I’m heading to New York City tomorrow to visit some friends and while I’m not bringing too much makeup (in my book anyway), I love planning out what to pack and doing so in advance even lets me post about it! (Bonus that I then figure out what the heck I’m missing from makeup bag while writing up the post too…)

Alright, we’ve got some new travellers on the block here! The Tarte Rainforest After Dark palette does NOT get enough love in my collection so I’m packing it so I’ll be forced to use it. It also saves me on bringing a bronzer and a highlighter, plus it comes with a blush. Perfect every day essentials in that compact disk right there.

But… of course I need some colour in my life. Wet n Wild’s California Roll has colours that I would reach for most (red) so I’m chucking that one in my bag.

And since neither of two palettes actually comes with a matte cream brow bone shade (the one in the Tarte palette veers far too pink for my tastes), I’ve got my ever so perfect Wet n Wild single shadow in Brulee thrown in for good measure. I can’t tell you how handy it is having a single shadow that’s perfect for highlighting your brows. I don’t care what brand it is, so handy!

Various necessities here. My Milani eyeshadow primer is the only thing keeping my eyeshadows from overly creasing lately. (It does conk out around the 12 hour mark OR slightly before that if it’s hot as hell outside.)

A Labello lip butter in Coconut because I love me some lip balm.

And, of course, I couldn’t just travel with ONE blush, so I grabbed for essence‘s Autumn Peach because it’s more orange toned than the pink shade in the Tarte palette. Stunning, STUNNING shade too.

Both of those MAC lipsticks are becoming frequent travellers. Relentlessly Red is what I consider “my shade” (that’s the pinkier one) and Barbecue is that perfect orangey-red (but more orange than red) that seems to suit a lot of occasions. I brought both of these lipsticks with me to Florida back in April too.

Too Faced Melted Strawberry is in there because not only do I love the formula, but it’s also a fun red to wear. I may need, I may not – but I sure do love having options.

My NYX Micro Brow Pencil is far too close to being finished so I didn’t trust it to last the length of my five day trip. Instead, I opted for the Marcelle Nano and the Maybelline Define + Fill Duo pencils. Not super exciting I suppose, but I didn’t want to be fussing around with my potted eyebrow products while on vacation so pencils were a definite must have for me.

More necessities here.

• The Clarins Aquatic Green waterproof eyeliner is if I want to play around with some colour amongst that neutral Tarte palette. This liner is no joke either – it stays put like nobody’s business.
• The Kat Von D Tattoo Liner is there because I’m pretty sure I can’t go five days straight without doing winged liner (plus this is the absolute BEST pen for doing quick lines without fussing around).
• I also can’t wear lipstick without MAC‘s Prep + Prime for lips (I get bleed out no matter what I do, but this stuff saves me!).
• NYX‘s Milk because those Wet n Wild shadows need a solid base to make them pop.
• Urban Decay‘s Perversion mascara because not only is it amazing, but I also have an itty bitty sample size perfect for travel!
• And lastly, my rollerball perfume – Pacifica‘s Lilac Blossom. We’re at the tail end of summer so I doubt I’ll be wearing this perfume much longer, but it’s my only rollerball and fit perfectly in my makeup bag.

And that’s it! I leave Thursday and I come back midday Monday. I don’t tend to do the touristy things in New York anymore because I’ve been visiting one friend there for… well probably a decade now, but I’m excited to just hang out, eat, drink and be merry. Plus you know… visit the Bite Beauty Lip Lab! 😉