Whats in my Travel Makeup Bag?

hey girls, so it's no secret that i'm going travelling at the beginning of next month, but before i go off on my volunteering trip, i'm going on a family holiday to Turkey, where i will be staying on a yacht.

i am hoping hat this trip will be a little more glamourous than my volunteering trip, so i will be bringing a few cosmetics items. below is a photo of everything laid out, with brushes ad tools in the top left, face products in the top right, eyes in the bottom left and lips in the bottom right. it looks like a lot but it all fits into a fairly small makeup bag (minus my ELF HD powder whihc comes in a huge box)

please click for a larger image!!

ok, so going from left to right, top to bottom we have:

the eco tools foundation brush (which i use to apply my white Barry M foundation creme as a base to my actual founation)
eco tools finishing kabuki (which i use for my 'actual' bobbi brown foundation)
a crease brush from my fraulien 38 brush roll
a retractable lip brush fro the same brush roll
a No7 'precision eyeliner brush' which i use for my brows
a generic flat shader brush
a No7 eyeshadow blendng brush from a setat christmas a whle ago
NYC eyelash curlers

Bobbi brown foundation SPF 15 in shade 0, Porcelain
Barry M Foundation creme in White
Bobbi brown Pot Rouge in shade 21, Cabo Coral (makes a nice lip colour too)
Ruby and Millie cheek colour in C33, Orange (but its actually red and doubles as a nice matte lip colour)
ELF HD Powder

Rimmel colour mousse in 006, Get Fresh
Ruby and Millie eye base
Max factor Smokey eye effect eyeshadow in Bronze Haze
Collection 2000 eXtreme 24 hour felt tip liner in Black
GOSH eyeliner pencil in Black
Max Factor False lash effect fusion; volume and length mascara in Black
Sleek Storm Palette

Ruby and Millie lip gloss in Clear
17 mirror shine lipstic in shade Plum Perfection
and Nivea sooth and protect lip balm with SPF 12

so thats my travel makep bag! too much? what's in YOURS?

all packed and ready to go!

Love, Lucy xxx

London Calling...

Hey guys! today i bring to you my haul of some of the stuff i bought in london. it's not all beauty related, and its a relatively small haul, but i'm excited about everything!!

ok, so first off my sister and i went to brixton market, where we were trying to track down the delicious (and alledgedly good for the skin) mangosteen fruit. we were entirely unsuccesful in our quest for exotic fruit, and found no mangosteens, and bought a breadfruit by mistake thinking it was a guanabana. for pure comedy value, this is what i bought at Brixton market.

 i know its immature, but i just saw it and thought it was so funny! Cock soup will be going straight on my notice board this evening.

having found no fruit we went to a department store (which i can't remember the name of! sorry...) where i visited topshop, and bought a bargain jumper. it was in the sale down to £10, but i used my student discount which took it down to £9, and then i found an old giftcard in my purse whihc took it down to £4.70! awsome. here it is from the back, as it has the slit up the ba ck, i thought it would be best to show it that way.

its a very sheer knit, and it looks amazing with denim shorts and a white vest with gladiator sandals - great for festivals!!

also in this department store was a MAC counter, whihc i visited looking for a foundation. as detailed in the post below i was unsuccesful, which drove us to visit selfridges, where i went to the Bobbi Brown counter...

Pot Rouge for cheeks and lips in shade 21, Cabo Coral and...

Skin Foundation SPF 15 in shade 0, Porcelain.

SO excited about this foundation!! it actually matches my skin and it looks nice and not cakey at all. although the pump is leaking, so i need to switch it for another bottle.

and finally, the selfridges icing on the cake, i went up to the food hall for a quick scout around and i found...

MANGOSTEENS!!! as expected, they were completely delicious, (and apparently good for your skin), so if you're in selfridges food hall, i urge you to try them!

Love, Lucy xx

Still a MAC Virgin...

i had a rather tiring day today, but i went out, onto the streets of London, all ready to pop my MAC cherry. At the counter in brixton, a lovely (and very pale) guy spoke to me about the different foundation options, as this was what i was looking for. Having tried the two palest shades, neither was pale enough for my skin, so he recconmended MAC face and body in N1 or in white, but that is only availible in dedicated MAC stores and at selfridges.

Dutifully, we trekked off to oxford street (on a bank holiday satudrday!!), and found the MAC counter in selfridges. The counter was jam packed with people, and it was difficult to get near to the products. The shade i was looking for was nowhere to be found, so after a great deal of effort i asked a member of staff if it was availible. He looked more than a little irritated and got me a brand new bottle in its box. I was a little bemused by this; was i supposed to just purchase this or was it to be used as a tester? He was on the other side of the stand i was at in deep conversation with another member of the MAC team, so i tentatively asked if i could try it. He looked at me like i had 3 heads and said that i could, and then went straight back to his conversation.

i was a little put out; when i asked if i could try it, i was expecting him to get a brush and put it on my face so i could see if the shade matched. when i wasn't satisfied with what he said, he roused himself from his conversation again, and i said 'um, with a brush maybe?' and the swift reply came 'i dont lend my brushes.' i was a little confused, but since it was a virgin bottle i decided i would just apply it to my face using my fingers and see what the colour match was like. It didnt match, so i had to enquire AGAIN about the product in white. I was simply told that they didn't stock that colour, and he walked off.

In contrast to this, i headed over to the Bobbi Brown counter, where a lovely lady named Daniella Curtis perfectly matched my skintone with a foundation, was really enthusiastic and nice, and seemed to really care that i got the right products for me. Because of this, i bought a Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation SPF15 (in shade 0, Porcelain if you're interested) and also a gorgeous blush/ lip colour Pot Rouge in shade 21, Cabo Coral. She also completely finished my face so i didnt have to walk out of the store looking like i just put my foundation on and forgot about the rest of my face.

I really really wanted to like MAC, but it seemed that as the counter was so busy and they are so popular, they are a little above themselves, and didn't really care if i bought anything or not, as they know another customer will be along soon. That is not something i expect from a high end brand that costs top dollar, so in future, i think i'll stick to Bobbi Brown!

Whats YOUR experience with MAC makeup counters been like?

Lucy, xx