10 Essential Tips for Traveling Carry-on Only with Beauty Products
Wondering how to make your beauty collection more travel-friendly? Photo by Alicia Michelle
March 2021 Update: Travel conditions are constantly changing due to the pandemic. Always review and verify Covid-19 testing, quarantine, and visa requirements prior to travel.
Beauty lovers who also love to travel face a conundrum – how can you serve face and pare down your beauty collection so that it fits in your carry-on bag?
This conundrum certainly posed a challenge for me when I first started traveling 6 years ago, and many innocent products were overpacked, disposed of by airport security, or smashed in transit before I learned my lesson.
If you’re struggling with how to pack makeup and skincare for travel, don’t fret. This article is here to spare you from the costly mistakes I made in my early 20s.
Read on for my tips and tricks for beauty on-the-go:
1. Go Minimal
I believe everyone should experiment with minimalism, especially if frequent travel is part of your lifestyle.
When applied to makeup and skincare, minimalism comes with many benefits. At home, it sparks joy and makes you more conscious of your spending habits. And on the road, it saves you from checked baggage fees, lets you accommodate for limited space, and prevents you from feeling stressed by choice.
2. Decant that Shit
Don’t be the person who tearfully watches airport security dump their (expensive!) full-sized liquid products into the garbage because they didn’t follow air travel’s liquids rules.
Carry-on liquids containers must be no larger than 3.4 ounces (100ml). Creams, pastes, serums, and aerosols, such as hairspray and facial mists, count as liquids.
Before heading to the airport, decant your liquid products into smaller, travel-sized containers, label them, and ensure they fit (yes, all of them) into a transparent quart-sized plastic bag. In addition to lightening your load, decanting your liquid products guarantees you’ll clear security without being publicly humiliated.
Obtaining Basic Toiletries
Toiletry staples like toothpaste, mouthwash, soap, and deodorant are available in travel-sized form and can be found in the travel aisle at your local grocery store or pharmacy. Select beauty stores, such as Ulta and Sephora, also offer travel-sized products.
3. Wrap it Up
Insulate your pressed powders by placing a clean cotton ball between the product and the container lid. Protect glass bottles from spillage and breakage by wrapping them in cloth. Finish by placing your makeup bag in the center of your suitcase or backpack, where it will be further insulated from bumps and jostles.
4. Innovate
Shhh...don’t tell the beauty industry, but makeup products are versatile. Save room in your bag by packing multi-use products. Some ideas include:
Lipstick can be diffused onto the cheeks
Eyeshadow can turn into eyeliner with water
Cream blush can be dabbed onto the lips
Liquid concealer can turn into BB cream when mixed with moisturizer
5. Use your Fingers
Your fingers can get the job done just as well as brushes.
Products like cream blush, concealer, and skin tints apply beautifully with your fingers, and using your body’s natural tools saves precious space in your bag and precious time on the road.
6. Don’t Panic
For those who plan to travel for months or years at a time, remember that the humans at your destination use skincare, toiletries, and makeup too.
Once you’ve finished the travel-sized products in your bag, pop into a local pharmacy or beauty supply store to top up. Basic toiletries can always be found abroad, though their branding and packaging might look different from what you’re used to at home. Destinations like France, Germany, and South Korea are famous for their beauty products, and I encourage you to explore your host country’s makeup and skincare options. Who knows, you might even find a new holy grail!
7. Ditch the Foundation
Going foundationless isn’t just for off-duty models with perfect skin – everyone can experiment with going bare-skinned.
I find that foundation weighs me down when I travel; the extra space it takes up in my bag, and as the day wears on, it feels heavier and heavier, especially if I sweat or spend time in the sun. Since trading decanted foundation for concealer, I’ve never looked back and encourage you to try the same.
8. pare down Your Skincare Routine
A multi-step routine is practical for skincare at home, but it’s not so practical for skincare on the road. Streamline your skincare routine by only bringing along your must-haves and leave the rest at home.
Your must-haves can include your tried-and-true cleanser, moisturizer, and products for skin concerns.
As someone with sensitive combination skin, my must-haves are an ultra-gentle gel cleanser, a fragrance-free moisturizer, and a bottle of The Ordinary’s niacinamide (okay, and maybe a decanted pot of Corsrx’s snail mucin too). I never travel without these staples, as I know they won’t cause breakouts or rashes. Everything else is up to negotiation.
Holy Sheet!
Sheet masks don’t count as creams or liquids, and are a travel-friendly way to include some skin treats in your travel skincare routine. Feel free to bring as many as you like!
9. Get Creative
Let your destination – its climate, beauty trends, and season – influence what you bring in your beauty bag. Tbilisi’s artsy, avant-garde street styles have long impacted how I do my makeup, as has French skincare when it comes to feeling at home in my bare skin and accepting its imperfections.
Your itinerary’s contents can also influence what products you choose. The skincare and makeup bags of an adventure tourist, nightlife lover, and museum aficionado might look different and there’s no shame in that.
10. Make a Bold Statement
I love a good bold statement lip.
When paired with the right clothes and fresh skin, bright, bold lipstick allows you to play with color and add variety to your wardrobe without weighing you down. Lipstick is also one of the most versatile products in your makeup bag, as its finish and color payoff can be altered and applied to your cheeks.