What's inside a real person's holiday makeup bag

Grubby, loved and overused products I can't be without

I love a nosy in other people's makeup bags.

And I don't mean Vogue delving into Victoria Beckham's perfectly curated pouch of product placement. Or a flawless influencer assuring me they'd definitely buy the £200 moisturiser even if it hadn't been #gifted.

I want the real guts and gore of someone's bashed-about, loved and trusted selection. So I thought I'd show you mine. This is what I've brought with me on holiday…

Face and base...

• The Lacura moisturiser is Aldi's dupe of Weleda Skin Food. I love the original and this is 90% as good, but much cheaper. I guess it's quite thick for being abroad somewhere warm but my dry skin drinks it up and I find makeup sits beautifully on it.

• Biovene SPF 50 Anti-ageing Face Fluid was something I picked up in Home Bargains on a whim as I felt I should have something to protect my face from the sun. It was only a few quid and has been brilliant; lovely texture and smells like Spanish cakes.

• My foundation of choice is Revolution Super Serum in F6. I LOVE this and am now on to my third bottle. It's only a fiver and performs like a luxe foundation. Super glowy, dewy and moisturising, it's another one probably most suited to dry skin.

• The ancient nameless concealer is Cover FX, which I'm not sure even exists anymore, sorry. I don't tend to use concealer on the daily, hence throwing this in last minute to obscure the gigantic spot that erupted on my chin the day before leaving. I'm battling these bastards every month at the moment; huge, sore, take forever to go and then leave a mark. If anyone has any good advice or product tips, please throw them my way 🙏🏼

• The face palette is by Beauty Pie. I didn't love the payoff from it initially but it's so handy for holidays as it covers everything I need in one place and has a really good mirror. The more I've used it though, the more I've enjoyed it. Sidenote: I no longer have a Beauty Pie subscription as the prices just seemed to keep creeping up to the point where it felt annoying to be paying the monthly fee on top of them. I was always impressed with product quality though, so worth exploring if you have the budget

Brushes

• The miniature face brushes are Real Techniques and absolute staples for me. I like to use the stubby one to apply bronzer before blending with the fluffier one. They are so brilliant for throwing in your handbag. I use them every day.

• I also threw in a couple of eye brushes in case I ever go near the eyeshadow palette.

Brows

• Another ride or die product I'm always banging on about is this MUA eyebrow pencil, Brow Define in Dark Brown. I won't repeat myself but it's like three quid and the best thing ever.

• The brow gel is Aldi from, honestly, about three years ago. I use it every single day and it still hasn't run out and I've no idea how or why.

Eyes

• I grabbed this cheap Collection palette recently as I wanted something compact and cool toned. It's fine. I really don't know why I've packed it but I shall report back if it comes to any use.

• The eye crayon is a cool toned grey one from Beauty Pie. Super easy to scribble on and blend for a quick smoky eye. ELF do good ones too if you want to try a cheaper version that's easy to get hold of.

• I think this is my favourite mascara now, Bad Gal Bang by Benefit, having pipped their Roller Lash to the post just slightly. The minis are a good way to try before you commit to the big one.

Lips

• I chucked a few lipliners in without paying much attention. There's a Kiko bright orangey red, a raspberry one from Collection (a recent purchase I am enjoying v much) and a nude pink so old it has the wrong lid and no identifying features remaining.

• I always feel it's nice to have a red lipstick on holiday and I decided to go for a raspberry over my usual hot-weather coral, which now seems kinda stark and harsh on my face. This is a MAC one, created by Sam Chapman (of YouTube Pixiwoo fame), which I think was a limited edition. I met her at an event once and she was so lovely.

• Thank god I don't rely on affiliate links to feed my family as the second lipstick is also a random discontinued one from Sainsbury's I've talked about previously. Any basic pink nude will serve you well here.

• Then the final lip product is a Kat Von D liquid lip in Lolita II...and yup...it's discontinued. I think there's a new one in the rebranded line but I can't figure out exactly which one. Very annoying as this is such a great shade for me.

Nails

• This Essie shade in Wicked is the only thing to ever grace my toes. Total classic.

• I treated myself to a biab mani (the first in YEARS 🥲) just to make me feel a wee bit more polished. I went for a bright red with bare half moons as I thought this might make regrowth less obvious?? Here's hoping because it'll be the 12th of never by the time I get the chance to get it redone/removed.

That's it! Hope you found this ramble useful somehow.

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P.S. Lol at me thinking I'd have more time to write on holiday. There might be some short and sweet posts at random times though - I'm still off Instagram so maybe I'll just bore you with all my holiday snaps here instead…🤓