My Gym Beauty Bag

One thing I am absolutely obsessed with (which may be to counteract my obsession with chocolate digestives) is the gym and working out. It's not only the men that lure me to the gym six times a week, though one of the instructors used to compete for Wales in athletics! I love the feeling you get after a good workout and for the past seven months or so I have been trying very hard to get my health back on track and stop being a "typical lazy student".

So this is inspired by a post on ViviannaDoesMakeup blog about her post workout beauty essentials where she discussed what she takes with her to freshen herself up after a workout and I thought I would add my two cents.

This is my gym beauty bag, it's from Primark and I love it because it has a Cath Kidston look about it and it is big enough to fit in all of my 'essentials'. 

In terms of contents it's actually pretty minimal. I keep a packet of face wipes (forgive me Caroline Hiorns) as my gym is a 40 minute walk away and with my skin in the current condition it is in, I would not feel comfortable walking through town bare faced. However I can't stand working out with a full face of makeup on, so once I get to the gym I use the Simple kind to skin cleansing wipes to take my base makeup off, but naturally leaving my eyebrows intact. I keep a deodorant in there, for obvious reasons. I'm not fussy about deodorant, I normally just pick up whatever is on offer in Boots but I am enjoying the pomegranate smell of this Dove one. There is also a Boots essentials lip salve as I get very dry lips very easily. There is a hair bobble and hairgrips in there in case I get to the gym and find I don't have one on my wrist. I also keep my inhaler in there (sexy I know) as I'm asthmatic and I can't run or do intense cardio without it. 

Now onto the good bit. This is my everyday makeup bag and it is what I carry in any bag that I have on me, be that my university bag, my handbag or my gym bag. It is by Jack Wills but it is a liberty print which is why I love it so much. Inside I have a Jack Wills mirror as I like the size of it. I normally try and throw in whatever foundation I am wearing that day in case it needs a top up, or I have to completely reapply after a workout, but in case I forget to do that (as I often do) I keep an old, but very good, Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation. For under the eye concealer I use my drug store version of Touche Eclat which is the Rimmel Match Perfection concealer, and for blemish concealers I have the Maybelline Super Stay 24 Hour concealer. I have two powders depending on how tanned/pale I'm feeling. For tanned days I have a very old Rimmel Lasting Finish mineral foundation which I don't even think they make any more. For my paler days I use my every day powder which is the Rimmel Stay Matte powder. For bronzer I have a sample size of my beloved Nars Laguna bronzer and I tend to leave blusher as the gym gives me a nice natural flush. I keep an ELF black eyeliner in case mine has smudged during my workout, and a very old stump of what was once a Rimmel Soft Kohl eye pencil in brown just in case I need to top up my eyebrows. In terms of lips I have a tin of vaseline and a lovely blueberry floured lip balm from Paperchase of all places! In terms of lipstick I keep my two every day colours of Revlon Colour Burst Lip Butter in 050 Berry Smoothie and Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in 125 To Nude or Not to Nude, though if I am wearing a stronger colour I will throw this in my bag before leaving the house. I also keep a Body Shop kabuki brush in there for applying the powder products. 

This is a very rushed description of the makeup I haul around on a daily basis and I plan to do a full in depth look into and review of all of these products. But to be honest they're mostly all samples or old products I'm using up because I'm too stingy to throw them away and I have much more exciting products in my arsenal, but I wanted to show you what I take to the gym with me.