My Travel Makeup Bag Review

Happy Monday!

I’m quite excited about today’s post. I was just moaning in yesterday’s about how I never have the time to write more interesting review-type posts instead of just pumping out deal alerts mechanically (I know people love those deal alerts though, haha).

So anyway, today I’m going to do a review on a makeup bag I bought a couple of months ago.

I bought it because I knew I’d be doing a quite a bit of travelling in September and also I knew it’d be useful for a few films I was producing before September, now that I’ve used it quite intensively the past month it’s time to give you my 2 cents and thoughts about it!

This is it! It’s the Makeup Essentials Day to NIght Makeup Organizer

Okay, first off, this isn’t actually a new product or something that’s currently on sale, I somehow stumbled across this in an eBay auctioned and was incredibly intrigued by the design. It looks so normal on the outside, just a black, zipped case (faux leather looking), that has a handle on the top (so you can carry it around like a briefcase, if you so wish…).

Despite loving it almost the moment I saw it on eBay, being a very wary buyer I didn’t actually bid for it but luckily for me it came up again on another lot and this time I got it.

If you aren’t impressed yet then have a look at the inside…

=D

Yes, your eyes deceive you not, right smack in the middle is a handy little section to hold your makeup brushes!! They’re different sized as well so everything from your large powder brush to your little tiny eyeliner smudger will find a snug home. This is one of the reasons I loved this bag so much, in the past I just used random pretty looking pouches or segmented pouches but if you don’t tuck in your brushes they tend to move around everywhere and the bristles do get squished. It’s also so much easier to pick out what you need, a godsend during a show when you need to pluck one out really quickly.

That’s not all, right at the end of the bag (far right of the picture) there’s actually an elastic pouch for you to tuck larger items of makeup in against the back cover of the bag. That’s where I put things like little palettes or long tubes of foundation.

A look at the other pouches…

 Besides the main brush compartment there are little side pouches that are transparent, which is SO important because you can see at a glance what’s actually in them. Such details are so simple yet so incredibly important. No rummaging and turning a pouch upside down to see if your little lipgloss is stuck in the corner! Also, these pouches are removable, in case you don’t want so many or want to use them separately. You can organise it however you wish, either by look (ie. day makeup in one pouch and night glam in another) or by category (eyes, lips, cheek etc).

Finally, something that’s a nice touch but not that useful (I think), it comes with a detachable mirror that’s connected to another pouch. I guess it could be useful if I ever need to put makeup on where there isn’t a mirror??

And now for my thoughts on using this for the past month!

Firstly, it’s an incredibly easily portable case, the handle is securely put on (sometimes these things are flimsy) and won’t tear under the weight of your makeup. You can also pack quite a lot in there and manage to zip it up, again no problems with flimsy zips!

Like I’ve mentioned above, the brush straps I really love, I can pluck out anything I need in an instant and then place it back where it should be and find it again if I need it again (this happens so many times). I can look at any pouch and see what’s in it as they’re transparent. If you’re a makeup artist and need to be on the go it’s so easy to zip it out, use something, then zip it all up again. Best portable makeup bag EVER!

It bugs me a bit that it’s tough to fit in my eyelash curler but then those things are a weird shape aren’t they! Also, just like a suitcase, you get overzealous with packing this bag and stuff every compartment only to find it won’t actually fit when you bring the two sides together, which isn’t a problem with a bag, it’s probably me… just a lesson in managing expectations.

I will actually upload more pictures to show you what I actually brought along on holiday, just thought I’d do one just on the bag first! Just so you get an idea on capacity though, I managed to fit in on average 5 brushes, blending sponge, eyelash curler, 5 lipsticks/glosses, mascara, mascara primer, eyeliner, cream blush pot, tube of foundation, 2 small eyeshadow palettes. This was for filming and I always felt completely prepared for any situation (ie. an actress disastrously bringing the wrong shade of lipstick to what she wore yesterday but we’re filming the same scene, EEK).

Finally, on to PRICE (that all important thing!).

This bag is valued at £45 RP apparently (according to the eBay seller), actually I coincidentally realised my boss/colleague has the exact same one the other day and she said she paid quite a lot for it so the eBay seller was probably right! However, she did say she bought it with loads of makeup in it (it must have come with makeup originally) whereas I bought mine empty.

I feel I got a terrific bargain though, it was £4.99 plus £3.49 delivery, which is £8.48!! Less than £10 for a bag I know I’ll use forever (by forever I mean until it decomposes).

If you’re as intrigued now as I was at the beginning, I urge you to begin trawling eBay =D

LOVE,

Penny

What’s your favourite travel makeup bag? =)

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