Travel Size Beauty

Travel size beauty products are my favorite way to try out something new, especially something with a heftier price tag than I’m used to. On my last trip to Ulta I decided to pick up a few new products I've been itching to try but was reluctant to because of the investment.

I had seen all sorts of bloggers and YouTubers raving about the Your Skin But Better CC Cream from IT Cosmetics. Everyone described it as glowy and dewy with a decent amount of coverage, which is the perfect combo in my book. The .5oz travel size tube will only run you $15 at Ulta.

It's been my go-to base for the past few weeks and I am in love.  I’ve been layering it on top of the Loreal Magic Lumi primer and setting it with the lightest touch of translucent powder. It is the truest example I have found of ‘it feels like I’m not wearing anything’ makeup.  My very favorite thing.

I had also been wanting to try the Living Proof Perfect hair Day dry shampoo. It is advertised as 'the only dry shampoo that actually cleans your hair'.  I don't know about that but it is pretty stinkin great. True confession time, I have never been a huge believer in dry shampoo. I know millions of people swear by it, and I recommended it to folks all the time when I worked in the salon.  But every formula I tried left my hair feeling full of gunk and grime, and I would prefer to just actually wash my hair.
However, my hair is now long and blonde and the time it takes, plus the damage to my ends from regular heat styling made me want to give the old dry shampoo another go.  And...my life will never be the same.
I don't have too hard a time getting second day hair to style well. I wear my hair down most days and sleep with it in a high ponytail to prevent any weird kinking and curling. So, day two I cover the pony with a shower cap in the shower and give it a quick fluff and touch up any funky bends or kinks with the flat iron and I'm good to go. This week I sectioned off at my crown and blasted a little bit of the Living Proof dry shampoo before I did my normal touch up and I swear, it made such a difference.  My hair felt clean, not sticky, and it added the nicest lift at my roots that I can never get on the second day.  AND, it looked great the third day too!  I sprayed a bit more through my hair then I did for day two, but still had volume and felt almost no residue or build up.

The last thing I picked up was the Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray. I've been using it pretty much every day and it's good.  I'm just not sure if it's great.  I am more than happy with the staying-put-ness of my makeup lately but, I'm using a primer and the new CC cream, so I'm not sure if the staying power is because of the spray.  I don't notice too much of a difference at the end of the day when I don't use the spray, so I'm not blown away by it's contribution to the party.
I'm thinking it would be a great choice for special occasion makeup but I'm not adding it to my must-haves for daily use.

Barely there CC cream plus decent second-day hair in action!

So all in all the latest mini-product haul was a great success.  The CC cream and dry shampoo are for-sure winners, I'll most likely splurge on the full-size versions when I run through them.  And I'm hanging on to the setting spray for sure.  Just not as in love.  Sorry, the other two just set too high a bar!