My Grenada Travel Beauty Bag

Hey, folks! I’m back like I never left…lol. I spent ten days in beautiful, you-MUST-visit Grenada and I’m having a tabanca since getting back (especially since it’s FREEZING cold here in NYC and the day after I got back I drove into Manhattan where I thought I was parked okay but turned out I misread a sign and was actually in a taxi zone—not only did I get a ticket but the city also put a boot on my car which really surprised me because I don’t have any outstanding tickets but when I went to the NYPD tow pound I was told you can get one depending on who sees your car first. SMH. So I’m out $185 for the boot + $110 for the ticket—sheesh, I get the ticket if I was parked where I shouldn’t have been but the boot was WAY harsh).

ANYWAY, Grenada was incredible and one of my most favorite trips to date. I have SO much to share with you guys about the trip in the coming days (I’m heading over to Nas’ studio on Wednesday to choose some photos she took of me plus the sites during our stay) so stay tuned. I figured I’d start with beauty since well, duh…lol. But sadly most of the stuff in this post is lost somewhere in the Miami airport (I think) when I lost my travel beauty bag. UGH.

I was in Georgia visiting family for the holidays so I was packed for both winter (well, Georgia’s mild-ish winter this year) and for the Caribbean. Weather in Grenada during my trip was pretty hot during the day (around the 80s though it felt warmer some days—and some days it felt more like the 70s) and at night I felt pretty cold with temps around the 60s. Plus I’d been using my Clarisonic Radiance kit (full review coming soon) for weeks prior and hadn’t been wearing makeup at all most times when I was in Georgia visiting family during the holidays so my skin didn’t need much coverage at all.

Makeup

My eye area is naturally dark (as opposed to having true dark circles—I have pigmentation around my eyes that occurred “naturally”) so I used Cover FX Cream Concealer in N X-Deep to cover the darkness around my eyes with my beautyblender and set it with Make Up For Ever Super Matte Loose Powder in Chocolate. Then I’d do brows using Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade in Chocolate along with Anastasia #12 brush and to define my eyes I lined them with Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on Pencil in Perversion and added two coats of Kevyn Aucoin Volume Mascara. I sadly lost all of these when I lost my makeup bag :(

Then because I knew I’d be taking tons of pics and I love a pop of color on my face, I did a mix of MAC Ruby Woo + RiRi Hearts MAC Talk That Talk using more of one or the other depending on the look I was going for. The only time I wore full makeup was for New Year’s Eve and then I used the same stuff but added my highlight/contour and Illamasqua Blusher in Excite.

Hair

I definitely wanted easy breezy with my hair so I have in a mix of Echelon Hair Deep Wavy (mostly at the bottom) which I’ve worn and LOVED before (see my review here) and Echelon Hair Loose Wavy mostly at the top. I couldn’t really tell the difference between the two textures for quite some time but after a while I could see that the difference is of course that Loose Wavy is looser in texture than the Deep Wavy. I love them both, but love Deep Wavy more. I love the textures for vacation because this hair gets better and better the hotter it gets. I used a Remington Curling Wand to define small to medium sections of hair at a time which was great because it took me all of like 5-7 minutes to do my hair at any given time. Then if I needed to I used my Jose Eber flat iron on the left out area.

Before I got to Grenada, I used the Motions Straight Finish Heat Styled system (see my posts on it here) which helped keep my left out hair smoother longer even in the Caribbean heat. Nas even mentioned a few times that she was amazed at how the hair was staying so smooth…lol. I also loved how Tancho Tique Stick (I reviewed it here) because it helped to keep my edges laid. A little goes a long way as it can get way too greasy but I love it for keeping things tamed—my hairstylist Gabrielle Corney introduced this to me a long time ago and SO glad she did. I had to buy another one because it was my makeup bag I lost :(

While away I also used EDEN BodyWorks Peppermint Tea Tree shampoo and Carol’s Daughter Monoi Mask—both longtime favorites.

Also, blowpro’s The Perfect Shower Cap is TOTALLY the perfect shower cap. It kept moisture away from my hair as I showered so my curls were kept intact and my edges weren’t ruined. I still wore my satin bonnet underneath but I know from experience with other shower caps that blowpro definitely kept my hair in check.

For days where I needed to be out the door in no-time flat, I LOVED my Jemima Jackman head scarf (it’s reversible!)

Skin

I’d been using the Clarisonic Radiance (review coming soon) for about two months up until I left for Grenada so my skin was in great shape—it was more even than ever. I didn’t use it while in Grenada because I wasn’t wearing much makeup and plus I kinda forgot…lol. But what I did use for my skin staples was Tatcha PURE One Step Camellia Cleansing Oil to remove eye and lip makeup (it also works to remove foundation but I only wore foundation on NYE) which I loved for getting EVERYTHING off including mascara and waterproof liner. Then I followed with Verso Foaming Cleanser (I used the entire Verso Travel Kit when I was in Georgia and I SO need to get full sizes). At night I used a little Algenist Anti-Aging Repairing Oil and during the day I used Murad Oil-Control Mattifier SPF 15 (one of my fave warm-weather moisturizers for oily skin).

Also a super necessity for me whether I’m home or away: Lucas Papaw Ointment. This multi-tasking wonder ointment helps with sunburn, heat rash, bug bites, chaffing, moisturizes lips, etc. I especially needed it because I dropped my curling wand on my forehead (SMH) and burned myself like it’s 1995 and then right smack in the middle of my forehead next to the burn a mosquito got me really good. I used the Lucas Papaw Ointment on both and got relief quickly. Ditto for the bites I later got on my arms that looked like a crime scene.

Ouch :x

Body

So some of the things you DO NOT want to be without on any Caribbean vacation are sunscreen, sunscreen, and bug spray. You want to reapply both especially after getting out of the water and especially at night for the bug spray. My mainstay for both getting a little glow and protecting from the sun was Australian Gold Sunscreen Lotion with Kona Bronzers. Then I’d carry my Neutrogena Wet Skin Sunscreen Spray to easily reapply throughout the day and I had my OFF Sweat Resistant bug spray.

Degree MotionSense deodorant (with 48 hr protection) is NO joke. It kept me dry even on the hottest days in Grenada.

I also brought along travel sizes of my favorite Kilian fragrances (Intoxicated, Good Girl Gone Bad, Straight to Heaven, Back to Black) which came in handy because again, I was away for four weeks in two totally different climates so I needed a winter fragrance (Intoxicated) and something summery (Good Girl Gone Bad). Sadly, ALL of these were lost with my makeup bag :(

Stay tuned for TONS more Grenada posts! I have so much to share about my trip but need to go through all of the pics including the ton that Nas took so stay tuned!

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