Packing Light: Tips for Your Toiletry Bag
After posting about how I packed a week’s worth of clothes in a backpack, I promised you a post on how to pare down your toiletries. I have been working on bringing fewer or smaller things on my trips when I travel, which might be difficult for those who want to take their whole routine on vacation with them. Even when I do more than usual, I still don’t use too many products.
Contact solution goes a long way. I’ve been on the very last squeeze for three days, so I know the smaller one is going to last me a week or more, even with two of us sharing. I’m not opposed to buying this when I get to my destination, but I’m cheap and it’s harder to find solution some places, like Europe. When we accidentally left a bag of bathroom stuff behind going to Paris from London, we had to go to an optometrist in Paris to buy contact solution. And if you’re beholden to the 3-1-1 bag rule, you definitely can’t bring a full size bottle on the plane.
I’ll compromise on a lot of things, but I refuse to use bar soap…anywhere. I hate it. So, I find a fun body wash and use that on trips until it’s empty and then I find a new one, or I put a favorite one in a GoToob, and then I can refill it over and over, and it doesn’t leak. I have upgraded my travel bag to include a small pump soap dispenser that I fill with foaming hand soap and it has changed my whole travel experience. It’s a small thing, but doesn’t make me hate washing my hands in my room anymore.
Before I got TSA PreCheck, I was tired of having half a tube of mini toothpaste with me when I got home and not wanting to take two with me on the next trip, so I wasn’t wasting that half tube, so I started using toothpaste tabs. I’ve tried multiple brands, but I really like Bite, because they work much better than others, taste better, and come in glass bottles that can be recycled or reused. I bite one in half, so I get two brushes out of one, because they are so efficient and foam up really well.
My hair is really thick and frizzes in the slightest humidity, so I use a hair honey on it that is made for Black hair. It smells nice and it doesn’t take much to get my hair to cooperate and look like I’m a person. This big jar lasts forever, so I always have about half a tablespoon in one of these small GoTubbs.
My skin is sensitive, but I’m also over 40, so I need some extra skincare when traveling. I use a tinted moisturizer with priming in it, but also a separate hydrating primer on certain areas, like under my eyes. My skin is combination, but the dry areas are super dry, and I find that hyaluronic acid is helpful under all my makeup. I don’t need a lot of any of these things, but I still need them. I decant moisturizer into another small GoTubb and the other ones that I need even less of into a contact lens case. These are perfect for small amounts of liquids, because you know they aren’t going to accidentally leak and they take up hardly any room.
I am much more particular about my foundation and when I find a good one, I stick with it forever. Luckily, this one comes in a travel size, but if it didn’t, I’d probably use a GoTubb for that, too. I really like Ulta for travel sizes for my toiletry bag, because they have a lot of things in smaller sizes and often have sales. I’m less particular about my mascara, but I usually try to choose one for travel that lasts all day and is waterproof. You never know when you’re going to get caught in a downpour. Waterproof ones are better for staying on all day long.
I have a ton of different blushes and eyeshadows, but I’m not taking all of them with me on a one-week trip, where I probably won’t use 98% of them. I’ve upgraded to this face palette, which has a bronzer, highlighter, and two cheek colors, but I will mix and match to use them as eyeshadow, highlighter, and blush. This is the only way you can usually get a good brown and complimentary pinks, and those are the colors I like to blend on my eyes. Between a primer and a setting spray, these work pretty good wherever you want to use them. I always bring a kabuki style brush for blush, and I have two generic brushes for eyeshadow that barely take up any room. I shove them in the bottom of my toiletry bag with one or two eyeliners.
So, I went from all that stuff up on top to just these pieces now. A few are the same things, like the charcoal scrub, my compact (though sometimes I just take the one that’s normally in my purse), and eye drops.
In addition to these things, I bring along a travel hair straightener and I feel organized and like I can keep track of everything. Another plus: if I accidentally leave any of these things behind and they don’t make it home with me, I haven’t left a $20-40 item, because I never brought a full-size container in the first place. At most, I’m out a small portion of product, and that can easily be replaced.
I hope this helps you pack a little more thoughtfully and smaller when you travel, so you don’t have to check a bag just to accommodate your toiletry bag.
What’s your biggest struggle when trying to pare down on your toiletries?
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Source: http://www.shereentravelscheap.com/2024/04/packing-light-tips-for-your-toiletry-bag.html
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