My India Beauty Must Haves

I wanted to take my whole makeup kit with me to India.....but in reality I had to pare down what I was going to take with me, and boy was that hard! I did two edits: first I picked all the pieces that I wanted to take with me, and then from that, I cut the number of products in half and took only what would be enough to get by. I took no more than two lip products and cheek products, and managed to limit myself to 1 foundation, 1 powder, the essential makeup brushes, and a few other must-haves. From the products that I did take with me, here are the items I used the most:

First off, since I was attending the wedding events, I really wanted my whole shadow kit with me, but I was able to pick a few (hey, for me, this was a few...) of my favorite colors and assemble them in a travel friendly palette. I used a MAC 15 pan palette and took out the pan separator. This was super easy to do and I still have it if I want to use it again. The entire bottom of the palette is magnetic so the shadow refills will stick anywhere. Thus, I was able to get 25 shadows into a 15 shadow palette. A lot of makeup artists do this to save space and I think its a great idea.

On the left is the MAC Fast Response Eye Cream. This tiny tube is a lifesaver because it works great at depuffing the eye area and making you look fresh. I used this a lot on the trip because I got very little sleep and often woke up looking like I partied too hard....which some nights I did. =) The tube on the bottom is the Korres Ginger and Vitamins Foundation. I reviewed this before and again I must tell you how much I love this. It is sooo natural looking and I really think the vitamins in the product are so good for your skin. The smog and contamination in India can wreak havoc on your skin and I really thought that by using this everyday my skin looked and felt healthier than in normally does in India.

These were my most used eye products: MAC Blacktrack fluidline and Paint Pot in Rubenesque. I really like this better than UD Primer Potion because I can wear it on its own and I really think it lasts longer.

On top is the MAC Cream Color Base in Bronze, and this was my perfect cheek color both for a natural look and for more drama in the evenings. I think this may be a PRO color now, but you may be able to find it in some MAC freestanding stores. In the swatch below (left) you can see how dark it is, but it sheers out to a more natural color (swatch below right). I feel that cream cheek colors tend to last longer and look better in India. For some reason, powder blushers look too streaky when I am in India. I can't explain it but I swear it's true.

Also, I used the MAC Pro Longwear Lipcolor in Stuck on You. It is a berry-ish mauve color and is perfect for nights out because it is dark enough to add drama, but not overly dramatic that people notice your lips and then you (y'all know what I mean). I usually only wear this with Indian clothes because the colors are so bright that I need a bit of a darker lip color. Plus, this is long lasting and I needed that for the wedding events. This formula is very drying so I don't recommend it for daily use, but for special events, it rocks my boat!

I'm still not over my jet-lag, and I still need to upload the rest of my wedding pics. When I get around to doing that I will post a few more. Right now, I am just looking forward to the weekend....almost there!!!!