Now that you’ve gotten inspiration from my post on What’s In My Travel Makeup Bag, the next most important thing is to pack your travel toiletry bag. Beautiful makeup starts with good skincare so it’s important to be prepared with skincare products you can’t go without. Even though you may be on the go or have limited space to bring your favorite things, it’s important to do your best to still take care of your skin as you never know how your skin can react to the new environment, bed sheets, food, and more.
When packing my travel toiletry bag, I admit sometimes I bring a little too much. But I rather be safe than sorry as there’s many a times where I’ve forgotten something and it was a major hassle to go out and spend extra money to find it. Most of the times, it’s more costly than what you would pay at home and it takes time out of your trip.
Also, I always keep my travel toiletry bag ready. Every time I come back from a trip, I make sure to fill it back up with all the essentials I need to be prepare for my next trip. I’m also a big believer in being prepared and I like to do my best to not forget anything.
How Do I Decide What To Pack In My Travel Toiletry Bag?
To make things easier, I pack according to the following categories so I don’t forget anything and can be prepared at all times.
- Face
- Body
- Hair
- Dental Hygiene
- Feminine Products
- Medicine
- Other travel must-have items
Skincare Products
First things first, taking care of my skin is of utmost importance, especially when I’m on vacation. I still continue to do the same routine I do when I’m at home with the exception of doing face masks, because, let’s be real – who has time to wait 20-30 minutes? Also, I tend to bring sample or travel size products with me when traveling purely on the fact that I can throw them out as I go and lighten my luggage. I usually get a lot of samples from gift with purchases or sets and I save them for my trips. This also gives me a chance to try out many more different products at the same time. The good thing about my skin, is that it’s not sensitive and I rarely react to any skin product. Also, the sample or travel sizes I bring are usually brands I’m very familiar with and are products I’ve been wanting to try out but have not bought the full-size yet.
These are the skincare must-haves for me to bring on every trip:
Face:
- Makeup remover wipes
- Makeup remover
- Cleanser
- Scrub (depending if I have a sample/travel size or not since I don’t use a face scrub every day)
- Toner
- Serum
- Moisturizer
- Face sun screen
- Under-eye masks (read How To Instantly Get Rid Of Dark Circles And Puffy Eyes for more details)
Body
- Body wash
- Body lotion
- Body sunscreen
- After sun or aloe (depending if I go to a tropical destination)
- Deodorant
- Certain-Dri anti-perspirant (lasts for 72 hours – I’ve been using this for more than 10 years!)
Haircare Products
Aside from bringing The Best Detangling Hairbrush For Stubborn Knots, these haircare must-haves ensure I have clean, mess-free hair for my trips:
- Shampoo and conditioner – I always bring my own as I only use professional brands and don’t really trust the quality of the generic hotel ones. I also get a lot of free samples from Sephora and they have come in handy for my travels.
- Mini dry shampoo
- Mini hair detangling spray or hair oil
Other items I pack in my travel toiletry bag that needs no explanation are:
Dental Hygiene Products
- Travel toothbrush
- Travel toothpaste (I usually bring a few of these as I get them for free at the dentist and I throw them out throughout the trip when they’re done)
- Mouth wash
- Floss
Feminine Products
- Just in case – I’ve been to other countries and a few times these items were almost impossible to find or ridiculously expensive when you get an unfriendly visit
Medicine
- Cough drops
- Painkillers
- Tylenol Cough and Flu pills
- Pills for traveler’s diarrhea (I get a prescription for these before any trip just in case!)
- Allergy pills
Other Travel Must-Have Items
- Hair ties/hair bands
- Mini sewing kit
- Shiseido Facial Cotton pads
- Q-Tips
- Razor (usually Gilette Venus or Billie)
- Hydrocortisone cream (also prescribed, I used to have eczema and it acts up sometimes)
Now Choose The Best Travel Toiletry Bag For You!
Once you’ve decided on your most important must-haves to bring with you in your travel toiletry bag, you need to actually get a travel toiletry bag! I currently use one from Benefit Cosmetics that is plastic with 2 clear pockets inside. I would recommend using a plastic one because if anything spills, you can easily wipe this off. If you have a cloth travel toiletry bag, it might be harder for you to get stains out or it will take a while for it to dry. I’ve found a few on Amazon that I actually have my shopping cart that looks cute on the outside, has a lot of room on the inside – and it’s a good price! And yes, my Benefit Cosmetics travel toiletry bag works great now, but I always love to have a backup or two of anything, plus these fit more! Option 1, Option 2, Option 3.
Packing your toiletry essentials for everyday and possibly emergency use helps you have peace of mind since you can still have access to everything you need as if you’re at home. It also allows for a stress-free and well-prepared trip!