After all the time I spent auditioning different makeup bags and thinking about what makeup to bring on this trip, I barely wore any makeup at all, which was kind of a big deal for me.
Things were different on my last trip to Hawaii a few years ago. I was even filling in my brows, curling my lashes and putting on tinted moisturizer and blush before going to the beach.
This time, though? Nuh-uh. Most of the time it was just copious amounts of sunscreen and a hat. And that’s about it.
I did wear makeup a few times — once to a nicer restaurant for dinner (one of those places you wear your nice muumuu and your fancy dress up slippers to, LOL!) with a friend I met on the blog (hi, Fern!), and I had some of THE BEST food I’ve ever had in Hawaii.
So I put on some makeup that night, but I did, like, the bare minimum going-out makeup for me. Brows, MAC Next to Nothing, a little concealer, a hint of powder, the BECCA X Chrissy Palette on my eyes and my cheeks, mascara, a quickie coral lip, and that was about it.
I’m definitely much more comfortable wearing less makeup than I used to be, and I feel that if I’m staying up late and I’m going to look tired anyway, or if I have dark circles, or if my skin tone looks uneven, eh…I’m fine with it. As long as I’m wearing sunscreen and a smile on my face, I’m doing OK, haha! 🙂
Even though I didn’t wear a lot of makeup myself on this trip, I still paid attention to the makeup the people around me were wearing. I “people watched” pretty hard at the beach and the pool, and I even met an MBB reader (Hi, Myrna!) at the beach. She happened to be wearing a beautiful shimmery bronze eye shadow on her lids. She also introduced me to Clio, a brand she called the Korean version of Urban Decay, and I can’t wait to get on that, ASAP!
I scanned eyebrows SO HARD on this trip because of a local phenomenon El Hub, who was born and raised in Hawaii, calls, “Hawaii eyebrows.” Many local ladies rock super thin ’90s-style brows, and I did notice a little of that going on, but I also noticed more people than ever sporting full brows at the beach and at local places like the Foodland (went for some ahi poke and a chocolate haupia pie) and Long’s (the best place to get Kona coffee, macadamia nuts, crack seed, kaki mochi and local souvenirs).
I mean, most people still weren’t rocking Instagram brows or anything, but overall, it did seem like the local style was toward fuller brows than the pencil thin brows I remember.
Some things haven’t changed. Like, I saw many local ladies wearing stacks of Hawaiian bracelets, lots of gold jewelry/bling, and wearing a beautiful hibiscus or plumeria flower behind one ear. I saw a lot of that happening, too. I also saw lots of lovely, long hair pulled up into a high ponytail or bun. Didn’t see a lot of local braid action, though.
OH! — and I don’t remember seeing quite as much crisp black cat liner (both thin and thick varieties) on the upper lash line as I saw on this trip. It was generally crisp without any smokiness on the edges or the wings. And I saw very few smoked-out, smudgy lower lash lines or jet black liner on upper and lower water lines, too.
Do you pay attention to local style when you travel? What are some of the places that have the most memorable makeup styles you’ve seen?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
I do pay a lot of attention to local trends, it is very inspiring. But as we will only go to France this summer I dont think it will be that much different from Germany.
How exciting! Where are you going?
I was just in Hawaii and I was totally the same way! I packed all my fave makeup and barely ended up wearing any of it during most of the trip. Funny how that works! 🙂 And people watching is so fun. I notice so many things while sitting by the pool or on the patio at a coffee shop!
Hi Olivia,
I wish I was still in Hawaii, le sigh! What island did you visit?
Me too! It’s my fave place in the world. 🙂 We were on Oahu and then we went to Kauai. My first visit to both those islands…. Maui is still my fave 🙂
When I was in Washington D.C I noticed that makeup was toned down and more natural.
That makes sense to me. Seems like the landscape would be less flashy compared to Los Angeles or New York.
We must attribute a bit of the minimalism on your trip to motherhood, don’t you think?
I don’t travel a lot these days but I have to say when I’ve gone to the southern parts of the U.S.–I’m talking Georgia–those ladies are seriously put together, especially compared with my adopted state of Maine where casual reigns.
Oh, for sure. Bottle time used to be eyeshadow and eyebrow and cheek time, LOL! Funny thing is, I’ve learned so much by going minimal. You can really get away with just a few things if you set your mind to it.
I just got back from Jamaica and honestly I saw very little makeup during the day maybe just defined eyebrows and mascara with a clear or tinted gloss. When I went out a night it was a full face. I don’t know how it didn’t melt off but the makeup looked great and almost everyone had a bright lip. I went for the day make up look when I went out. Honestly that was all I could manage it was so HOT. For the day I just filled in my brows because they are so sparse. I was in the water so much I couldn’t bother with anything else.
Hi Nyx,
Yeah, the heat does me in too. I can’t stand the feeling of wearing lots of stuff on my face when it’s just going to melt off anyway. Is it humid in Jamaica? It’s SO humid in Hawaii, and when it’s hot, oh boy!
It wasn’t humid at all but it was between 90 and 100 degrees the whole time I was there. I live in the south so it was a nice break from humidty but the heat was still very brutal.
We lived in Europe for a while and we travel to Japan and France and England quite a bit and I’d say no one wears as much makeup as Americans. When we go to Hawaii I rarely wear anything other than tons of sunscreen during the day. If we go to a fancy restaurant in the evening I might put on mascara and lipstick and that’s it.
I’ve only traveled to Europe once for an extended amount of time and I think I was too caught up in the excitement of traveling because I can’t remember at all what the makeup was like (I KNOW!). If I ever get to go back, you better believe I will be people watching for days.
I’m surprised that you didn’t see more gals in Japan wearing full-on makeup. I remember seeing a lot of Japanese tourists in Waikiki in full-glam on the beach.
I saw a graph a few year ago showing time spent on personal care habits by state. Maine, Vermont, North Dakota, and Alaska were low on the list (28 minutes average). Texas, Georgia, a few other southern states, and New York were highest (46 minutes average). California and Hawaii are somewhere on the medium-high side! I’ll paste the link below. 🙂
Oops, it didn’t paste! It’s at the Washington Post, called “Ten maps that show how much time Americans spend…” https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/06/20/ten-maps-that-show-how-much-time-americans-spend-grooming-eating-thinking-and-praying/?utm_term=.67727e69d11a
Hi Amy,
This was fascinating! Thank you for sharing it. BTB (before the baby) I think I would’ve been one of those peeps that skewed the curve for California. Now, not so much, LOL!
I wore much less makeup, and had more make-up free days, when I was raising kids. I just didn’t have the time or energy for more than a one-and-done shimmery nude eyeshadow, a little blush, and a swipe of lipgloss.
I’ve only traveled in the west during my adult life, and it seems pretty casual everywhere I’ve been. No makeup or a little natural makeup for most people.
Hi Rachel,
I think the baby is definitely part of the whole minimalist vibe I’ve been rocking lately. Maybe one day I’ll get back to blended three shadows in the crease? Maybe?
Totally with you on things being more casual in the west. The makeup style in SF is pretty laid back, but it also depends on what circles you run in.
When did you find that you had more time to get back into makeup again? My friend Jen says it gets easier when they turn 5, because then they don’t need you as much for the daily stuff like eating, going to the bathroom, getting dressed, etc.
Yeah, 5 or 6 is easier. Especially if they’re going to school.
I’ve been to France and Italy last year around the December holidays. I noticed that most of the young women in Italy wear full on heavy eyeliner and mascara everyday. Our Airbnb host in Milan was a college student and she wears that on her eyes even if she’s just indoors. It was interesting for me, they all looked so pretty.
I love the details you remembered from people-watching Karen! Glad you had a fab time away!
I was lucky enough to be given a ticket to Ascot yesterday and I was doing some major people-watching. I’ve never seen so many top hats in one place! It was really hot (for London) and I was amazed how at the end of the day so many ladies still had perfect makeup… mine was melting! Although I must admit that I wasn’t expecting such hot weather and didn’t pack my super-strong primers or foundation. I loved the fashions and seeing the makeup styles. Interestingly I think more was less yesterday, and it looked great.
So exciting! Did you bump into royalties? Kate middleton looked esp lovely, I thought.
I watched the carriages go down the straight and then ran around the back of the grandstand to see them do a lap of the mounting yard and the minute silence. I was quite excited to see the Queen IRL and quite close, I’ll see if I can post a pic! Yes the Duchess did look lovely, she always does though! I thought the Countess of Wessex looked lovely in the green dress too. It was pretty exciting to see so many of the Royal Family in one place!
The Countess of Wessex is always so well put together too, and she has gotten even lovelier with age…
Cool, I’ll check out your insta.
Agreed. I’m a fan.
Oh, I didn’t post any insta pics 🙁 They weren’t great in the end, a bit far away so you couldn’t really see anything. I was going to try to post a pic in the comment here but I don’t think you can?
I was in Vancouver, Canada a few years back. The makeup is more natural and toned down. Did not see anyone wearing a red lip or bright eyecolour.
I’m from Germany and right now I’m in Spain for vacation.
Hm, I have the feeling, that the people here don’t wear so much makeup, but maybe it depends on the circles you are moving.
The two younger women within my husband’s Spanish relatives just do a black kajal on only the lower waterline, which imo is very old-school. I actually wore that when I was 13 and just starting with makeup.
Interesting is that three girls and boys working at Sephora all say that my skin tone is pink, but that’s just not true. Maybe in comparison to the spanish skin tone it is, but mine actually is yellow, like almost all natural blondes’ skin tone in Europe/Germany.
In Germany at the moment almost every girl/woman is totally into bold brows, so many girls just overdo it.
I would say there’s much more going on makeupwise in Germany than in Spain. But I’ll ask my spanish friend who is working at the NARS counter in Barcelona to see what her impression is.
Indeed I pay attention to the local styles and culture. I find different places fascinating, and love seeing how they dress, wear makeup, socialize … etc.
“You look great as long as you’re wearing sunscreen and a smile”. Love it. I agree!!