It’s been a few months  since the first diy brush holder post shown here. That’s why I’ve decided to repeat the dose and show again (this time in stop-motion) how to create a fabulous makeup brush solution that’s budget friendly. You can opt for something smaller or larger (always your call) depending on how intense your brush collection is. Mine is pretty average. Take a look!

•  Guerlain Terracota Four Seasons -Brunettes -It’s bronzing powder but I take it as summer blush

•  MAC Studio Fix Fluid SPF 15 - Mine, NC42. Love but also have never tried anything different. Should I?

•  Benefit Girl Meets Pearls Luminizer - Seriously good luminizer. No really!

•  Benefit Cha Cha Tint - On me it doesn’t stay on longer than lipgloss (as I’ve heard other people comment) but if you’re going for seemingly effortless rosy lips, this is key.

•  MAC Viva Glam Nicki - I’m no longer a “Snob.”  I’m Nicki!

By no means am I good at makeup, but what I learned (while getting ready for this wedding) was sufficient to put together a quick how-to of six different and easy ways (if I managed, believe me you’re good!)  to create a cat eye effect. Start by checking off the list:

•  stila kajal eye liner

•   mac 208 angled brow brush

•   mac 219 pencil brush

•  neutrogena remover wipes

•  q-tips

I think I like “adele” most. Do you have a favorite?

..

..

..

•   Navy Blue Polish

•   Red or Pink Polish

•   White Nail Art Brush

First, paint your nails with the blue polish. Next, use your nail art brush or polish pen to draw two thick horizontal lines across each nail.

While you wait for it to dry off, you can practice doing the heart on a piece of paper. I used the thin brush from the white polish, cleaned it off with a towel and dipped it into the pink polish.  Simply use the very tip to strike a small diagonal spot of paint (bottom left) and then another one perpendicularly , forming a little heart (bottom right).

Once you’ve got enough practice making hearts on the paper, try it over the nail. You can paint one heart on one nail or like me, one for each.

I can downgrade all I want on beauty supplies but if the blow dryer takes up as much space as my bazooka (just kidding I don’t usually travel with my bazooka), I’m not doing myself any favors. Solution? When I bought my Babyliss Pro flat-iron kit it came with a mini blow dryer and a mini flat-iron both the size of my hand (and I have tiny hands). All for just an additional 10 dollars at folica.com. Bingo!

Next, hair and skin. I encourage everyone to take as many hotel samples home with you as possible. Think about it, you already paid for these guys when the hotel bill hit your account and if you don’t care for the contents just refill with your favorite products. They make awesome travel containers for shampoo, conditioner, moisturizer and so on.

Remember samples? Those you got with the beach tote after purchasing just about anything over $100 at Neiman Marcus? Or those your hair stylist stacks you up with after each visit? No? I’d ask for some next time. Hair spray, perfume, and facial care samples are all items that usually come is big containers but if you pack samples instead, you may be saving yourself of a meltdown after security mistakes your 10 oz hairspray can with an illicit substance.

I know I said perfume samples are great. And they are, just not as great as this atomizer from Sephora (top left). It comes with  a small funnel for pouring my favorite scent. I also got an itty bitty,  adorable Miss Dior but the top came off and poured perfume all over my zip lock bag. Safe to say Dior is staying home next time.

The make up part is tough. I’ve made a compromise:  I’ll have to survive with  this travel Mac duo-shadow set and report back. The reason why I love Sephora so much? They sell a mini brush set and mini Tweezerman (makes best tweezers ever) brow-set. And you’re thinking: say no more!

The no-nail-file-in-the-carry-on rule is lame and drives me insane but when I got this extremely small nail file matchbox, with multiple nail files I felt like screaming  (equivalent to doing jumping-jacks in Lulu reaction) and before I could open my mouth, several Nail Polish Remover pads came to my acknowledgement and I was speechless. One is just enough to remove polish from both hands.

Now I’ll get a little personal and show the little things I absolutely can’t live without when I travel but aren’t necessarily everyone’s priority. A small lint roller (duh), at least one moist cleaning cloth from Solstice (handy for cleaning sunglass shades and iPad screens), one Colgate mini-brush to freshen up on the go and lastly, a mini sucralose sweetener imported from Brazil. I like my drinks sweet and aspartame free wherever I go.

..

I’ve been trying to find the perfect way to store my makeup for at least ten years now, no joke. The day has finally come when I don’t have to look through multiple powder dirty makeup bags to never find the right brush when I need it (a week later it’ll appear behind something somewhere in my bathroom), because some genius posted a picture of brushes buried in coffee beans on a website. I can’t remember the name for the life of me. Heart ya whoever you may be. 

This, my friends is the best brush holder ever invented, I promise! I’ve seen something similarly done at Sephora, but even so. First of all, it does the job of putting your artsy tools at easy reach like no other, it looks fabulous and smells amazing. All for $14 doletas total ($7 for two thrifted glass vases and another $7 for a coffee bean bag purchased at the grocery store. It’s a winner.

This was so easy to make I feel kind of silly laying out instructions, but for the sake of keeping it informational, here ya go:

•   Pour coffee in its most solid form in one, two or how many you need glass vases. Make sure you leave half an inch or even more of glass uncovered on top so the coffee beans don’t overflow once add brushes to the equation. Mine is kinda a little too full because I don’t follow my own instructions.

•   Start burying your brushes with the hair up one by one in your vase.

I made two vases. One for smaller brushes and another for the big guys. Do I have enough counter space in my bathroom? Of course not, but most likely I’ll either showcase them one at a time or just keep both in the cabinets. It’ll be a mystery where the freshly brewed coffee scent comes from.

•   If you’d like to keep it neat, line your brushes up according to your preferences. I went with purpose (facial in one line, eye in another). For better visibility, stadium seating alignment will do the trick (higher in the back, lower in the front).

Because I also have the same problem finding my pencil-liners I figured, why not throw them in too? It’s so much easier spotting the right colors this way and perhaps, grabbing the right one for a change (the mental picture of me lining my lips with black eye-liner remains vivid in my memory). Just say it… another genius idea. Only this time I thought of it first. Finally!