{Beauty Monday} Makeup for Car Travel

Sadly, makeup is fragile. So whenever I pack, even if it is for a road trip {as for this weekend when husband and I are in upstate New York for a wedding in Utica} I do not bring any of my fragile items like shimmerbricks or anything with shimmer which is particularly prone to breaking. And for car trips in summer I avoid lipsticks that might melt in the car. Instead, I focus on one look that I can tone up or down. For this trip, I focused on what makeup I would wear at the wedding, and toned down from there. Here is what I brought with me:

* Smashbox Tinted Moisturizer, which is paraben-free {I so wish that Laura Mercier and Bobbi Brown would make their tinted moisturizers paraben-free but in the meantime, I do like the Smashbox one}

* Organic Wear Pressed Powder

* Laura Mercier Undercover {love that it has two kinds of concealer}

* Bobbi Brown Cream Eye Shadows in Heather (mauve) and Sand Dollar (taupe)

* Bobbi Brown Creamy Eye Pencil in Caviar (love that it is almost black but not quite as intense}

* Almay Pure Blends Mascara

* Bobbi Brown’s new Antigua Illuminating Bronzing Powder

* Ecotools Brush Set

* various lip glosses, all in various mauves and berries

I really focused on a look that would not require multiple things – for example, I skipped bringing an underbrow highlighter and blush, because I knew that I would brush the bronzing powder on my cheeks and also around my eyes and that would provide enough glow.

Even though I wore the same colors most of the weekend, application can be just as much of a key to having different looks. For the wedding I layered the Heather and Sand Dollar eye shadows to get more intensity in the crease, with Sand Dollar alone on the lid, did a thicker line with the eyeliner along the upper lashline, and buffed my cheeks and eyes with the bronzer to increase the intensity {with a touch on the forehead and nose to reduce contrast}. Other days, I wore the eye shadows separately, barely dotted the liner along the upper lashline, and used the bronzer just on my cheeks.

Do you have any favorite tricks for travel and paring down makeup?

Benefit has some fantastic double-duty products too. I find that I use a slightly different approach to makeup with each trip. Sometimes I take a pre-filled palette and just use that. Sometimes I take just neutrals with a couple of items to punch up the intensity. This trip was different in that I took almost no neutrals, focused on plummy bronzeness and started with a night look to pick what I was bringing, and then worked with technique to tone it down.

Do post any favorite products or tips in the comments. Also – as promised, I will do a Bobbi Brown Shimmerbrick primer in a Beauty Monday post not too long from now.