It’s not often that I am stumped when packing beauty products, but in the case of travelling to a fancy Chateau on a press trip with BMW, I was a touch daunted. I felt the occasion called for chic, for timeless, for… that je ne sais quoi. After some thought, these qualified:
For more on the trip, click here.
SKINCARE /
CLEANSE / Though vehemently opposed to wipes, I kinda like these This Works In Transit No Traces cleanser soaked pads and used them to just loosen eye make-up a touch. I chased them with a scoop of my mini Organic Pharmacy Carrot Butter Cleanser and then Sunday Riley Ceramic Slip Clay Cleanser for my second cleanse (I also used this in the morning).
MOISTURE / In the evening, I either used Sunday Riley Good Genes or the Luna oil – full reviews here. After cleansing in the morning I just applied a touch of the Good Genes serum followed by Guinot Eye Cream with SPF (I was so obsessed with packing products I felt befitted the trip that I forgot my face/body SPF and had to borrow some of the husband’s – thankfully he’s heeded my ‘never go ANYWHERE without SPF’ advice and had plenty for me to pilfer).
BODY & HAIR / I was all about treating my body so stuck to one of my favourite luxe organic brands, Ila, and packed their mini Body Balm and mini shampoo, conditioner and body wash from the minis collection. As I was on a press trip and knew I’d be fairly busy, I kept hair styling as simple as possible and just let it dry before running a little Kerastase Elixir Ultime Solid through it to smooth down pesky unruly hairs.
MAKE-UP /
SKIN / I was going for enhanced lips and luminosity on the make-up front so first perfected my skin with Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation before concealing spots with Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage (what else?!) and any under eye bags with a combination of the SC and Eve Lom Light Illusion Concealer. I blended and applied concealer with a Zoeva Concealer Buffing brush.
BRONZE AND HIGHLIGHT / I wanted the most natural of natural finishes on skin, so swirled my Superdrug B Blusher and Contour Brush (not outstanding quality – the bristles aren’t quite as densely packed as they ought be, but they do the job and are very affordable) in the best cream bronzer I’ve ever come across: Chanel Soleil Tan de Chanel (which I’ve been VERY reliably informed is the source of Robbie Williams’ healthy hue when on stage). After that I popped YSL Souffle D’Eclat Loose Powder on my t-zone with a Laura Mercier Fan Brush and used a tiny touch of the Nars Christopher Kane Highlighter on top of cheekbones.
EYES / Eyes were simple – I just patted some of the paler shade from the Estee Lauder Bronzer Goddess palette onto the centres of my eyelids, curled my lashes and applied a lick of Estee Lauder Sumptuous Extreme Mascara. Brows were similarly simple: I just feathered a little HD Brows pencil through sparse patches and used RMK brow gel to keep them in place (FYI: this is the strongest brow gel I’ve ever used and even contains my mad, wiry brow hair!).
LIPS / Finally (phew!), I used Nars Audacious Lipstick in Anita during the day (dabbed on for just a touch of nude) and Tom Ford’s bright, punchy Willfull lip shine lipstick.
EXTRAS /
Perfume was a must, and this very decadent Maison Francis Kurkdjian Globetrotter Travel Spray came along with me, primarily because it looks so very good (so superficial! Naughty me. But it is glorious looking, isn’t it? It’s also marvellously heavy and would make an amazing gift). Nails were polished with Nailberry Happiness polish and a little lick of YSL’s Limited Edition Orange Drop polish – it slightly changes the colour of the polish underneath and adds a whole lot of shine to proceedings.