Makeup Travel Tips for the Everyday Girl

At home, I have plenty of drawers, baskets, bags and boxes to contain my love affair with makeup and color. But the truth is, I know that I don’t need this full arsenal when I hit the road. I don’t need the copper or lilac eye shadow, five shades of lipstick, all seven makeup brushes, or twenty different creams to look gorgeous when I travel because I don’t use them all at once even when I’m home. What I do want to do is look gorgeous for all those photos that Jacob takes while we are out and about!

So, the perpetual question is, what can I do to keep my beauty routine intact but still keep to one small/medium roller and one backpack for a carry on?

Go Travel Size

It doesn’t matter if you’re traveling by plane, train, or automobile, if you have a plan to pack small, you’re going to reap the benefits your entire trip. If you don’t use a product every day at home, think twice about whether or not you need it taking up space in your luggage. If you can’t refit all you need into a smaller travel container from the original container, again, think twice. I travel with two slim travel bags, one for my makeup and the other for my personal care items. I make sure that these are items I can live without for at least 12 hours and put them into my checked luggage. In a pinch, all of the liquid items in each bag can be fitted into a single quart-sized bag if I need to put them in to my carry-on bag.

While every drugstore and grocery store carries some selection of travel sized or trial sized personal items, many high-end and niche personal product companies are now making travel sizes for their most popular products. I find that the trial size of most products is enough product to last me for up to three weeks. In my personal care items bag, I have travel-size bottles of Aveda’s Color Conserve shampoo and conditioner. I also have tubes of their Hand Relief and Foot Relief lotions. For dental care on the road, I keep a folding toothbrush and use Tom’s toothpaste. For floss, I pack the Butler GUM soft picks. All of this fits into one, small travel makeup bag with ample room to spare.

Then there is the facial creams, cleansers, and makeup. Most drug stores and many general merchandise stores now carry travel packs that are TSA compliant for carry-on screening. Regardless of their TSA compliance, their sizes are suitable for packing light since, again, I find that I am able to put enough product into the small travel containers for travel up to three weeks. I like these travel containers when they come with a variety of sizes — with some products a little goes a long way and I don’t need a large container for a small bit of product.

Simplify Your Facial Routine

There is no reason to sacrifice your looks in the name of travel or vacation. When we’re traveling, we want to still look our best. What we do need to do is simplify. For economizing our space when packing or being confined to a hotel or apartment bathroom, it makes sense to do the bare minimum plus a special creature comfort or two.

For twice daily facials on the road, I pack the following essentials:

• Aveda’s Tourmaline Charged Exfoliating Cleanser (repackaged into a small container)
• Aveda’s All Sensitive Toner (repackaged into a spritzer bottle)
• Origins’ Spot Remover (in its original bottle)
• Aveeno’s Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer SPF 15 (repackaged into a small container)
• Aveda’s Nourish-Mint Renewing Lip Treatment (original/recycled packaging)
• Washcloth from home

My special creature comfort when I have room (and it doesn’t take much when repackaged!) is Aveda’s Tourmaline Charged Radiance Fluid. It is my little secret to a naturally healthy glow. We all have a secret cream or lotion that we consider our creature comfort. Make sure to make a little room for it when packing, but limit yourself to one or two, not four or five.

Simplify Your Makeup Palette

Perhaps the greatest volume of products in my bathroom are dedicated to a wide variety of color choices. I have colors dedicated to the seasons and to one-time outfits or events. While I may have a preference for some seasonal products like shimmering lotions or bronzers for summer, I have established a system that is highly interchangeable. When traveling, I also concentrate on keeping a mostly neutral/natural palette to keep my look flexible. If I want flash, then I will buy a custom color during my travel or get a sample size color.

I use Aveda’s Professional Environmetal Compact as my primary color palette. I love that it has a large built in mirror and holds my pressed powder, a bronzer, and eight shades of eye shadow. It is completely interchangeable because it is magnetic. You can swap in pressed powders of all sorts in a variety of combinations. The best part? It’s small enough and light enough to just slip into my makeup bag or purse without being a nuisance. For now, I have my pressed powder, a bronzer, a neutral/brown shadow pair, a green shadow pair, a violet shadow pair, and a warm shadow pair.

Other products that I keep in my makeup bag are:

• Aveda’s Inner Light Tinted Moisture SPF15
• Aveda’s Inner Light Concealer
• Aveda’s Inner Light Shimmer Accents
• Aveda’s Petal Essence Cheek Tint
• Aveda’s Petal Essence Eye Liner – Lily

One additional Aveda eye liner, lip color, lip liner, and mascara

If you have read this far and are still reading, I will tell you that the Lily colored eye liner solves the tired eye look in just a few strokes. Put it on the inside of your lower lid and you’re eyes will look more open and less red when you are getting over allergies or jet lag.

And that’s it. Enough make up to look like a class act but it can all fit in two slim makeup bags.

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• Provence: The Books for Planning
• Essential Beauty Tips Before You Travel
• Packing Clothes for Your Trip to Europe