush to very lightly dust it on my temples and chin. I then use a contour blush, suck in my cheeks and leave it on the area left out to contour them a little. Finally, I use it on either side of the bridge of my nose to give it a slimmer look.
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5. MAC Mineralize Blush in ‘Petal Power’
I was so in love with this, I used it on my wedding day. This blush is the most gorgeous shade of pink, with just a little bit of gold mixed in that serves as a highlighter. I use a blusher brush, smile wide and apply this to the apples of my cheeks.
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6. Collection 2000 Shimmer Shades in ‘Way To Glow’
I love a multi-tasking product when I’m on vacation, because it means I end up carrying less. This handy little palette doubles as a highlighter and a neutral eyeshadow. So I use a blending brush to apply a line of shimmery highlighter right at the top of my cheekbones so it catches the light in the sun and gives my skin a gorgeous, healthy glow. I then use it to make a line on the bridge of my nose and under my brow bone and then blend, blend, blend.
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7. Clinique All About Shadow Quad in ‘Jenna’s Essentials 02′
Another great multi-tasking product, not only is this the only thing you need for the perfect daytime nude eye, you can also use the darker colours to build on it and create a brown smokey eye for the evening. I also use the dark brown shade as brow powder by dabbing some on a cotton bud and filling in the gaps in my brows.
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8. Eyelash curler
With most of the face done, it’s time to move on to the fun bits – the eyes and the lips. Since this look focuses on glowy bronzed skin and bright lips, I’ve chosen to eliminate eyeliner altogether and opt for a nude eye. I blast an eyelash curler with my blow dryer to heat it up a little, and then use it to curl my lashes.
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9. L’Oreal Paris Miss Manga Mascara
I’m not going to say this is the best mascara I’ve ever used. While I love the name and the look of the tube, I’m not a fan of the bendy brush or the fact that my lashes look a little clumpy after I put it on, but I do like that it lasts for ages and ages, and is completely sweat-proof so it doesn’t even smudge if you use it at the gym.
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10. Clinque Long Lasting Lipstick in ‘Runway Coral’
It took me a while to warm up to this lipstick. I thought it was a tad too bright initially, but I gave it a chance and I am not sorry! It looks absolutely gorgeous against a canvas of glowy, bronzed skin and is a pretty, delightfully girly pastel pink if you dab it on, but a fiesty, punchy neon if you swipe on a couple of coats.
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11. Propshop 24 Lady Bug Lip Balm
I always lightly dab on a little lip balm over a matte lipstick to keep it from drying out my lips and to avoid the product clumping. This not only moisturizes, makes your lips look kissable, but is just so darned cute! I mean, look at it! I’ve named mine Linda!
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12. Emery board
My face finally done, it’s time to move on to my nails. I’ve never been a fan of long nails. I prefer to keep them short, cute and non-fussy. I use an emery board to file them straight across, and then round the corners slightly.
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13. Dior Vernis Gel Shine Nail Lacquer in ‘Victoire’ and ‘Tra-La-La’
Applying my nail varnish is one of the last things I do before I leave home, because otherwise it always gets ruined! I use ‘Tra-La-La’ a lovely pale pink shade on my fingers (since it doesn’t show mistakes easily since it’s so light!) and Victroire, a gorgeous orangey-red on my toes to pack some punch into my summetime sandals.
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14. Estée Lauder’s ‘Modern Muse’ fragrance
I’ve never been a big fan of floral frangrances, but this one is a game changer. Delightfully light, fresh and perfect for summer, it not only smells lovely, but looks great on your dresser, too! A handy little trick to avoid leaving behind a thick cloud of perfume when you walk by? Spritz the air with perfume and then walk through the space a couple of times. Trust me, it works!
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15. Chanel Poudre Universelle Compacte
It’s no secret that this is my favourite compact ever for combatting shine. I’ve spoken about it before here and here. I keep this baby in my purse at all times and use it to blot out oil during the day. In fact, I’ve used this product for years now and don’t plan on stopping anytime soon, so I can safely expect it to be the third wheel on our romantic getaway!
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And there you have it – my honeymoon beauty look + all the essentials I use to achieve it. If you’d like to see pictures of me sporting the look on Instagram, let me know in the comments section below.
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If you liked this post, don’t forget to check out this post on what I carry in my purse on a long flight. Oh, and in case you were wondering, my clutch is Forever21, hat is Forever New and sunglasses are from The Snob Shop.