Theme Park* Makeup, Part Un

Ed. Note: This is the first in a multi-part series.

I still have almost two months to slog through until I get to visit Hogwarts and trick-or-treat with Mickey and Minnie, and it's just about to kill me. To pass the time, I've started stalking forums, mentally packing and unpacking, and seriously over-planning.

For giggles, I decided to use the crazy temperatures and humidity we've been experiencing to my advantage. Over the past few days, I have played around with several different travel-friendly makeup combinations, to see which was the quickest to apply, easiest to tote-around, most natural, and longest-wearing under our tropical conditions. See, when I go to the parks, I don't like to wear a ton of makeup. Sure, it might look cute when you first arrive, but after six or seven hours of hiking in the heat, you come to realize that, just maybe, the smoky eye or strong lip you started out with wasn't such a great idea. Still, I am going to be taking pictures, and I'd like to look presentable in public, so a little something to keep me from scaring small children is kind of necessary. Anyhoo, here's what I came up with:

There's no good way of going left to right, or clockwise, or whatevs, so I'm just going to list this out.

• Urban Decay Naked 2
• E.L.F. Tinted Moisturizer
• Benefit Boi-ing concealer
• Rimmel Stay Matte powder
• Urban Decay Primer Potion (travel-size)--Eden is pictured and Original is linked to. Either works.
• E.L.F. Brow Kit
• Benefit Coralista blush (travel-size)
• Revlon Just-Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Honey
• Urban Decay All-Nighter setting spray (travel-size)
• Urban Decay 24-7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Zero (travel-size)--Full-size is linked to, but travel sizes come in several kits. I have more than one of these guys.
• Buxom Lash Mascara (travel-size)--DISREGARD! Get something waterproof! This is all I had in the house!
• Real Techniques Blush Brush
• Real Techniques Buffing Brush
• Yes to Cucumbers Facial Towelettes

Of course, you're welcome to pack whatever you want. These are merely suggestions. I chose these particular products because of their staying power, size, price (stay with me, here), lack of shimmer, and how natural they looked. A few items also come with brushes, which cuts down on how much stuff I have to pack and deal with.

Now, remember how I said price was a factor? I threw the Naked 2 in for three shades, and only three shades: Foxy (all over), Bootycall (highlight), and Tease (crease and lower lashline).

You can find very similar shades in the much smaller, much cheaper NYX eyshadow trio with Aloha, Mink Brown, and Deep Bronze. They're a little more shimmery than the mattes and satin in the Naked 2, but will still work really well. Of course, if you have the Naked 2 already, it does come with an awesome travel brush. Speaking of brushes, if you take the Naked 2 and the E.L.F. Brow Kit (with actually decent brush), you can get away with only bringing two more brushes along...

...blush and powder. These are from Real Techniques, and please pardon how dirty they are. I'd just used them. I picked the buffing brush for powder because of its small size, but a kubuki would work just as well.

Here's the full look on my seriously broken out, puffy from allergies, in need of an eyebrow shaping face. You're welcome, world. *sigh*

I used my fingers to apply the moisturizer, concealer, and primer potion, and the brushes we talked about for the rest. I purposefully left out anything heavy (like foundation or face primer) because, personally, I feel gross sweating to death in full makeup. I also omitted anything sparkly or shimmery, because after a day in the parks, I'm shiny enough. I don't need to add to it. Lastly, I kept the budge-proof eyeliner thin, and just on the top lashline, because I only wanted a little definition, and not to advertise I was wearing makeup. A little brown eyeshadow (Tease) runs along the lower lashline, and is more than enough, in my opinion. Heck, I wouldn't have even bothered with my brows if they came anywhere close to matching my hair color (they don't), and weren't in such horrible shape.

You will need the eye primer. Even Urban Decay, for all it's pigmentation and staying power, has been sliding right off my lids in this humidity. If you're going to be in Florida, like I will be, it's going to be even worse.

As for the lips, I like the Revlon because it stains. The color sticks around for freaking ever, and if I don't feel like toting the balmstick around, I can just toss a teeny lip balm with SPF in my pocket for easy sun-protection top-offs.

It's not photo-shoot gorgeous, but it's not meant to be. It's functional, and I think it looks pretty. This is just meant to give you enough color and coverage to look polished in the umpteen vacation photos you'll be a party to, and, if you're me, not frighten the other tourists.

OH! Before I forget--toss the face wipes in the fridge. You'll be glad you did. :)

P.S. In case you were wondering what the heck all that stuff is lying on, it's a nifty little makeup bag from Lay-N-Go. I bought mine from OpenSky, and am not being compensated for telling you about it. I just thought it was cool. See, you lay your stuff on it...

...then pull the drawstring closed! That's it! No wondering how such-and-such is going to fit in it, or how on Earth you managed to get whatchamadingle in there the first go-round. Just toss in the stuff and pull. Plus, there are little zippered and velcro pockets for extra-valuables, like jewelry or contacts.

It's not huge, either, so it won't take up much space in the suitcase. For reference, the little red doohickies sticking out from underneath are the corners of a Netflix envelope.

I don't recommend it for toiletries, since they can leak, but for makeup, it's a dream. 9 out of 10.


*or music festival, or art festival, or film festival, or frisbee golf, or picnic, or camping, or flea market, or antiquing, or hiking, or...well, you get the drift.