Do you have an at-the-ready travel bag of cosmetics?  If you do, then you know what I’m talking about.

My travel cosmetics bag, which I’ve edited!!

If you don’t, might I suggest creating one and stashing it in a weekender or piece of luggage that you regularly use.  Why?  Well, because when you have that travel stash of makeup and skin care, it’s just one less thing that you have to think about before traveling.

Hmmm. Did I pack my blush, concealer, contour, mascara, foundation, skincare, deodorant……..

Bonaparte and I are spending next weekend in D.C.  We haven’t been there in a while and he thought it would be a good time to visit, have a nice dinner and peruse a few museums.  Besides—today is our Wedding Anniversary and Labor Day Weekend is just not the weekend to get away for a quiet weekend together!

The first weekend in October, I’ll be flying to Cincy to assist Oona in looking for a wedding dress and in November the husband and I will be in Paris for the Thanksgiving weekend!

If mommy has her way, Oona will be walking up the aisle in something like this.  Ohhhh.  Wait. It isn’t about me–it’s about Oona!!!

Worrying about what makeup I’ll bring is the last thing I want to be bothered with.

I do have a travel makeup collection. It’s housed in one of those hanging cosmetic bags which comes in so handy.  All that’s needed is a door knob to hang it over.

And in that bag is a small eyeshadow palette.  This palette served me well for many years.  Chippy snacked on the edges of the palette.  The palette dropped and the mirror broke but I still used it.  I’ve hit pan on two of the shadows and just hit pan on a third.  But the issue is that it’s by Urban Decay and I purchased it before my “fallout” with the brand.  (Urban Decay sent me  a condescending email after I inquired about why their 24/7 pencil was so hard to sharpen:  OMG It’s a Crisis). What I loved about the shadows in the small palette is that they were totally neutral. And I’m a fan of neutrals.

Chippy must have thought this was a candy bar because he munched on the edges…..

The mirror broke, I’ve hit pan on two shadows and just hit pan on Venus–but I absolutely refuse to purchase any more UD items–and trust me, I LOVED this palette!!

Besides that, when I’m traveling I don’t want to lug a ton of cosmetics around with me.  I also prefer traveling with drug-store brands rather than luxury brands.  It is simply because if I leave a luxury brand behind, I’ll be angry with myself for a while.  I honestly won’t feel that bad if I leave a less expensive product behind. And I’m not saying this to be snotty because I love my less pricey makeup–I just will feel worse about the amount of money spent!

Anyway, lately I’ve even been trying to cut the amount of “stuff” I carry in my travel makeup bag.  Unless I’m staying somewhere for two or three weeks, there’s not much I need other than foundation (and in the summer I don’t even bring foundation along on trips), eye makeup, blush, contour/bronzer, lip gloss and a few skincare items.

As far as skincare goes, I’ve got a massive amount of samples that come in handy while traveling.

Keep those samples in your travel bag–they come in very handy!!!

But cosmetics is another thing.  I’m a fan of eyeshadow palettes and God knows I have enough of them, but I’ve never bothered with a palette that would give me a complete look.

Until now.

Makeup Revolution, an affordable brand, is a brand that I’ve liked for a few years now. The eyeshadows are a good quality and nicely pigmented.  Basically, I’ve never had an issue with any of the products I’ve purchased.  I did purchase their banana powder but the yellow didn’t work for me—and I’ll be giving it to my daughter Oona because it’ll work very well with her complexion.  But back to the palette.

Revolution’s Cream Contour Palette is incredible!  The shades are so cool-skin friendly and just blend so well…

One of the Revolution Palettes made my Best of List.  I’ve since hit pan on so many of the silky shades!

Emilynoel83 is one of the YouTube personalities I follow.  Like Wayne Goss and Tati Westbrook, I trust her.  Her reviews are honest and greatly detailed. If a product doesn’t work for her, she’ll let you know the cons without trash talking.   And it just so happens that Makeup Revolution collaborated with her to create two palettes.  The Collab is The Emily Edit.   The pallets are The Wants and The Needs.

This is the back side of  the box that The Wants palette comes in.  There’s a lot of color in this but I’m still intrigued!

The Wants is an eyeshadow palette which I’ll write about in another blog post.

The Needs is the palette the was so appropriately named because, I swear, we all need this palette. In fact, this should be the go-to palette for every woman who travels—whether it’s once in a while or on a regular basis!

The Needs—everything you need in one palette!

Let me show you and explain just why I feel so strongly about this.  First of all, the price point is phenomenal; $15 for a face-full of product.  She’s curated the products so carefully and selected them from other collections that Revolution created.  A rather pragmatic choice if you will.

The Needs palette measures 7 inches by 4 inches—making it compact enough to fit into your travel bag.

It fits beautifully into the bottom zippered section of my travel makeup bag!

The case itself is a sturdy plastic with a built-in clasp that is just as strong.  Open it up and there is one of those clear protection sheets which I happen to keep as it’ll make the mirror stay clean. And speaking of mirrors—this mirror is great!   It’s large enough that you can actually see what you are doing.  Believe me, if your eyesight is as bad as mine, you will appreciate that!

A full mirror and very good quality too!  I appreciate that! Hopefully I won’t break it!

The products are one highlighter, one blush which appears to be very warm but goes on peachier—making it pretty universal, and one contour.  We also have six shadows which are very neutral-friendly and there is also another eye highlighter.

Face colors on the left.  Shadows on the right.  I like the names of these too. Everything is just so well-thought out and curated!

The shadows are matte—with the exception of Passion, which has a small amount of glimmer, making it perfect for those evenings out—are well-pigmented and not ashy or chalky.

I used the palette yesterday to test it out and was so happy with the results that after my manicure, I drove to the Ulta in Collegeville to see if there were any palettes available.

I had my nails filed down too because  they were getting in the way of my tapping at the keyboard at work! OPI Big Apple Red–the only color I put on my nails!

I picked up a second as a backup and picked up The Wants as well.

A backup of The Needs was very much needed.  And I could not pass up The Wants.  And look!  I got a free gift!  A cute little palette!

OK everyone. I actually took my glasses off so you could see the subtle softness of the shadows from The Needs! Yesterday’s look…

Oh Sweet Lord–I feel more comfortable with my glasses on.  Here’s another look.  The contour, blush and highlighter were also used.  It’s just such a subtle look but if you want, you can build the colors up!

Today, on our First Wedding Anniversary, I decided to use the palette for a subtle look because The Frenchman loves a subtle makeup look!

My finished look for today!  I must say, this is a great palette for the “Over 50 and 60” demograph due to the subtle quality.  Very natural!  Don’t judge me for having Sriracha Sawse and a half-full bottle of wine on the counter.  I’m still nursing this vile cold that is now in my chest!!!

Here’s how I used it:

I first brushed Kindness all over from lid to browbone.  Oh..I have the snail pads under my eyes. They multi-task as protectors against falling shadow! Then I brushed the shade peace over that as a transition shade.

These colors are nicely pigmented and can also be built up!

The shade Hope was used in the crease and blended out with a Morphe blending brush.

Then I took this brush by elf–I paid a dolla for it–yeah–a dolla!  I lightly lined under my eyes with the color Hope. LIGHTLY!!!!!

Those little silicone pads are greatness as is this brush for lining the under lids!

A little Kindness under the brows….

Mascara and  a tightline,  foundation and we are almost done!

Contouring with the shade Courage and using a fluffy brush by iT cosmetics…

A hint of peachy color with Joy!  I topped it off with highlighting with Gratitude but was interrupted when Oona sent me this photo from Florence, Italy…

Oona and my future son-in-law, Sam, were enjoying fancy coffee and pastries laden with Pistachio nuts.  Now I wanna go to Italy.   

Back to my look:

Thank you Emily Noel for curating such a pragmatic, useful and beautiful palette that’ll go from everyday to weekend trips to across the Atlantic!  The Needs will definitely be seeing a lot of new places!  And thank you to Makeup Revolution for collaborating with an honest and thoughtful woman.  You and Emily are a great combo!

I’ve emptied out my travel case of a few items.

Bronzer, contour, shadows and a blush.  Products that are very good but take up too much room since I’m using one palette with everything!

That’s it.  A great palette that is now in my travel case.  I want to add two things. Sometimes a cream blush works better for me—especially in the winter.  This cream cheek color, Maggie by Thrive Causemetics is in my travel bag.  At one end is the product and the other is a dense brush—which means less brushes to carry!  It’s all about incorporating products that are handy while traveling.

I threw this cheek color into my bag because it comes with a built-in brush. I can also use it as a lip color!

And although I did use The Ordinary’s Serum foundation for my two looks, I will be throwing the Wet ‘n Wild Cushion foundation into my travel bag.  The foundation is compact, spill proof, hydrating and perfect for travel!

I loaded up on these cushion foundations during a sale and have five of them…

This is a great travel foundation because it won’t spill but there’s not much product so a few trips and you’ll run out!  Still is hydrating AF!!

What’s in your travel cosmetics bag?  Do you have one at the ready?  I’m curious because I’m not the most organized person in the world but with my travel makeup, I’m pretty obsessive!

I realize that I haven’t been that great with posting outfits that I’ve worn this summer but I’ve dont a ton of repeats.  I’m not purchasing new clothes either because Oona’s wedding is next summer and I want to save for her wedding.  In the meantime, here’s my Labor Day Weekend outfits!

Saturday started out rainy and cool I spent the day baking but before I did, I wore an 
All-American outfit of blue denim shorts, a classic white tee and saddle shoes!  I wanted a pair of saddle shoes just because.  Perhaps I was feeling nostalgic but I love the way they look!

Sunday was a camo tee and white shorts.  When I went out I wore a pair of  flip-flops because it got really hot.  

Today Bonaparte and I are celebrating our first wedding anniversary!  We’ve been together for 14 years but as Mr. and Mrs. Lartigue–for one!  I ordered this pair of 2017 sandals from a Jack Rogers sale because I wanted to wear them for our anniversary–this way The Frenchman will never forget the year we were married!  I’m also wearing a white shift that I should have been wearing all summer but didn’t.  And this is why I will not put my summer clothing away until the end of October. It’s still hot!!!!

Have a great Labor Day and I hope your weekend was a stellar one. I’ve got more makeup reviews coming up!!!!