in the {beauty} bag: Melissa from Kiss & Make-up Beauty Blog

in the {beauty} bag is a series that gives you a peek into the makeup and skincare lives of some of my favorite ladies!  Today we're chatting with Melissa from Kiss & Make-up Beauty Blog.  Grab a mug of coffee or hot tea and enjoy!  

A bit of introduction: My name is Melissa and I’m a 26-year-old beauty addict from Belgium. I currently live and work in Switzerland together with my high school sweetheart Tom who I’ve been together with for more than 11 years now. I love writing about make-up and beauty, but I am also a passionate skier and I love hiking. When I’m not working for the Kiss & Make-up blog or making my way down or up a mountain, I like to go out for dinner and a few cocktails, but I also enjoy just staying in watching movies or playing games. Today I’m being featured here on Kristen’s lovely blog, and I am so excited! Aangename kennismaking iedereen*! * nice to meet you all! 

1. You are told you're going to be left on a deserted island and you have 5 minutes to pack a beauty bag (because this is totally possible!). What do you grab? 
Good lord, what a scary scenario! Let’s see… I would definitely grab black eye pencil, mascara and at least one of my eyeshadow palettes. I like to put the focus on my eyes and without eye make-up I feel really naked, so eye make-up would definitely be the first thing I’d throw in my beauty bag. I’d also take concealer and mattifying powder with me. I figure this deserted island you’re shipping me off to is going to be somewhere tropical - if not then you’re being really cruel - so I will need all the mattifying I can get. And last but not least I’d grab some tinted lip balm. My lips get dry really fast, so I need to keep them moisturized as much as I can. And I’d definitely go for a tinted version, even if there’s no one there - deserted island and all - to appreciate my pretty lip color. 

2. If you could have a $1,000 beauty shopping spree, a) where would you go and b) what would be the first item you'd buy? 
Ah, now this is a scenario I like! I’d probably go to a store like Sephora, because that way I’d have access to all my favorite brands and I would have a great variety of choices. I really love brands like Too Faced, Urban Decay, NARS, Illamasqua,… basically all the brands that I don’t have easy access to here, how ironic. And the first item I would buy? Maybe the new Urban Decay Black Market Pencil Set? Or the new NARS Sheer Matte foundation? Ooh, or maybe something from TheBalm or Bare Minerals, I’ve always wanted to try those brands!

3. What's the first makeup you remember wearing? 
Black eye pencil. I think I started wearing eyeliner when I was about 15. Soon after that I started experimenting with eyeshadow, and it was then that dark smokey eyes kind of became my signature look. And they still are! They look better now than when I first started playing with make-up though. I had a little Avril Lavigne thing going on as a teenager… *stares down in shame*

4. If you had to give up lipstick or nail polish for a year, which would you choose? 
That’s an easy one: nail polish. I am more or less in that situation right now. I started a new job in October and I can’t wear nail polish anymore. Hygienic reasons, ugh. I think it’s a silly rule, but there is nothing I can do about it so I just keep my nails bare during the work week. I go all out on Saturday and Sunday though!

5. What was your last beauty purchase? 
The Catrice Prime & Fine translucent powder. I was using a translucent powder from MAC Pro to set my foundation and to mattify my skin throughout the day, when one day I ran out without a back-up in stock. I needed a quick solution, so I ran to the supermarket, bought this cheap budget-proof powder, and lo and behold: I absolutely loved it. It’s just as good, and dare I say maybe even better than my MAC Pro powder. It does a great job setting my make-up and getting rid of shine. I have repurchased it several times now.

6. What movie/tv show/song/actor/singer/band inspired you to try something different with your makeup? 
I get inspiration everywhere, really. Magazines, movies, celebrities,… I just take bits and pieces here and there and put them together in a way that works for me. But there is not really one particular person who has inspired me to do something different with my make-up.

7. Name 5 of your absolute favorite HG products and why you love them. 
My absolute HG foundation is the Inika Liquid Foundation in the color Beige. The formula is just amazing, the finish is incredibly natural and the color is a perfect match for me.

I also love the Smashbox Always Sharp Waterproof eyeliners. They have this neat little built-in sharpener which I just looooove. Every time you take the cap off the tip gets sharpened. And the color is really long-lasting and intense.

As far as skin care goes I really love Estée Lauder’s new Advanced Night Repair serum. I am going to sound like a bad commercial here, but seriously: I could already see the difference after just one night! Thanks to this serum my skin looks smoother, plumper and healthier, it’s amazing.

My all-time favorite lip color is the Smashbox Megatint Longwear Lipcolor in Whirl, a gorgeous matte pinkish red shade. The formula is kind of drying though, so I do have to wear lip balm underneath it. But that’s fine. I am so in love with the color that I don’t even mind that the formula isn’t perfect.

Sisley’s new L’Orchidée Rose highlighter blush is also a big favorite of mine. It’s gorgeous to look at, obviously, and I think it just looks sooo pretty on my skin. It adds warmth and light to my cheeks without being overpowering, and it gives me a really nice healthy glow.

8. What was your gateway product? You know, the one that took you from beauty curious to beauty junkie! 
I don’t think that there was one product in particular that made me turn into a beauty junkie. It was a gradual process. I started using make-up quite young, and over the years I’ve experimented with different things. I’ve always liked make-up, but it wasn’t until a year or three ago that I realized that make-up had become more than just a hobby and that I really wanted to do something with it.

Smoky eyes - my signature look!

9. What beauty-related thing are you not so great at? 
Applying false eyelashes. Always ends in disaster. I’ve glued my eyes shut on more than one occasion, and I’ve done it to other people as well… So yeah, if you see me coming at you with a set of fake lashes and some glue: RUN!

10. The holidays are right around the corner and everyone's releasing their seasonal bounty. What do you hope Santa brings you this year? 
Maybe some Sisley skin care? I think Sisley has amazing skin care products, but they’re so darn expensive. I have always wanted to try the Sisley Pore Minimizer, but the ridiculous price tag is holding me back. So I’m counting on you, Santa!

11. If you could go back in time and give yourself some advice when you were just learning about makeup and skincare, what would you tell yourself? 
Don’t sleep in your make-up. And it’s never too early to start moisturizing or to start using anti-aging creams.

12. One palette to rule them all. What's your can't-live-without-it palette? 
I am fickle when it comes to make-up, so favorites tend come and go with me. But a palette that I am really loving right now is the Smashbox Fade In palette from this season’s Fade To Black collection. It has some great neutrals and browns in it, as well as a gooooorgeous olive shade and a sparkly black.

Be sure to follow Melissa on bloglovin so you don't miss any of her fabulous beauty posts!