Whether you’re jetting away into the sunset à deux or taking the clan to Cornwall, there’s a makeup stash to suit…
Just as you wouldn’t take your wellies to Ibiza, so different makeup does the business for different locations, occasions and climates. The spangly teal eyeshadow that looks party perfect on the White Isle might look a bit garish in Great Yarmouth, while a weighty, full sized foundation bottle is a little much to lug around if you’re backpacking. For the ultimate takeaway makeup trios for your getaway, look no further, and feel free to improvise of course. What goes for Ibiza probably suits the mood for Majorca too, while honeymoon beauty looks will charm girlfriends and soulmates alike (in fact your lady friends are likely to swoon all the more…).
Beach break
Bobbi Brown is the queen of flawless yet fresh and low key makeup, and her love of the beach has been well known for quite some time (if you haven’t splashed on her bestselling Beach fragrance, £49.50, cruise by a beauty department and try it). Her favourite place is well represented in her new seaside inspired eye offering. Shimmering Sands Palette , £52, is inspired by coastlines the world over, from black sand beaches to bright white Caribbean shores, and as the name indicates they are luminous, nude toned and look beautiful paired with a dewy, flushed complexion come sundown. Which leads me to
Stila Aqua Glow™ Watercolour Blush , £20, is incredibly handy for hot, humid evenings when you want to look pretty but don’t want to spend too much time in front of the mirror, either at the beginning of the night or putting your makeup back in its place when it starts slipping circa the second piña colada. Happily, this water based yet somehow waterproof (this kind of formulation always blows my mind) blusher goes nowhere, and thanks to a mesh dispenser it doesn’t explode in your hand luggage or flood out of the packaging on application either. Shades are buildable, the finish is transparent and natural-looking (tidelines can stay on the beach thanks) and the light liquid has a hydrating, cooling effect on the skin, which will be very welcome following a long day on the beach.
Finish off your glowing, healthy beach face with a swipe of Hello Sailor. No, that’s not a euphemism, it’s a lip gloss. An unusual one, granted, but you’ll fall for it hook, line and sinker once you’ve gotten over the bright blue hue. Invented by innovative lip colour pioneer Poppy King, Lipstick Queen Hello Sailor Lipgloss , £22, is a slick, shimmery version of the brand’s original Hello Sailor Lipstick . Far from giving you Smurf lips, it’ll make your teeth and eyes look brighter, not to mention your mouth look plumper thanks to a natural peptide formula that boosts collagen synthesis. Shea butter, botanical oils and omegas with smooth and soothe weatherworn lips better than most lipsticks can, and the neutral yet flattering finish is all you need on the beach bar beauty front.
British seaside
Note: not the same as a beach break. A British seaside jaunt is far more hardy, especially if you’ve got the entire family, pets and body boards in tow. What you need are reliable, practical and preferably multitasking miracles. The following three come close…
As a mother of five running a business and wellbeing empire from her base on an organic West Country farm, Liz Earle likely understands most women’s desire to look polished but not ‘overdone’ while protecting your skin from the elements and not spending too much time on the above process thank you very much. Enter Sheer Skin Tint , £22.25. It’s creamy, gleamy (not greasy), offers SPF 15 UV mineral protection and, despite claiming to be sheer, offers enough coverage to disguise redness and the odd imperfection. Given the usual biting winds that accompany a UK getaway, you’ll be glad of its moisturising prowess too, and the fact that it ticks so many boxes means that you avoid packing your entire bathroom cabinet into the car.
Another marvelous multipurpose product to slip into the glovebox is Burberry Lip & Cheek Bloom , £24. Named after flowers typical of an English country garden and with a range of shades to match (there are six shades in the collection, which is quite impressive for a ‘do it all’ lip and cheek colour), these luxe pots have a velvety texture and allow for couture colour application. Smudge on a smidge or work them into lips for a more intense finish, it’s up to you, but matching lip and cheek tone always looks beautiful and ‘put together’. No one need know it was a fingerpainting exercise that took two seconds while you were stuck in a traffic jam.
An additional grooming gamechanger is Clinique Instant Lift for Brows , £16. A self sharpening, eye brightening pencil and highlighter in one, Instant Lift goes the extra mile to allow you to etch the perfect arch while sculpting your browbone in the process. The highlighter can also be used along the cheekbone and inner eye area to add radiance and definition to the face, and there’s no reason not to use the brow pencil as a liner too. Less makeup tool, more magic wand.
Backpacking
Your kit needs to be even more functional than for the great British staycation; heading off to far flung corners of the world with only the bag on your back calls for petite, non-faffy products that will help you to disguise bites, blemishes and bruises and occasionally add a bit of low-commitment colour where required. These three will become treasured trekking companions…
Amazing Cosmetics Amazing Concealer , £19.50, is worth it’s minimal 6ml weight in gold. Revered by beauty journalists and makeup artists the world over, it’s quite simply the most potent, powerful on the spot camouflage known to woman (I expect many men are converts too- wise men). Its intense pigments can mask scars, shadows and angry, inflamed zits, and a teeny tiny blob goes a very long wear. It will see you flawlessly through every nomadic beauty ordeal, and its waterproof formula defies sweat, impromptu swimming ventures and tropical storms. If Bear Grylls wore make up, he would doubtless approve.
For something a little less resilient but a lot prettier, Revlon Ultra HD Lipstick , £7.99, adds a flash of colour when you feel like it. Available in an array of muted to carnival-appropriate shades, the gel formula allows lipstick to glide on evenly (waxy lipsticks can be a challenge for travel-worn lips), with a vibrant, impressive colour payoff. They’re light, easy and instantly beautifying, and at this price point it doesn’t matter if you leave one on the bus. Why not buy a few of the fourteen shades just in case? A nude and a statement bright is all you need for speedy, on-the-go makeup.
If you’re wearing makeup on your travels, you need to be able to take it off easily without carting around heavy bottles and fleecy cotton pads. M2 Beauté Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover Sachets , £8.50, dissolve eye makeup without irritating with the added hydrating benefit of hyaluronic acid and anti-inflammatory D-Panthenol. Hot, dry and irritated eyes in particular will thank you. Speaking of tired eyes...
Ibiza
You’re unlikely to get much shuteye if you’ve gone for the party vibes, so use Charlotte Tilbury Eyes to Mesmerise in Cleopatra , £22, as a distraction. A peppy, peacock green, it creates jewel-like, glossy lids and doesn’t drip down your face as you dance. Cooling and hydrating with added vitamin E, it cares for the delicate eye area as much as it dazzles onlookers, and can be daubed on with a finger or artfully applied as a liner with an angled brush.
Equally foolproof, party-proof and mess-resistant is Guerlain My Terracotta Compact Powder , £37.50. The cult skin-enhancing bronzer arrives housed in a turquoise or coral silicone compact this summer, meaning that it’s bonafide unsmashable. There is nothing worse in the beauty stakes than reducing an expensive, finely milled and much loved powder to dust due to dropping it on the bathroom floor/ jigging it around on the plane, and this genius packaging means that you can quite literally throw almost anything at it and it will remain intact. Nothing short of GENIUS, and the colours beg to be invited to the club.
For ethereal day to night glimmer, the Christopher Kane for Nars Neoneutral collection has a hint of the space age about it, especially the Violet Atom Illuminating Multiple , £29. It creates a sheeny, subtle purple glimmer on cheekbones, eyelids, brow bones and wherever else you want to shine. It looks surprisingly elegant when it catches the sun, and rave ready under disco lights. It’s also light, slim and does multiple jobs, as its name implies. Really, as purple spangly makeup goes, it’s very sensible.
Safari
If you’re going wild in a different way, you’ll want to make sure that your makeup can go the distance- safari trips mean dawn starts and nightcaps under the stars. The ideal scenario is that your cosmetics apply themselves as you sleep. The stuff of dreams, or a reality conjured by the very clever tan man Mr James Read. A warm, uniform glow makes us all look alive, even if it’s 5am and you’re stumbling around trying to locate your trousers. Get that glow from Sleep Mask Tan for Face , £25, a clear, easily absorbed self-tan that also packs a lot of moisturising power thanks to added hyaluronic acid. It’s basically skincare, but you wake up with a side order of healthy warmth with next to no effort on your part.
Complement your tan with a little lash definition- Urban Decay Perversion Travel Sized Mascara , £8, is quite the pocket rocket- it creates sooty, glossy lashes and has a silky formula that can be layered without crumbling or caking, meaning that you can up the ante once night falls without having to begin all over again. Strange name, strong performance.
Lastly go big on the cat eye for evening- you are amongst the big cats after all, and smoking up your eyes needn’t be fiddly. The fittingly zebra print Sisley Phyto-Eye Twist , £29, is a liner and shadow in one and is available in a range of metallic flecked, earthy shades- worked into the lashline or blended over the entire lid, the end result is more of a sexy glint than OTT sparkle. It ain’t cheap, but it’s waterproof formula stays put and soothing plant actives soften and protect the skin. When you’re roaming the remote plains, you don’t need any hangers-on; pretty and practical aren’t mutually exclusive.
European City Trip
Time to whip out the classics, or more accurately, future classics. These three new launches may be time-honoured in their conception, but their formulations are ultra modern.
A visit to the likes of Rome, Paris or Berlin demands a chic red lip, and new Laura Mercier Crème Smooth Lip Colour in Portofino Red , £21, is a very cool, contemporary rouge with a hint of orange to light up summer skin. Rich and long-wearing, with a plumping effect thanks to hyaluronic filling spheres, it’s pure elegance.
Another refined, reinvented masterpiece is Dior Diorshow Mascara Pro , £25. One of the only mascaras I’ll actually splash out on ( Max Factor False Lash Effect , £10.99, really is as good as high-end), bushy brushed Diorshow has been supercharged by Dior Makeup creative director Peter Philips to dispense an exacting amount of product on the lashes and last longer without drying out in the tube. Lash lengthening fibres have also been added to recreate catwalk drama- your runway is a European promenade.
Finish with a fine dusting of luxe, perfecting powder to keep skin like satin so you can forget about it and see the sights. New Lancôme Belle de Teint , £35, is designed to both enhance radiance and mattify where required, and the shade range allows you to dabble in everything from a a light, barely there tan to a deep, south of France style bronze. I’m also counting down the days until the launch of Chanel Les Beiges Healthy Glow Multi-Colour Marinière , £44 (arrives on our shores 19th June). A two-tone variation on Chanel’s already cult Healthy Glow Powder , Marinière mimics Coco Chanel’s love of striped fisherman’s tops, with an illuminating light tone and sculpting darker shade to create an outdoorsy flush, or an immaculately contoured complexion, depending on your whim and destination. SPF 15 also adds an airy layer of protection, and although it won’t suffice on its own, it brings compact powders up to the minute.
Honeymoon
It’s the holiday of a lifetime, so milk the freebies and upgrades and travel light of the beauty front- he loves you for you after all. Bare Minerals Pop of Passion™ Blush Balm , £20, does for cheeks what lip balm does for lips, namely makes them rosy and juicy while also adding moisture. It’s a very convincing foil for the first flush of love, not that you’ll need a boost in that department. It’s super sheer but can be built up- advisable in steamy climates as it’s so light it might slip a bit.
Zelens Lip Enhancer , £32, was also practically invented for romantic vacays- I hate the phrase ‘kissable’ but that’s the general idea here. The bullet is loaded with anti-ageing antioxidants, volume increasing fatty acids and skin perfecting pigments, not forgetting natural plant butters to hydrate and bring down irritation and soreness. Wear alone or under lipstick for incredible comfort and a ‘just bitten’ effect.
Last but not least, your limbs. Although not technically makeup, Clarins After Sun Shimmer Oil , £32, sets off a tan beautifully while also adding a sheen to skin that makes you look instantly toned and well rested. Hazelnut oil helps hot, sunbaked skin to recuperate while added antioxidants help to shield skin from damaging free radicals, and cosmetically it mimics a gleaming golden tan with none of the streaks or telltale aroma of fake tan. If you’re shimmying out for an amorous evening, it’s almost all you need in the lotions and potions department.
Do you have a favourite holiday beauty stash? Comment below, tweet me @AnnaMaryHunter or tag me on Instagram @annyhunter