I'm a city girl. I've always lived smack in the middle of the city, or just right outside and never more than five minutes away from the busiest area. But boy, am I glad to be nowhere near the hubbub for once. I'm taking a break from the neon lights and escaping to the quiet village parts of Belgium. 

For the most part, I'm just going to be relaxing at my friend's place, catching up and (maybe) getting some work done. But he's also taking me around the small state to some a couple of cities, depending on the time we have so while kept simple, it's still quite the extensive makeup bag I brought. 

It seems like my summer tan is more stubborn this year as I'm still stuck between shades. So both the Jouer Matte Moisture Tint (£29) and NARS Tinted Moisturizer (£29) made the cut as they're both travel-friendly and bases I know I can rely on, no matter the state of my skin. I didn't bring a face concealer as really, I don't need that flawless base when travelling; but those residential panda circles? They gotta go. The Bobbi Brown Corrector (£19) and Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer (£7.99) have been my go-to the past couple weeks. Powder is something I'd rather not skip and seeing that I've been a bit more shiny than usual, I opted for the Soap and Glory One Heck of a Blot (£12) to make the Eurostar trip with me. 

The rest of the make up was kept pretty simple. just following the routine I've been unconsciously reaching for every day. Keeping one product in rotation from each category at once, the Etude House Draw Brow Pencil has been that buddy. A dupe of the outrageously expansive Hourglass pencil, I'm quite fond of the thickness of the pencil/wax bit. Trying to add some colour back into the face, the usual Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush ($26) in Exposed, along with The Body Shop Honey Bronzer (£13) were snug in the travel makeup bag. 

I don't use an eye primer on a daily basis, mostly because I forget that step. But finding a mini-version of the Urban Decay Primer Potion (£16) in my sample stash, I decided better safe than sorry so I threw it in the travel bag. I surprised myself when I decided to bring the Urban Decay Naked2 Basics (£22) over the original. I know, I know. The betrayal - the original is probably crying itself to sleep right now. 

It seems like my eyes are perpetually red so a little (or a lot) of nude eyeliner never hurt anyone.  It's not even a surprise that I would bring anything other than the Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal (£3.99) in Nude. Trying to construct a signature daily look of flicked liner, the  travel friendly Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Liner (£13) made the cut. I somehow always leave my mascara behind when travelling so the inexpensive but still really good Natural Collection Lash Lengthen Mascara (£1.99) was a no-brainer as I'm not going to cry over it as I text my friend if he could bring the mascara I left behind the next time he comes to London.