Last week I went away to Luxembourg for 3 nights (although it ended up being 5 due to cancelled flights!) with just hand luggage. Next week I will be flying to Krakow and travelling from there to Budapest and Bratislava, again with just hand luggage. I’ll be away for 7 nights and 8 days. The thought of packing a few essentials into a tiny see through bag would have terrified me before, but I think I’ve got it down to a fine art now. I’ve worked out which makeup items I can live without and which ones I can take that don’t count as liquids. 

Eyebrows

When it comes to eyebrows, I find that taking a small kit like the L’Oreal Paris Brow Artist genius kit is sufficient. As long as I’ve had my eyebrows shaped before I go away, I can get away with just applying a bit of wax and powder through them and this keeps them looking good all day, even in the heat. Something like this doesn’t count as a liquid, so you don’t need to worry about it when you’re going through security.

Bronzer, highlighter and blush

To save space in my makeup bag, I like to take palettes. The Makeup Revolution Ultra Sculpt and Contour kit comes with a bronzer, a highlighter and a blusher. I find that all three shades are perfect for me and some days I just use the bronzer and highlighter. I’ve had a lot of compliments on the highlighter shade and everybody is shocked to find out just how cheap it was. It looks a lot like one of my higher end MAC highlighters.

The base

When it comes to liquids, I always have to have a BB or CC Cream and a concealer with me. At the moment I’m loving the Bourjois 123 Perfect CC cream. It adds just a bit of coverage and helps to even out my skin tone without being too heavy. The tube is small enough to not take up too much room and it’s also great for travel as it’s not breakable. The concealer I’ve been choosing to use recently is the Makeup Revolution Conceal and Define. This is such high coverage and is small enough to take in my hand luggage.

Mascara

My mascara of choice at the moment is the L’Oreal Paris Miss Baby Roll. I find that it really curls my short, stumpy lashes and makes them look voluminous all day. Mascara counts as a liquid when you’re going through security, so make sure it’s in your clear bag!

Lips

When it comes to lips, I tend to take just one bright lip colour and a lip balm. For the bright option, I’ve recently been going for one of the Dior Addict Lip Tattoos which give a lovely wash of colour and last for ages. The formula is really thin and dries down to a matte finish, so it’s really comfortable to wear. I’m definitely going to have to get another one of these in a darker colour.