Operation Desert Rogue Part 1: What’s in My Travel Kitbag? and Desert Makeup Tips

Greetings from amidst swirling desert sands, fellow rogues!

Hello from Sharjah! I know I’ve been saying Dubai, but that was more for convenience of recognition (and where most of my makeup shopping was going to happen ;-)). Sharjah is the neighbouring emirate, and that’s where the conference actually is. I’m so happy to be back in the Middle East – I love adventuring in this part of the world, and if you ever get the chance, I highly recommend paying the countries in this region a visit 🙂

Right, so! I expect you’re all just desperate to hear all about it, right? You’ve been waiting by your computers, refreshing your blog feeds every five seconds in the hopes of a glistening gem of rogueish wisdom? Right? *tumbleweed skitters past* 😛 Well, I have several posts in the works for you, but this first one will cover the makeup I took with me on my trip. Fair warning,  I couldn’t take my big camera with me,  so all of the pictures from my trip are/were done on a mobile device, mostly in bad light. Yeah. *cringe* Sorry about that, but when you don’t have a handy wizard with an illumination spell, things get sticky…

First up: What did I take with me?

My relatively minimalist, conference appropriate travel makeup selection!

 

As you can see from the photo, I didn’t take a *huge* amount of stuff. Partly this is because I wanted to keep my kitbag pretty light (amusing: my carryon, with my massive laptop, weighed 9.6 kg. My checked luggage weighed 9.2 kg – gotta leave the rest of that 30kg checked limit for the new makeup, amirite? ;-)), and I knew I was going to be doing some makeup shopping, so there didn’t seem to be much point in going nuts. I did know, however, that most of my makeup purchases here would be lip-related, so I still brought the staples from the eye and complexion catgories!

We have:

Tarte MATTEnificent palette (toss up between this and the Naked 2, but I thought I’d give the Tarte one an outing since I took the Naked 2 around Europe and Morocco last year. Can’t have the palettes getting envious, you know). This palette is also conference-appropriately matte and neutral. I’ve reviewed it here, and the Naked 2 here.

Urban Decay 24/7 liners in Demolition/Perversion and Corrupt/Zero Can’t go wrong with black and brown, right? My everyday shade is Demolition (matte medium dark brown), but I wanted to take Zero (matte black) because the Perversion (matte super black) end of my liner is a dud. Corrupt is a shimmery brown for variety. LOVE these liners!

Clinique Cheek Pop Blush in Peach Pop A gorgeous blush. Need I say more? The Tarte Palette has a pink blush, so I thought I would bring my peachy friend here along too for some variety. Reveiw here.

Chanel Curlers A must-have, (well, curlers at least. They don’t have to be Chanel, although these ones are really excellent) because you can make yourself look more awake even without mascara!

YSL BB Creme in Clear My staple ‘foundation’ for when I want to be naturally, hydratedly (totally a word) polished. It’s 40 degrees Celsius (104 Farenheit) here by, like, 8am so I didn’t want too much on my face, but it’s also a desert (or heavily air conditioned), so I wanted something moisturising. Review here.

Clinique Universal Primer I’m trying this out, and I quite like it. Makeup goes on a little more smoothly, and I feel like it lasts a little longer. Review coming soon!

Clinique Waterproof Mascara A rogue and her mascara samples can never be separated, you know. 😉 I’ve reviewed this product here – what can I say? I live on mascara samples. I like waterproof mascara though because it never smears or travels or smudges. Great for hot weather traveling!

Lancome Eyeshadow in Tres Chocolat – My Eyebrow Powder I’ve done a charisma stat-boosting eyebrow tutorial here with this nifty little eyeshadow – I absolutely love it for my brows! It’s a matte dark brown that’s great for its intended purpose (eyeshadow), but it also doesn’t budge in the brows and gives a nice soft, filling effect.

Clinique Chubby Stick in Voluptuous Violet This nearly transparent purple has the twin virtues of being balmy and hydrating (great for the desert!) and able to match every outfit (sice all it really does is kind of intensify/darken your natural lip colour. Review here.

Revlon Lacquer Balm in Demure The perfect nude conference lipstick for pale rogues! The thing I like about it though, is that although it’s quite conservative, it’s moisturising, minty without plumping, and has *sparkles* 😀 Review here.

Chanel Nail Lacquer in Frisson I wasn’t sure about nail polish for this trip. It’s kind of heavy, and all of the colours I like to wear while flying (reds like this, don’t ask me why) aren’t really conference fodder. I know that sounds silly, but see this post for a discussion of the issues academia and makeup have. Frisson is great and aptly named – it’s a peachy polish with lots of gold micro micro micro shimmer. You can use one coat for a sheer hint, or two/three for more definite colour, but it never gets too overt, and just gives you a nice sparkle in the light. Very sophisticated, but it has glitter, so yay!

Lancome UV Expert BB Complete SPF 50 PA +++ I’m bnot sure if this is available in the US, but it’s basically a tinted sunscreen. Sunscreens and my skin don’t usually get along that well (TiO2 blocks my pores a bit, chemical ones irritate my excema), so I generally don’t wear a standalone one – I just cover my head and face with things when I have to go outside, and run from shadow to shadow (once a rogue, always I rogue, I guess!). However, when you travel to the desert (even though this one has more of an ozone layer than NZ does), I feel sunscreen is appropriate. I think this comes in 3 or so shades. I have a sample of the lightest one, although the tint is not really super strong anyway. If you’d like to see a review, let me know!

 

Desert quest time! Will your makeup last till the end of the catacomb?

 

Lastly, I just wanted to share a couple of tips for desert/hot/dry weather makeup! Most of this is probably obvious, so I’ll keep it brief 😉 The main thing is to take waterproof makeup, preferably with a good SPF where appropriate. It’ll resist sweating, and around the eyes it’ll resist any watering you get from dry/dusty desert conditions (or excessive aircon). The next thing is to make your layers of makeup thin. Lisa Eldridge is a great proponent of this theory and has an excellent video about hot weather makeup that discusses it. I like my foundation sheer anyway, but a good primer (mattifying if you get oily in the heat) will help to keep things fresh and in place. Make sure your lipsticks/glosses/balms are nice and hydrating. If it’s really dusty, a lipgloss is usually not your friend, as it will collect the dust and grit in the air. Fruity or floral smelling/scented lipglosses or balms are also not necessarily great, as large flies can be attracted to your lips, and (on a less gross note) if you’re covering your face with a scarf to keep out the dust/for cultural reasons, the fabric will get stuck to a lipgloss. Lastly: you’re going to be drinking a lot of water, so make your peace with more frequent re-application of your lip products now ;-).

I think that’s probably enough for the time being! Hope you enjoyed this little travel makeup ramble, and stay tuned for Part 2, my Duty Free/Travel Exclusive Makeup showcase… if you like random travel pictures (especially of food), check out my twitter feed ^_^.

What are your tips for desert makeup? Have you been to the desert before? 🙂

Until next time, fellow adventurers, don’t forget to check for traps!

Syl

I am an adventuring rogue, not a mercenary for hire, and as such, all opinions expressed here are my own, based on a genuine fondness for/interest in this product. If you have any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to pin your parchment to the board (contact me) at thepaintedrogue [at] gmail [dot] com., or use the contact form provided! All images and text on this blog are the property of The Painted Rogue unless otherwise stated. If you nick off with any of it, be prepared to find a dagger in your back. Possibly with a legal troll attached to it. You don’t even want to *know* what he powders that wig with.