The Mrs Journal 

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I sit here writing this while on a short vacation to Portugal. I have been here many times, my better half is from here, and its probably where I developed my love for espressos, coffee with milk is so overrated!

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The attitude towards make up here is not the same as at home, which is great! I love a make up free day, afternoon or dinner and here I feel completely unjudged. But equally I love my make up so I always bring some with me!

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But this stressed me out before travelling here, (to be honest it doesn't much) because I was traveling only with hand luggage, which meant I have a limit on how much I could bring due to space and liquid restrictions. This meant there was only room for one of each item which meant there wasn't room for error. But equally it would put the minimal products I brought with me to the test and by the end of the week I would either love them or hate them. 

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PRIMER: NIVEA MEN Sensitive After Shave Balm £5.29 (100ml)

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Either you be reading this thinking what a men product that not even a primer! Is she crazy?! Or you will know this is been a known trick for a while. This was the first primer I used, mainly because my Dad uses this and I was already on the bathroom shelf, and it works! It feels tacky on the skin as if something will stick to it, something you definatley need from a primer!

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(N.B.My skin can be oily at times, always in the T-Zone but it can become very dry in the winter due to the weather changes and central heating!)

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I have tried a couple of other primers from the drugstore but none of them have worked as well as this, for me personally, and if you can get it on sale its a bargin! The only down size for this product is that in comes in a very bulky glass container which is not travel friendly, it would take up most of that small clear bag there give you at secruity! I always decant a small amount in to one of those small pump bottles you can get - problem solved! This product has not let me down on this trip and I has worked very well with the foundation I brought with me! 

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FOUNDATION: MAC Pro Longwear Foundation in NC15 £27.00 (30ml)

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OK, there is small piece of me that wishes that I brought a drugstore foundation but I love my MAC Pro Longwear Foundation and it never lets me down. It is full coverage and works brillantly with my primer.

My other opition was my Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless in 105 Natural Ivory (£6.99 30ml) but I usually wear that to work and I am on my holidays so I wanted to treat myself!

 

It is full coverage and some days I have been wearing for up to 12 hours and it is still there at the end of the day, and that with countless hours in front of the fire! (No, central heating here! My skin is loving it!) My love for this product have not changed, it  is still one of my top foundations, although it on the pricey side £27, its worth it! To me it has one of the best colour matches for my skin tone and its reliable. which you need as finding a foundation for a pale skin girl like me in the country is difficult. I have not found one foundation with either ivory or porcelain in the name here!

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CONCEALER: Collection Lasting Perfection Ulimate Wear Concealer in Shade 1/Fair £4.19 (6.5ml)

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A more recent addition to my beauty collection, although it may have been one of the few products I used as a teenager! At home I have been mainly using this to attempt to do some cut creases and I had been using the Maybelline Age Rewind concealer (£8.99 6.8ml)in the lightest shade. But we have not been getting along, I think I may have a fault product as as I does not come out for the sponge the way it should and the colour for me is not the greatest. So I thought why not try this!

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Normally on a daily based, i.e. to work I do not wear concealer, people can embrace me, dark under eyes, acne and all! But this product is thick and full coverage it clears anything and everything it path. Basically you do not need a lot of product. There has been a couple of downside to this product, but neither are down to the product itself. One is that it is best to blend out this product with a sponge- I did bring one with me (what was I thinking?!) Secondly because it is a think and heavy product it needs setting and unfortunatley my powder was not up to it!

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POWDER: MISS SPORTY So Matte Instant Matte Finish Super Mattifying Powder £2.99 (9.4g)

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Did they want to say matte one more time?! My current powder is the Coty Airspun Loose Face Powder in Translucent, but is not travel friendly and I was hitting pan on my Rimmel Lasting Finish Powder 001 Light Porelain. Previously I have used a Miss Sporty Powder (So Clear Anti-Spot Pressed Powder) is was great for travelling I was hoping to get the same one again but unfounatley it was out of stock when my sister kindly went to the shop so she got me this one instead.

*N.B. A Big should out to my twin for do my drugstore shopping for me and recommending this to me*

Over a light to meduim foundation/concealer with someone who does not have dry skin it would work great. By the time my skin was less dry it was working better and better, I cannot berate this product too much, its £2.99 and it does mattify the skin. I was partly to blame as I was using the wrong product from the work job, but I was only making best us to the products I had brought with me!

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BRONZER AND BLUSHER: The Body Shop Bronzing Powder: Light Matte 01 £14.00 (11g) & Bourjois Blusher in Shade 95 Jasper Rose £6.49 (2.5g)

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Two products which I have been using for the longest time and a duo I can rely on! They give me both a subtle defination and a healthy glow on my pale skin. Plus the blusher include the name one of my cats so an extra point for that - I actually think that the reason why I brought it in the first place!

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BROWS: Benefit Precisley My Brow Pencil in Shade 3 £20.00 (0.08g)

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I like darker brows as I mentioned in my ICONIC LONDON Brow Product review so shade 3 would not be the first choice of colour for other blonde haired girl but it works for me! It has a fine point which is great at drawing on the brow shape and filling them in. What more do you want from a brow product! It is super easy to use, the only down side is the product does transfer so at the end of the day and some for them being very, very long days they were patches where the product had been rubbed away. One I need to stop touching my eyebrows, two, maybe a  brow gel would have helped the situation? Overall verdict I would bring it again!

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LASHES: Max Factor False Lash Effect Mascara £10.99 (13.1ml)

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*DISCLAIMER: I use eyelash curlers with every mascara, my eyelashes are as flat as pancakes! I could not live without my eyelash curlers and they are probably on my desert island list!*

This mascara is great at great great black lashes with volume, it can definatley can be built up to get that false lash effect without become one big lump. This product does not flake off or transfer, I used to only use waterproof mascara due to this problem, which were not kind to my sensitve eyes or my lashes! Also it doesnt add to much length which is perfect for me as I wear glasses.

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EYESHADOW PRIMER: MAC Pro Longwear Paint Pot in Shade Soft Ochre £16.00 (5g)

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Love Love Love this product cannot wear eyeshadow without it! I have tried other primers but this is the best. The colour is great and it gives a plain canvas (eyelid redness be gone!). It holds up and will not let your eyeshadow become creased! Another expensive product but is worth every single penny!

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HIGHLIGHTER (OPTIONAL EXTRA!): The Balm Cosmetics Mary-Lou Manizer AKA "The Luminizer" £20.00 (8.4g)

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Just being extra as it is my holidays. The Mary-Lou is a good subtle highlighter for daily use. Sometimes I feel it does not show up great on the cheeky (does it get swallowed by my  XL pores) but looks great on cupid bow and brow bones! Normally I would use my MUA Luxe Set & Reflect Finishing Kit £5.00 but felt like a change! Overall I prefer my MUA highlighter but do not regret bring  this in the slightest!

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EYELINER (OPTIONAL EXTRA!): NYX Epic Ink Liner 01 Black £9.00 (1ml)

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I brought this at the last minute, I am a sucker for an eyeliner. This is a highly pigmented, waterproof matte black liner. It has a brush tip which is great this great those flicks and wings. It does not transfer and actually waterproof, it did not disappear when my eye leaks (I have the driest eyes!) Something my Anastasia of Beverly Hill Eye Creme in Jet Black (£18.00)  has a habit of doing, plus mine is starting to dry out! The only downside, I can see is that due to the tip being a fine brush I would not be a great eyeliner for a beginner. In conclusion this is a welcomed addition to my make up bag.

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LIPSTICK: Jeffree Star Cosmetics Velvor Lipstick in Celebrity Skin £16.00 (5.4ml)

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This has been my go to nude lipstick for over a year! I knew when I could only take one lipstick it had to be this one. I goes with everything. I can be dry so I decided to save it for special occasions and brought myself a coloured lip balm which I wore most days! Its still my go to lipstick, day, night, any occassion!

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EYESHADOWS: Make Up Revolution Soph Eyeshadow Palette £10.00 & Morphe Single Pressed Pigment in Shade Gold Digger £6.50

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Imagine bring your most expensive eyeshadow palette to find once you got there it was smashed! My worst nightmare! So I thought I would bring my most inexpensive pallette which happens to be the pallette I reach for the most, The Soph Palette by Make Up Revolutio, plus my favourite gold eyeshadow to go with the fine aray of yellow jumpers I brought with me! The Morphe Pressed Pigment in the shade Gold Digger £6.50. I am hoping to do an in depth review of both of these products, ( I have a few of the Morphe Pressed Pigments!), at a later date so I will leave it there for now!

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Hope you enjoyed this post!

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Lots of Love

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Char

x

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(N.B. Price are subject to change, these where the figure I found at the time - 12/01/2018)

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