Travel Beauty Esssentials

Each time I travel, I always learn something new on how to pack more efficiently which usually involves regrets of packing useless or oversized items.


Hence my guide to packing your beauty essentials... and a reminder to myself to always aim to pack lightly.

I find when it comes to beauty there are definitely some items that I can downsize in the interest of space/weight or even live without!

Some rules of thumb when it comes to carry on travelling (make sure you check the OFFICIAL websites for 100% up to date and accurate information):

• If it’s flamable leave it out
• if it’s ‘sharp’ leave it out – this unfortunately includes nail filers (steel) and nail cutters
• Individual items of liquid/cream should be less than 100mL
• Less is more

I have intentionally left out make-up as these don't take up much room in the first place, but that being said it doesn't give you license to pack 10 lipsticks 'just in case.'

PS. Don’t forget your toothbrush!

Travel Hair Brush

I pretty much say this on repeat, but I love my hair. Previously I would either take my normal/full-size hairbrush which does the job perfectly but takes up too much space plus I have to worry about damage to the brush itself, or the other extreme, those cheap $2 flip out compact/hair brush which is only useful for the occasional touch ups.

I have found the in-betweener! The Tangle Teezer Compacts which consists of a palm sized brush with lid, which means I don’t have to worry about damaging the bristles in transit AND it is a decent size to actually get the job done.

I was so excited to test out the product, that I used it several times before I took a photo… so it might not look 100% shiny and new.

Tangle Teezer Compact

Roll-On Deodorant

As we know airports are quite strict about what you can and can’t bring in your carry on. To save grief, I highly recommend taking a roll-on deodorant instead of spray-on simply due to the policies regarding aerosols.

Please think of your fellow travelers and WEAR DEODORANT – I know this is ‘travel’ as in holiday BUT I’m going to extend this necessity onto Cityrail trains. Another note, please don’t spray your deodorant while ON the train (yes, this happens!).

Nivea Stress Protect Roll-On for Men and Women

For Ze Face

I will actually be mixing up with 2 different brands. I am currently using Neutrogena for my cleansing ritual, but since they don’t offer travel sized solutions nor do I have anything appropriate to decant I will be switching to Dermalogica Precleanse for the holiday which has a handle little travel-sized bottle for sale.

For moisturiser, I will be using Aveeno’s Positively Radiant Moisturiser primarily because it has SPF 15+ and is just 75mL.

Makeup Remover Wipes

Normally I prefer to use cotton wool and a bottle of eye make up remover but when travelling it just makes it so much easier to take makeup wipes. Plus it’s one less liquid/cream to pack!

Neutrogena Makeup Remover

Moisturiser

Generally, full sized bottles of moisturiser are way too big and heavy for travelling. Fortunately, quite a few brands have different pack sizes available.

I actually find Palmer’s Concentrated Cream really handy – now this is actually targeted towards extremely dry areas (hands, elbows, etc) 's fantastic for travelling as it can double as a body moisturiser!

Moisturiser tends to be one of those products that are the most sampled – so I’m talking about those sachets/mini-bottles that come in magazines, goody bags, show bags. If you’re anything like me and have a mini-stash accumulated, holiday is the perfect time to actually use them!

Palmer's Concentrated Cream

Sunscreen

Even though I have openly embraced Spray-On Suncreen however, for travelling it is not worth the hassle and the high risk of having issues in customs thanks to it being an aerosol. Hence, I would just take the ‘traditional’ Sunscreen cream.

Banana Boat’s Mineral Protect Sunscreen pictured below is actually 120g which does not follow my less than 100g ‘rule of thumb’ but since I tend to use a lot of sunscreen I would put it with my checked baggage, otherwise you could find a travel-sized sunscreen.

Banana Boat Mineral Protect Sunscreen

Lather, Rinse, Repeat

For Hair Care, typically the products are quite bulky and heavy so I would recommend NOT taking full-sized products simply because the amount of space and the weight it takes up is not worth it. Plus you may end up paying excess baggage fees! Unless you are going away for months, there generally is really no need to bring something of that size.

I would recommend either:

• Decanting your existing product into a travel sized bottles – these can be purchased from the travel section. Or you can decant those nifty little hotel bottles... yes, I'm a hoarder.
• Buy the travel-sized version which to be easily available at Supermarkets and Priceline.
• Use your samples!

Less is More

So there you have it!

I cannot reiterate this enough, but less is more honey. Nothing more painful than weighing your bag and realising you are over the limit! I would rather be over the limit with new purchases than products from back home that I never bothered to use!

The boring stuff: Most of these products were solicited for consideration for the post or have been gifted. The products pictured are for illustrative purposes only, as my half used products are not photogenic (yes, I've traded them in for a newer model to impress y'all).