I think most people can agree that traveling can be amazing, but the packing and prep work beforehand can seriously blow. I'm going on a trip in May (and possibly April), so I though I would do a series of posts dedicated to breaking down the packing process and hopefully give you guys some good tips. I'll also talk about items that help keep you more organized for your trip as well. In today's post I'm going to go over toiletries, what you should bring and how best to bring them. Obviously every trip has different requirements and every person has different needs, so think of this as a guide of sorts.
When deciding what to bring you need to know how many days you will be gone and where you are going. The longer you are gone the more you will bring obviously, I wouldn't bring one travel sized bottle of shampoo on a week long trip to the beach. My trip is spring time in dry land wheat country for a wedding, but it looks like we'll be camping it. This trip should be fairly short, leave Friday morning and get back Sunday at some point. I will basically need supplies for two days, so I won't be packing large volumes of items. Certain things, like dental hygiene items and razors, so if you want to know more about those let me know down below in the comments.
If you are only traveling for a day or two, foil packets of shampoo and conditioner are my preferred choice. Most of the time you can get them for free from different company's websites or as a sample from places like Costco or Wal-Mart. Foil packets take up very little space and I can typically get two uses out of them if I need too. And instead of lugging bottle back I can just throw the packet away when done. I more than likely will not have a shower available to use so I'll be bringing a small can of dry shampoo to use instead. Pssst! brand dry shampoo makes a travel sized can that is just a few dollars and will last you about a week with constant use. I currently have a mini bottle of Klorane dry shampoo from Birchbox (a great source of mini sized items to take traveling) so I'll be bringing that. And since I have seriously long hair I'll be bringing my small bottle of Beauty Protector spray from this post as well as my detangling brush. The Beauty Protector will also help protect my hair from the heat and keep it soft and smelling good.
Since I won't have access to a shower, I won't be bringing any body wash. Instead I'll bring a pack of makeup removing wipes for my face and some baby wipes for my body. Wipes are great because they pack well, won't explode soap everywhere, and clean you up faster than a shower. Because I'm not showering having deodorant is an absolute must, though I always bring it with me no matter what. Because sometimes things go horribly wrong, I always use some masking tape to secure my deodorant cap down and prevent it from popping off and making a huge mess of my bag. Only had to do that once, let me tell you.
Out of all the things I can bring from my skin care hoard, sunscreen will be the most important for where I'm going and should be high on your list no matter what. Skin cancer does not take a vacation, so always use protection. Thanks to subscription boxes I have several deluxe sized samples to choose from, so no giant sized bottle this trip. I'll be bringing along my Supergoop City Serum Sunscreen (anti-aging and sunscreen rolled into one, love multitaskers) and my Supergoop Eye Cream with added SPF just to make sure I'm super protected. I will probably bring along a wide brimmed hat as well for extra sun protection on my face.
Because of the risk of explosions, I always store my toiletries in a plastic ziploc bag. That way, even if it explodes you won't be completely screwed. This is especially important while flying, the pressure changes on a plane will make the liquids in your bottle contract and expand. And sometimes expand all over your clothes. Keeping things in bags also keeps your luggage more organized and easier for the TSA to snoop through. Remember, the TSA can and will poke through any bags you bring when you fly, so don't bring anything you wouldn't want someone to see. We'll also talk about TSA approved sized here in a bit.
Buying smaller bottle of items can be expensive, and if you already have shampoo at home buying a new bottle just for a trip can be annoying, which is why I love these silicone travel sized bottles from Dot&Dot, a travel accessory company that I'm quickly falling in love with. Each one holds 1.25 ounces of product, making them TSA compliant to have in a carry on. The silicone material makes it easy to squeeze your product out, no more shaking a bottle repeatedly until a tiny blob flies out and lands anywhere but where you wanted it too. Each bottle is a different color for easy visual identification, but the coolest feature is the built in labeling ring. You can twist the band so the bottle is labelled shampoo, or conditioner, ect. There is even a place to write in your own label. Since there are four bottle I'm guessing most people will use them for shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and lotion.
They come in their own plastic bag with a zipper, so you are protected against any accidents that may occur. Since they are smaller bottles they also take up less room in your bag, which is a huge plus for me. I like to keep my bags as small as possible, I'm a carry on sort of person. Checked bags can get lost, which is way more stress than I want to deal with on a trip. One of the other features I really like is each bottle has a suction cup on the back, so you can stick it to the shower wall while you're showering. Obviously they won't stay there forever, but I stuck them onto my bedroom mirror before I left for work one day and they were still there almost 7 hours later. The only thing to keep in mind with these bottles is the silicone can react to certain things, like oils. This can cause discoloration or leaking, but a list of items you shouldn't use comes with your kit. Nothing I plan on using reacts with the bottles so it isn't a big deal for me, but you should be aware of this.
This covers toiletries, minus makeup, which I'll be doing in a separate post. Come back tomorrow where I'll be talking about clothes to pack and how best to pack them up. And come back on Sunday for my traveling with makeup post plus an awesome downloadable packing list to help you stay organized and stress free.
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