As you may or may not know I've recently come back from holiday (Malaysia this time), so I thought I'd share some of my updated travel essentials.

Not a lot has changed since my holiday saviours post back in 2011 (here), I've in fact updated and expanded on these since, as you'll see below.
I've decided to split this post into 2; the first is my personal carry on essentials i.e. allowed on the plane to get you through a journey. The second part includes my makeup essentials for holiday/travelling but of course I take a bit more sometimes depending on whether I'll be dolling myself up for restaurants or not.

Carry on essentials:

Bearing in mind my last flight lasted over 14 hours I found these to be absolute saviours on the plane (and off it too of course!).

1) Elemis Tea Tree S.O.S spray - this is a total all rounder natural antiseptic; from helping insect bites/cuts and grazes, to spots and refreshing and deodorising tired feet, this spray is handy to carry around everywhere let alone just on the plane! Available at department stores or at HQhair & lookfantastic.com for £19.40.

2) Avene Thermal Spring Water - this year I couldn't find a small bottle of the usual Evian spray I usually carry with me in Boots so I picked up this Thermal Spring Water can instead. Another all rounder, but this can be used on the face when it feels tight (all that AC being pumped in the plane tends to dry me out) or handy for carrying in humidity on the beach as a refresher for the face. It's many uses are endless, including toner, soothing sunburn, acne, rashes and razor burn. It also doesn't interfere with makeup and actually helps set makeup! Available from Boots for £3.15 (50ml) or £6.50 for 150ml (not allowed on the plane).

3) Body Cream - I tend to not make use of the deluxe creams I get with perfumes so chose this one on my last trip, but general body creams come in handy for travel; again the aircon tends to dry out the skin so it's always good to carry some sort of moisturiser for hands and feet at least.

4) Dental hygiene products - If you're not lucky enough to be flying business or first class chances are you'll need to carry your own dental hygiene. Rinsing the mouth out with mouthwash or brushing teeth usually helps me feel awake again especially if you're constantly eating/sleeping on the aircraft!
 
5) Concealer kit - This Wild About Beauty concealer has two different shades perfect for finding the right match for your skintone which also contains skin calming and nourishing ingredients and no nasties. Shade "Medium" suits my NC35 skintone best and the bottom also holds a HD translucent setting powder underneath, which can be used to keep shine at bay too if needed. Available at Debenhams and House of Fraser for £19.50.

6) Lip products - Vaseline Lip Therapy (£1.99) is a must as it's another all rounder; I use it around my nose to prevent myself from getting ill from the germs that circulate around the plane (I'm a real germophobe!) as well as conditioning lips/dry areas of the hands/body. I adore carrying Carmex Moisture Plus around to also condition the lips whilst adding a tint of colour. Available at Boots for £4.49.

7) Badger Balm - If you find sleeping above cloud level a chore like me, you'll be needing something to help you along your way so I recommend the Badger Balm which contains Lavender and other essential oils to help clear your mind. Available at feelunique.com for £6.99.

8) Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair - Dabbing a couple drops of this wonder serum to tight skin instantly hydrates the skin whilst also keeping it smooth. Can also be used over makeup that has been dried out by aircon. Available for £44 for 30ml at all Estée Lauder counters including Boots, Debenhams & House of Fraser, but I carry a trial size on holiday!

Makeup essentials:

These are my absolute essentials for holidays to hotter/humid climates, of course there can be more if absolutely needed but when on holiday I like to wear the absolute bare minimum if poss!

1) Waterproof mascara - whether you wear eyeliner or not, chances are you wear mascara at least to open up your eyes and give volume or length. My personal everyday favourite at the moment is the Kiko Unforgettable waterproof mascara; its curved brush gives a curl to the lashes whilst volumising too and doesn't get everywhere come rain or shine. Available for £7.20 online or in Kiko stores in both Westfields in London.

2) Waterproof eyeliners - I have a vast range and array of colours in the Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner pencils (approx £14 each) so I tend to take a couple of these on holiday with me, but recently I've discovered that Chantecaille have released their 24 hour waterproof liner which also is creamy and long lasting and the bronzed brown shade in Oolong gives just enough definition to the eyes to not be overpowering. Urban Decay pencils are available in Debenhams and House of Fraser stores and Chantecaille liners are available at Liberty, Fenwicks, Space NK and Harrods.

3) Tinted moisturiser - A must for those who don't fancy baring all and want even skintone but without wearing heavy coverage. I like this tinted moisturiser as it gives a decent coverage and has a high SPF of 20. It does oxidise a little so you may need to go a shade lighter than expected. Available from £12.66 at HQhair to £20 at the usual department stores.

4) Concealer kit - see above for description of this Wild About Beauty concealer kit.

5) Urban Decay All Nighter setting spray - if you do decide to wear either powder/mineral, liquid or cream foundations, this setting spray keeps makeup on for up to 16 hours.. perfect for those long days or evenings when you don't want to touch up on makeup.

6) Carmex Moisture Plus - as above, this tinted lipbalm comes in handy before lipstick or by itself for a hint of colour.

7) Urban Decay Razor Sharp Powder - aside from this powder helping skin feel smooth, it also helps keep shiny-ness out of your holiday pictures, with just a puff and buff on. I got this mini size from a Limited Edition box but you can buy the full size for £21 at Debenhams & House of Fraser as well as Lookfantastic & HQhair.

8) Wild About Beauty mattifying balm (£21) is great to use as a primer before applying makeup due to it's slippery nature; although it states it can be used after I find it works much better applying under a tinted moisturiser or foundation, and then topping up with the above Razor Sharp powder if needed. If you're shiny but don't like the drying feeling of powder then this also is the product for you! Available at the Wild About Beauty website and Debenhams and House of Fraser.

So there you have it! Obviously SPF is a major factor in holiday packing, but there are so many brands out there, the highest SPF is always best, 50+ is best if you have really sensitive skin.
These are my most essential saviours for travelling, hope this has helped you consider some products you may not have thought of using on your travels/holiday!

Do you have some holiday must have products you'd recommend? Please feel free to share them with me, I always love to use new things on holiday!

 

Brand Tryout: BECCA cosmetics

BECCA cosmetics is a brand that I'd vaguely heard of but never really read into until recently. I was contacted to try one of their star products - the Beach Tint and after reading up more on the brand I decided to give it ago as its stated as preservative and paraben free (which I'm trying to use more of when possible!) and had gotten good reviews.

The Beach Tints come in a variety of shades all £20 each, with corresponding scents to the colour name.
The packaging states it's oil-free, water-proof and streak-free and as you may know I'm a fan of long lasting, waterproof makeup!
The shade sent to me was in Strawberry; a warm, orange red that in real life looked fairly red!

On first impressions when I received the package, I was shocked at how tiny it was! After using some of the product however, I realised why.. using too much of the product would really make me look clownish, so this product is not to be used heavy handedly at all.
Here's the swatch blended:

The colour definitely shows up more orange-red once blended and looks great on the lips. On the cheeks however, I found it was more sheer and you have to use more.. Plus it does leave a slight sheen on the cheeks that I'm not usually fond of with cream blushers.
I did try it by itself on the cheeks which was barely noticeable, but it did make my powder blush last much longer when I wore it on top.
The scent is fairly nice too.. It reminded me of the shisha flavour "blue mist" however, more than a strawberry scent! Thankfully the taste is not bitter or flavoured in anyway so it won't interfere with your tastebuds or food. 

Verdict: I have to say usually I'm not a fan of cream blushes and tints, because they give a shine that I'm not too keen on.. but this one definitely did add more colour to the lips than the cream blushes I have already. As for the cheeks, I'd use it to keep powder blush on for much longer, but by itself I'd probably only use it when I haven't got time for makeup or feeling ultra lazy!

I like the fact that it's paraben and oil free and have read that it doesn't cause breakouts which is a bonus, especially for oily skin types.

All in all, it's a handy multi-tasking product that comes in other great shades too so there's a variety to suit all skin tones which is great.

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If you'd like to try their Beach Tint in this "Valentine's" shade of Strawberry, BECCA cosmetics have given Frootibeauty readers the chance to use a 20% discount code on their site from the 6th - 16th February using the promo code BBE20. 

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Something that I would like to try from BECCA are one of their concealers.. BECCA boast a 37 colour range of concealers (rather than the average few) and 30 foundation colours, making it seem much more easier to find the perfect shade... something I'm always looking for!

I managed to get a makeup look in too with this Beach Tint, so this weeks FFF will have a slight orange and bronze tinge to it, which you can read about in the next post! =)

<3

Models Own...Haul 2!

So after my first order of the untried "Models Own" brand, I was tempted to try some more of their make up out..still at half price! My second order came within 2 days, I was at work at the time and I was itching all day to just go home and try my new products!
Of course, it came in the cute packaging with purple tissue:

Phone camera quality again!

This time I ordered:
> x4 eyeshadow powders - delph blue, silver grey, neon pink and hot pink
> "deep fuchsia" lipstick
> x2 glitter eye pencils - purple princess and black knight
> Models Own lip & cheek tint

These eyeshadows were even better than my last order, the neon pink shadow being the only matt out of the four. Here's what they look like on the skin (minus the lip & cheek tint):

The neon pink compared to the last matt colours is much more vibrant, and needs less layers than the hot red eyeshadow from the last post. I loved the hot pink and delph blue, they were gorgeous and I'll post a makeup look I did with them later.
The two glitter pencils were softer than the kohl pencils from my last post, but the glitter obviously makes the pencil a bit harsh and you need to go back and forth a couple times for the glitter to show. The "black knight" eye liner in the above picture doesn't seem to show the glitter, but the glitter in the pencil looks more like a light gold to me and does show up, although not as much as the "purple princess" liner. And again, both liners have a very handy sharpener in the lid and smudger on the other end :)
The deep fuchsia lipstick again has a moisturing sheen to it, and is a beautiful vibrant colour, although when I tried it on, it made me look a bit plasticky, probably cos I have full lips though :S
I tried the lip and cheek tint and it gave the tint needed for the lips although I'm not too keen on the blendability for the cheeks. As with most lip tints I've come across (including Benetint), the taste is not something I'd recommend! Then again the only tint I've come across that doesn't taste bitter is the Urban Decay Lip Envy, which seems to be discontinued in the UK :(

All in all, I'm happy with my Models Own find, the shimmery colours I love more so and definitely happy with the makeup brushes considering MAC brushes cost a pretty penny!

<3