Splurge or save: Travel makeup kit

I recently shared some of my top picks for travel-friendly makeup. Many of the products are also natural(ish) or organic, but unfortunately, a lot of them are super pricy!

As I am travelling for most of October, I thought I would share the splurge vs save version of what ended up in my makeup kit.

	SPLURGE	SAVE
Blush & high-lighter	RMS’s Lips2Cheek is lust-worthy, and I can’t count the number of times I put it in my online shopping cart, before realising that £34 for blush is maybe excessive right now. Le sigh.	I found a cream highlighter stick at Boots (regular price £2.40, but I got it in a 3 for 2 sale with the other “Natural Collection” items). The Coral Glow colour is a pinky-coral colour with highlighting glimmer. Heading into the Australian spring, I thought this was a fresh spring/summer option. The packaging reflects the price tag (I am not sure how durable they will be), but willing to give it a go when my bank account won’t permit another RMS purchase.
Lipstick	I NEARLY tipped convinced myself to go for the Lips2Cheek, since it can double as a lip colour, but I so far have not caved. I do have one of my favs on deck – Viva Glam II from Mac (£15.50). Definitely not a “budget” choice, but easily one of my favourite lipstick colours for the past year, and since it is already in my collection, there is no additional cost right now.	I have a lot of lipstick, and I agree that putting on a bright fun lip can make you look and feel confident and put together. One of my favourite budget-friendly options is Solow from Color Pop. I have a mini-size one of these, which will be coming with me (full size £4). The only tricky thing is that currently it is hard to get Color Pop outside of the US (although Sephora will be starting to carry them!), so I thankfully have got my bestie to be my lipstick mule and send me some.
Found-ation	Now that I have gone on about how pricy RMS is, I do have to admit that I caved and bought a pot of the uncoverup foundation/concealer and I love it (£30). It is creamy and smooth and comes in a lovely durable and compact glass bucket. Even though it has a high price tag, I still think this is a great option.	Previously, I have travelled with Bare Minerals foundation, as it is already a powder and the container is pretty good at harnessing the powder and preventing leakage. However, I would say, it is not really that “budget” as it still rings in at £20-25. And you would need to take a foundation brush along.
Brows	I currently have a pretty lux brow system – a powder from Mac (£13), which I go over with a “fibre” coloured brow gel (£15), which together make for a strong brow.	Also part of the Natural Collection, my new brow gel is only a few pounds and seems really pigmented and does a good job of coaxing my unruly brows to lie down.
Mascara	In the last post, I mentioned my love for Bobby Brown (£22). It is one of my fav mascaras of life, and I have one last precious tube of it.	I have decided for my travel bag/gym bag, I could probably make do with a cheaper option, so I am giving the Natural Collection a try. I bought the WaterGuard waterproof mascara, so it doesn’t melt all over my face when it gets hot. Again, it usually costs £2.40, but it was part of the promo.
Beauty blender	The cult-classic Beauty Blender is a great travel tool, as I don’t need to carry brushes. However, this piece of foam is £16!	Two different options. I ended up buying a two pack of the mini beauty blender (sending one to the bestie for her upcoming travels). They are actually TINY, so you would need to be quite patient to apply a full face of foundation with these little guys, but they do work well.There are also other budget options: e.g. Real Techniques is the one that gets the most press (£5).
TOTAL	£145.50	£33.80