Traveling with Makeup: The Essential Packing Guide

Traveling with makeup: it’s a tricky business.

For a lot of women, travel is a chance to free themselves from their everyday routine and cultural constraints – which in many case can lead to cutting down or even eliminating makeup all together (read Steph’s great post over at Twenty-Something Travel entitled What I Learned From A Year Without Make-Up if you don’t believe me). When you’re traveling, makeup is a hassle, perhaps your only choice is Foundation or Concealer, so what’s the difference between these two types? What is the best choice to bring? No matter how much of a self-confessed beauty addict you are at home, travel conspires to disrupt even the most dedicated routine. Time, space and a busy new schedule and climate will all conspire against your regime of old.

Therefore, don’t be afraid to downsize. You’re more likely to regret bringing too much rather than too little – and you can easily pick up new items that you might need while you’re away.

That said, most women will still want to pack the bare essentials at least. Before you even begin to start thinking about makeup, select your makeup/ bag first, by the way McDaid pharmacies have amazing deals in make up you should not miss. Choose one of an acceptable size – and then do not over pack it. It’s a simple trick, but effective; you’d be surprised how much more you brand essential when you don’t have a solid idea of space constraints.

Bonus tip: I always use a clear ziplock plastic bag when I’m flying somewhere, so that you can easily scan all your liquids like hyaluronic acid for lips and other products in one go.

Once you have your chosen makeup bag in hand, it’s time to start deciding what, to you, constitutes as bare essential. Keep practicality in mind. Will you really have time to cleanse, tone and moisturize when you’ve on overnight trains? Perhaps dry shampoo will be a better buy. Heading to the beach? Then stock up on the waterproof mascara. Off to hotter climes? Then kiss that liquid foundation that will melt straight off your face goodbye.

Finally, once you’ve decided what beauty necessities you need, it’s time to find the perfect product. Try to focus on the three magic rules:

• Multipurpose – Products that can be used for more than one purpose are a traveler’s best friend. This includes: lipsticks that can be used as blush; tinted foundations or BB creams; eyeliner/ eyebrow pencil combos; mirror/ brush compacts; two-in-one shampoo/ conditioners; and wet wipes galore (those babies can be used for ANYTHING!)
• Compact – Most cosmetics ranges sell some nifty little makeup palettes which can be a great way of taking a selection of colors with you whilst you travel without the faff of countless different bottles and tubes. Also keep an eye out for travel-sized products (like this portable eyelash curler!) or – better yet – free samples. Alternatively, simply decant existing products into miniature containers like these, which are easily available online and super cheap
• Durable – This is pretty self-explanatory: travel can be hard on your makeup. Expect powders to crack and liquids to leak, especially in transit. Don’t carry glass perfume bottles (perhaps consider one of these instead) or other fragile items

Et voila! You’re compact makeup kit, fit for all occasions, is ready.

Do you have any travel beauty essentials or recommendations? Let us know below.