Pack Up Your Troubles

There are two types of people, those that pack for every eventuality, that means a coat for all season's, more shoes than Clarks and varying thicknesses of jumpers, or people like me, who carry as little as possible but have multi-tasking products. 
Long Haul holidays I am a serious packer but a couple of days away then I am looking to make life easy and hopefully, carry items in my Whistles rucksack style handbag and either my holdall or my roomy Top Shop bag.

TopShop has provided me with many splendid handbags and it's the place I check first when I feel I need a new one. This is several years old but they have rather a splendid choice, do check out the TopShop sale here. 

This is rarely used as my main handbag and has become ideal for travelling as it has lots of compartments and loads of room for my bits and pieces. 

I am always careful about the skincare I take and although I edit it down I do have essentials, a cleansing balm is a must with many cloths! Hard balm cleansers travel well and Estee Lauder Advanced Micro Cleansing Balm is perfect, it works as part of my morning and evening cleanse, leaving my skin super clean. 

I take a couple of facial oils, one for am and one for the evening, Clarins and Tata Harper are so good and keep my skin settled. Clinique moisturiser is perfect for my daytime application and easy to pack rather than a pot of cream, same can be said of the Guerlain Midnight Secret, which my skin adores. My one jar that is essential is the Fresh Sugar Scrub, I always feel my skin needs more attention when we are away, from the travelling to the hotel rooms etc, it keeps my skin super smooth and not grey and sluggish. 

Makeup I try to edit down, two lip colours, one lipstick and one balm. A couple of eyeshadow palettes, plus eyeshadow pens,  By Terry, never let me down and make a great eyeliner for a subtle finish. Eyeliner is a must! two mascara, same with bases, Madara is perfect for a lighter choice and gives such a lovely glow to the face, Clarins slightly heavier for evenings but not full coverage.  Brow gel and highlighter I only need one of each and the same with concealer. I already have a powder that sits in my handbag and my makeup is packed into my handbag rather than with all my other items. 

I love to have a couple of choices of fragrance, even for a couple of days away, Chanel and Jo Malone are huge favourites. I don't wear a lot of jewellery but a bangle or two just dresses an outfit. 

I much prefer a scarf, this from Vivienne Westwood is perfect to tie my hair back or fasten around my neck to add to an outfit and if I've taken a small selection of clothing it gives an outfit a different aspect. 

My scarf was a gift from the brand for some work I did as a makeup artist but you can check out the Vivienne Westwood Sale here

I always have a spare pair of flats or sandals, depending on the season and a cardigan, perfect to just throw on and saves opening suit carriers or holdalls for clothing. 

As you may expect, I spend more time deciding on my skincare than anything else, I take clothes that can be layered but it has been known for clothing to be taken out to make room for more skincare and a red lipstick of course!

Links & Estee Lauder Balm sourced via lovethesales