8 Travel Beauty Essentials

Summertime is all about heading out on vacation.
I'm packing at the moment for a month in Italy leading two Glam Italia Tours (make sure you follow us on Instagram!) so it seemed like a really good time to talk about Travel beauty Essentials.

Travel is tough on your skin.
Air travel is tough on your skin.
Just being in a different climate or in a place with different water can be really tough on your skin.
No one wants to deal with crazy breakouts (hello humidity!) or look dried out like the crypt keeper while they are on vacation. Especially me! So I have 8 beauty essentials that travel with me everywhere I go in the world as well as here in America, to make sure my skin looks great, which in turn makes me feel great!

Allianz Global Assistance Travel Insurance. Get a free quote.

Remember too that especially for summer travel you really don't want to be cavorting around with a full face of makeup on, trying to cover up breakouts.

1. Tatcha Luminous Dewy Skin Mist

This is one of my all time favorite skin care products and is just the absolute greatest thing to have with you when you are flying, especially on long haul/international flights. In fact it is the holy grail of travel skin care products!
I don't wear makeup when I fly (just brows and a bold lip) because quite apart from the fact that makeup looks hellacious when you land, your skin is fighting enough battles at 38,000 feet in hours of regurgitated air - it doesn't need to battle foundation as well.
When you have bare skin, even if that means cleansing your face after takeoff, you can pamper, or at least hydrate your skin by spritzing this gorgeous mist during the flight.I swear you can feel your skin relax every time you do!
The full size bottle is allowable in your cabin baggage, but many of the Tatcha products including the Dewy Skin Mist also come in travel size.

2. Tatcha Indigo Soothing Silk Hand Cream

I got my hands on the Indigo collection from Tatcha a few years ago when winter weather was tearing up my skin. The Indigo collection are healing products, and to this day I still travel with a travel sized tube of Tatcha's Indigo Soothing Silk Hand Cream. In flight it keeps my hands and cuticles from getting dried out and nasty, and the tube is small enough to keep in my handbag while I'm out and about.

Nuxe Reve de Miel Nourishing Lip Balm.

I have tried so many lip balms, but this one I keep coming back to. 
It's nice and heavy, doesn't dry out or strip your lip, and softens and moisturizes like no other!

Fly in comfort with Lufthansa

Eye Gels

Have you ever had a good look at people deplaning from a long international flight? They always look beaten up around the eyes. The same goes for when you've spent time out in hot weather, be it pool-side, at the ocean, on a boat - you name it.
I am a huge fan of eye gels. I use them on the plane (if people around me are sleeping), sometimes I will slip them on and then put my sleeping mask over top. I use them while I am away too.
What they do is super hydrate the under eye area, depuff, revitalize, and make the under eye look refreshed. I'm not sure that they say they take out the blue/grey under your eyes, but I am convinced that they do. Maybe they get the blood circulating through the area or maybe the nutrients just reflect off something glorious, but either way they are wonderful!
I buy my eye gels online at Memebox. They are very inexpensive and worth their weight in gold!

Facial Oil

I treat myself to Tatcha's Camellia Facial Oil when I travel.
It comes in travel size, so you don't have to break the bank to get it.
I use it during the flight and also every day while I'm away. It super hydrates and nourishes the skin, so your complexion looks luminous, but it also has a dry finish, so you don't look slimy. It is fantastic!

Oribe Dry Texturing Spray

Have you ever smelled Oribe products??? They smell heavenly.
Have you ever smelled hair after a long haul flight??  Quite apart from the fact that your hair looks lank and flat after a long flight, 8 hours plus in that stale, over-circulated air makes your hair smell. It's gross. Especially gross when you are standing in long lines of humans waiting to go through passport control. Especially gross when you are going to be met with a big, long hug on the other side of customs and immigration.
So I always pack the travel size of Oribe Dry Texturing spray in my hand luggage. It works like a dry shampoo to give your hairdo some body, and it smells so fabulous you won't be worried about anyone burying their face in your hair.

Stila Aqua Glow Gel Bronzer

This one is a recent addition to my travel arsenal, but it is fantastic!
When you deplane after a long flight your skin has a nasty grey hue to it. No one (who hasn't flown first class) looks fantastic after a long flight, everyone looks hellish.
If you try to put color back into your complexion with a bronzing powder it sits on top of that ashen skin and looks orange. 

Last year I started using Stila's Aqua Glow Perfecting Bronzer gel and I totally love it! You just put a tiny amount in the general area of the apples of your cheeks and buff it out with your finger. Run a little across your forehead where the sun would hit you and you instantly look lovely.
The great thing is that you don't have to get all perfect with it. It's really sheer and buildable, and just looks like gorgeous skin. The color is lovely too, and it doesn't get streaky or turn orange.


2. Sheet Masks

This is one of my not-so-secret travel beauty secrets! When I arrive at my hotel or vacation rental I take 20 minutes of quiet time with a sheet mask. (of course you cleanse your skin first!). Sheet masks infuse your skin with nutrients, are soothing and cooling and hydrating, leaving your skin luminous and glowing every after a trans-world flight. 
If I'm going somewhere humid I know my skin is going to break out or give me some form of grief, so I pack some sheet masks that deal with black heads or breakouts. If I'm going somewhere beachy I know I need some extra hydrating. If I get too much sun or sand has left my skin feeling gritty or sensitive I use an aloe based sheet mask.
They are very inexpensive - only a couple of dollars each, and they are slim and lie flat in your suitcase so they take up no room at all, making them your perfect travel companion! I order mine online at Memebox, and always add a few into every order I place. (And I place lots of orders at Memebox!)

Discovering Sicily ~ 5 Things You MUST Do In Modica

There is something quite perfect about a light strung across the main street...

For me discovering Modica was like that very first minute of discovering San Gimignano a lifetime ago. 

That completely breath-taking, wonderous, can't-quite-believe-what-you're-seeing, God-is-this-even-real moment that on some level inexplicably changes your life.

Modica is in the Ragusa province of south eastern Sicily, flanked by the towns of Ragusa and Noto. All three towns were destroyed by the devastating earthquake of 1693, and as Sicily was ruled at the time by Spain, all three towns were rebuilt in the exuberant and flowering Baroque style that the Spanish were famous for.
Modica along with Noto and Ragusa are all UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

5 Things You MUST Do In Modica

1. Walk.

Get up early, knock back an espresso, and hit the streets before the world wakes up. 

Early morning in Modica

Wander aimlessly through the streets downtown, take in the architecture, photograph the gargoyles while no one is around to get in the way.

Breathe in the air and try to wrap your head around what you are seeing. This town absolutely must be walked to be truly experienced.

2. Experience Bonajuto

Antico Dolceria Bonajuto is the oldest chocolate factory in Sicily. Its has always been family run, their chocolate has always been handmade, in the kitchen at the back of the store.

The factory of Bonajuto

But this is not any ordinary chocolate. Bonajuto chocolate is made in the Aztec style. Cocoa, sugar and spices are the only ingredients. The cocoa still contains it's cocoa butter and is heated just enough to make it fluid. The sugar is added but not allowed to melt, giving the chocolate a gritty texture. 

Originally the Bonajuto chocolate was an energy food, not a dessert or treat, It came in little blocks, and is still made and served in the same fashion today.

When you visit Antica Dolceria Bonajuto there are an array of flavors for you to sample, and once you've made your choices they will box them for you to take away or will ship them home for you.

3. Visit the Cathedral of San Giorgio

The walk up to the cathedral is just gorgeous. Art historian Andrew Graham Dixon has likened the cathedral to the Madonna standing watch over the town, sweeping open her cloak to encompass the people of Modica.

I had this description rolling around in my mind as I approached the cathedral, and the image seared into my brain. It was perfect.

Looking up at the cathedral will take your breath away. Turning around and looking down at the town of Modica will take your breath away. It is majestic.

4. Eat at Terrazze Campaille

This is easily one of the greatest dining experience of my life, anywhere in the world. 
If you are anywhere near Modica, a meal at Terrazze Campaille is essential. To start with you will just die over the location. The restaurant in is an old palazzo, with multiple rooms and terraces to dine in and on. They can beautifully accommodate large parties, small parties, couples' romantic evenings, groups of friends, and can separate everyone into different areas, so that your experience remains unique. 

We were seated on a terrace with a gorgeous view, surrounded by flowers and foliage in an environment that could not have been more romantic, and were completely unaware that there was a large party on the other side of the palazzo.

You can read my TripAdvisor review here
The food at Terrazze Campaille is spectacular. The service is wonderful. After dinner our waiter took us on a tour of the palazzo, told us the stories of the palazzo, told us about growing up in Modica, pointed out his home and his family's home across the hill. The entire experience was just magnificent.
But don't take my word for it - go there yourself!

5. Enjoy Modica by night.

Evenings in Modica are lovely. Everyone is out strolling and socializing. Saturday night in Modica is wonderful. The cafes and restaurants downtown are spilling onto the streets. Children and grandparents, teens and parents - the entire town is out having fun and you get absorbed into it. There is a very strong sense of community and you feel incredibly safe.

 Modica is a super artsy little place. On the Saturday night that we were there street musicians were playing sensational jazz, art galleries were hosting events, an orchestra was playing at another event - it was just magic.

The palazzi and churches are all lit up at night. It is just beautiful.

Terazze Campaille is up these steps behind the church of San Pietro.

There are statues of saints lining the steps. St Peter's halo glowing in the evening light.


If you are planning a trip to Sicily, Modica is not far from Siracusa. Your closest airport is Catania, and you are in close driving distance to Noto, Ragusa and Marzamemi, 3 hours drive from Taormina. There are also plenty of beaches within a 20 minute (ish) drive, as well as ferries to Malta if you are in the mood for a day trip. 

Embrace Your Curls And Win The Ultimate Curly Girl Summer Hair Products!

Embrace Your Curls this Summer!

Are you ready for summer?

I am.

I always am. I love the sun, I love the beach, I love summer clothes, I love summer vacations.

The one thing I don't love? Summer hair.

Are you a curly girl? If you have curly hair you already know what a nightmare summer can be with your hair!

My hair is somewhere between wavy and curly. It holds a blowout like no other, but left to it's own devices looks like a really bad home perm gone very wrong. Add a little summer humidity and it turns into a fluff ball. Go swimming and get my hair wet? Hell in a hand-basket. I'm left somewhere between fluff-ball and frizz-fest.
All of which blow my glam plans for summer.

In the past I've had Brazilian Blowouts to keep it smooth and straight, but that cancels out beachy waves, and cool relaxed summery hairstyles.

Last year my hairdresser turned me on to a cool trick. She said that before I go swimming in the ocean I should coat my hair in Ouidad conditioner. The Ouidad philosophy is to moisturize the hair from the inside out so that it doesn't get weighed down with heavy product. That inside-out moisturizing made my hair super soft instead of salt water stiff, and instead of a madly frizzy mess I ended up with soft, shiny curls! 
With two Glam Italia Tours about to kick off , taking me to humidity and to the Mediterranean, I've been stocking up on some more Ouidad products. I got a travel set called the Curl Essentials Trial Set. You can read about it here. It's perfect for summer travel.

I also just got my hands on the Ouidad Climate Control Duo kit, which I am super excited about.

This duo set is comprised of the two best selling Ouidad products, and is only available as a set in certified Ouidad salons. 
And to my Corinna B's World readers!
Because I have a set to giveaway.

So here's the low down on the products you can win.
First of all there's the Climate Control Heat and Humidity Gel. This is a lightweight protective "smart" gel locks in moisture, seals out humidity and helps you to shape gorgeous curls that last all day.
The Curl Last Flexible Hold Hairspray is the answer to the curly girl's blues. Normally if you are spraying curly hair it starts to look stiff and the curls don't bounce and move, so they lose their magic. This hairspray gives you hold, but flexible hold infused with shine. You can build it as needed and it wont get crunchy or flakey. it's fabulous! 

And here is a secret - although these products were designed for wavey, curly and kinky hair, they are also amazing for smooth haired girls who have to battle with frizzy, hard to control summer hair! 

There are lots of ways to win this giveaway! You have to enter through the Rafflecopter widget below. Rafflecopter tracks your entries and their computer picks the winner. The more entries you make the more chances you have to win!

Let's make this your hair's best summer ever!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Want more information on Ouidad and her amazing products?
Check out the Ouidad website, and read about the amazing Ouidad herself here

The Magic Of Marzamemi

Sicily is my favorite place on earth.

Endlessly fascinating, she is an island that offers so much, from incredible wines, sensational food, history, art, architecture, and then there are those views. Views to die for. The oceans, the beaches, the volcano. There is just so much!

Last year my Glam Italia Tour spent time in Baroque Sicily. 

One place that we went to that was supposed to be a couple of hours visit, but that turned into almost daily trips back was a teeny tiny speck of a fishing town called Marzamemi.

Marzamemi is divine.

Harkening back to the islands Arab rule in the 9th century, Marzamemi is thought to possibly mean bay of the turtle doves (Marsa al hamen) or from Memi, which means small port.

Marzamemi has the palace of the prince, who in his time ran the place from its terrace, 

a now closed tuna factory, (which was built during the Arab rule of Sicily, and was one of the most important on the island) 2 baroque churches, and the houses of the fishermen.

Find Great Vacation Rental Deals at TripAdvisor

It's harbor is full of small boats.

We took a day trip in a boat, exploring the coastline from the point where the Mediterranean meets the Ionian and the rip tides will churn you up and take you away, down past the nature preserve of the Vendicari, stopping and swimming in the bluest sea you can possibly imagine, and floating off the coastline just lying around enjoying the sun.

One of the reasons we kept going back to Marzamemi was to visit the restaurants. They are phenomenal.

You can sit around for hours, eating the incredible Sicilian cuisine of fresh fish, fresh fruit and vegetables, local breads, and washing it down with glasses of the local Nero d'Avola. 

Sicilians are so friendly, they will talk to you forever. 

When you are finally ready to move on you need a couple of espressos to give you the strength to wander down to the beach either at Marzamemi or at nearby San Lorenzo. 

I can't imagine living a life that didn't let me go back to Marzamemi.

I wouldn't necessarily stay there - we stayed in nearby Avola as well as in Modica, and I would love to stay a few nights in Noto next time, but I know that whenever I am in the southeast of Sicily my days will be peppered with visits to this ancient fishing village.

Marzamemi is in the province of Siracusa, easily accessible by car from Catania, Siracusa, the baroque towns of Ragusa, Modica and Noto.