[not so] bare essentials

A couple of weekends ago, I had a nightmare of a situation. Those of you who follow me on Twitter probably already know this, but on a trip back home to see my parents, I forgot my makeup bag.

Let me put this out there: I was honestly appauled at myself. I've never thought of myself as someone that would feel horrific at the thought of not having makeup, but honestly when I realised what I'd done on the train, I felt almost lost! I quickly started making a list of the bare minimum amount of makeup I would need to survive the weekend, and so here are the four makeup items I can't live without (but I wish I could):

1: L'Oreal Paris Double Extension Mascara £11.99

The first item on my list was always going to be this mascara. My eyelashes are perhaps the biggest part of my makeup routine, and perhaps the only thing that has remained constant in the past few years. I feel that I'm a bit of an anomaly in that I like my mascara to look a little caked and perhaps on the good side of clumpy, and this mascara never lets me down. I have quite long but thin eyelashes, and this stuff thickens them up perfectly!

2: Rimmel London Professional Eyebrow Pencil - £2.99

I have very naturally light brows, which barely show up without a little help, making a brow pencil a must-have. I have tried the Benefit Brow Kits before but feel they're a little over priced and  that I get a more natural looking brow (which is my preference) when I use a pencil. Lucky for me this Rimmel pencil is cost effective as well as being my current favourite.

3: Benefit Play Stick Foundation in Tea Party - £25.50

Originally I bought a cheap foundation to last me the weekend, as I've become very attached to my MAC Matchmaster foundation since I bought it last month. After purchasing a £2.99 Collection 2000 Matte Foundation, however, I quickly saw the error of my ways! It made my skin patchy and orange and everything you don't want in a foundation, so within the hour I was at my nearest Benefit counter, bestowing my woes onto the poor beauty girl, who recommended this foundation as it doubles as a concealer - perfect! It's now become my go-to foundation on the go and lives in my handbag. The Collection 2000 foundation is now in the bin.

4: LOOK Beauty Mattify Me Translucent Powder - £8

And finally, an item that I need due to the fact that I have a semi-oily complexion. It doesn't necessarily need to be this brand - I still haven't found a powder that I feel loyal to - but it does need to be translucent. This is my current powder, but I think I'll be moving on... Tempted to try a MAC powder next time to match my foundation - any reccomendations?

So there we have it. I was actually quite impressed that I narrowed my must-haves down to four items, and after this whole saga I now know to leave at least a little makeup in my bag at all times. Just a little disclaimer: I did actually use other makeup that weekend, but only on the night that I went out with my friends, who happily came to my rescue with eyeshadow, eyeliner, primer, blusher, etc, etc. But these four items were all I needed during the day!

Do you guys have any products that you can't live without? What would be the bare-minimum amount of make-up that you would want/need?