Happy Hump Day! Well, I didn’t get my hair colored today. I’m now on day 11 of my roller set. Yeah. I know. I’m disgusting but my hair doesn’t look half bad this filthy! Besides, the

11th day Roller Set

hair appointment is all set for tomorrow afternoon. I really will feel like a new woman!

This UD Naked2 Palette. I love it so much. Today “Busted” from Naked2 is on my lids. I did a darker eyebrow today.  Lined the eyes with the NYColor liquid eyeliner. Tarte Mascara.

 You likey? The eyes may be old, but they can still look nice!  The eyebrows need a bit of cleaning up though!

My contribution for FrenchEntree was submitted. The article is about my cure for that period of time when you are in that antsy stage of waiting for your trip. Here’s a link:

FrenchEntree. Waiting for Your Next French Holiday

I’m taking my own advice on that “antsy” stage. In fact, I took it a level higher. I took my travel beauty bag out of my big suitcase for reassessment.   I keep a steady supply of my travel beauty essentials in this handy travel bag. The bag is divided into four sections which is great for unorganized little me.

• The first section holds my mascara, eyeliner, brow powder, “Well Rested” concealer, my Urban Decay Naked Basics eye shadow palette (Chippy ate the edge of the palette. At least he didn’t get to the eye shadow), and Kiehl’s lip balm in the first section. I don’t keep chapstick in there because I always have one on my person. BTW–this Naked Basics Palette is the greatest for travel. All of the shadows are matte and completely neutral. If you also notice, I don’t have any foundation.  I don’t wear it when I’m on vacation. I’ll still wear the primer, but no foundation. Weird–huh?
• The second section houses my brushes which need to be cleaned.
• Third section holds Q-Tips, cotton balls and hair fill-in powder for my roots (I’m gone for three weeks—a girl needs to be prepared, you know what I mean?)
• The fourth section is for all the skin care and miscellaneous travel sized goodies. Eye cream, Lancôme Visionnaire and Genifique samples, hand wash, primer, cheap lip gloss, I even have a travel sized Toppik—it’s soooooo cute!!!

See—it’s good that I’m reviewing this bag now. I can already see that I need to put tweezers in there and I need another super-magnifying travel mirror. Razors and shaving cream are also needed.

Travel Tip 1: After this travel beauty bag is returned to the suitcase, I’ll type a list of items that are still needed, print it out in LARGE letters and place it in the suitcase along with the travel bag. This way, when I go to pack my clothing, I’ll know exactly what I will need. Isn’t that a great tip to pass on?

Travel Tip 2: Another great tip is purchase makeup when department stores have those special gift promos. Those gift promos contain travel sizes which really are great for travel. I would much rather leave a travel sized item behind than leave a full-sized item behind.

Here’s my big travel suitcase. It’s by Kathy Van Zeeland and I picked it up a few years ago at TJ Maxx for around $50.00. It’s the best fifty bucks I’ve ever spent. I stinkin’ LOVE this suitcase! The first reason is that I can’t miss it when it’s coming into the baggage claim, those colors are easy to spot in the assembly line of black luggage. The second reason is that there’s tons of room! There’s a small zippered compartment in the front, which is great for carrying books and magazines. Behind that is another zippered compartment that’s great for stashing dirty laundry. (I figure if TSA decides to open my baggage, unzips that compartment with soiled unmentionables, they won’t snoop any further—not that I have anything to hide….) THEN, there’s another zipper—that when that zipper is opened, the top of the suitcase expands, allowing additional room to whatever is packed in the main compartment. Then you open another zipper and the suitcase is opened. I tell you, this thing is incredibly roomy.  Little wheels are hidden at the bottom for convenience.

The suitcase also came with a plastic “Goodie Bag” that snaps to the inside of the suitcase!Look how much junk I can stuff into this little goodie bag! Tan towels, Jergen’s fake tan, more Toppik, Tide detergent, hand cream, tissues…you name it, I think I have it!

Contents of goodie bag

In case my beauty bag becomes destroyed or I lose it (heaven forbid), I have a backup. In my suitcase are two other packing items. That envelope looking thingy holds sweaters and keeps them nice and contained. That other little case is for my panties.

Despite the fact that I travel with so many toiletries, I have to be honest with you here—I cannot stand traveling with a lot of clothing. Oh boy—that’s another story which will be covered as vacation time draws nearer!

These days packing for a trip doesn’t include diapers, or baby wipes, or a stroller, or a car seat, or a basketful of toys, or a ton of coloring or story books, or crayons and markers or many, many extra sets of clothing. I don’t miss that at all.  What I do miss is the happy noise of my kids’ excitement when we went away. I miss the looks on their faces when there was a new discovery–or when they arrived someplace they never expected to be. Let’s try to look at our adventurous trips and vacations the way kids do–with awe, and excitement, and a bit of naivety. It’s good for the spirit–don’t you think? We may be old, but we have young souls!

While you may be packing, here’s a little ditty from Francis Albert himself!

XOXOXOX!  I’m so excited–Mob Wives is on tonight!!!