How to pack skincare for travel?

Are you someone who takes all of your 10-step skincare routine when you travel? I’d love to. But I’m also someone who’s not willing to pay for check-in luggage. So packing for travel is something that I’ve mastered over the years to make sure I travel light yet my skin is still well looked after.

Travelling is stressful to our skin. The recycled air on the airplane, the air-conditioning at the hotel, the sudden change of weather all adds burden to our skin. You’ll find your skin is drier, and more fragile than normal. And because we’re away from home, we often don’t have all of the tools to take good care of our skin.

My Must-Haves

There are few things that are a must when I travel:

1. Cleansing water or toner that allows me to remove dirt or light makeup when I’m on the plane.
2. Sleeping mask. These are so portable and ensures my skin is hydrated and sealed off at night in those drying air-conditioned hotel rooms.
3. Sheet mask to inject more hydration.
4. Eye cream to make sure I don’t get any more wrinkles developing.
5. Lip balm for my dry lips. I cannot sleep with tight lips.

Normally for a long haul flight (6 hours +), I would wipe my face with the cleansing water and put on a sheet mask, then a gel cream or a sleeping mask (+ Eye cream + Lip Balm) during the flight to keep my skin hydrated. It also helps the time to pass quicker.

What did I pack?

I recently went on a short trip to New Zealand, and below is what I took with me. Because I had no check-in luggage, I had to pack everything in a 1L bag. All of these items are less than 100ml per item and can fit into one of those zip-lock sandwich bags comfortably.

Note this doesn’t include the “non-liquid” items such as my cleansing stick and Clarisonic as I packed them separately.

1. Banila Co It Radiant CC Cream
   I love using a CC cream when I travel. These provide a good brightening and pore-blurring effect. They make you look like you have good skin naturally.
2. Missha All Around Safe Block Essence Sun
   Don’t skimp on sunscreen when you travel. You’re likely to use a lot of it. This Missha one is lightweight and extremely blendable. I layer this under the CC Cream to make sure I get enough sun protection.
3. Etude House Real Art Cleansing Oil
   I had a sample of this. It’s quite a pleasant cleansing oil. Lightweight and cleanses well. If I didn’t have the sample, I would have brought my Heimish All Clean Balm, which can go straight into the luggage, as it is not a liquid.
4. Contact Lens Solution
   I decanted some out into a travel bottle.
5. Primera Super Sprout Serum
   Always good to have an antioxidant rich serum when travelling to fix those problems of dryness and lack of sleep.
6. Too Cool For School Pumpkin Sleeping Pack
   I’ve taken a lens-case-full of the sleeping mask, which was sufficient for 3-4 uses. As mentioned above, sleeping masks are a must when I travel. They take very little effort and time to apply, yet provides a ton of hydration for the entire night. They also ensure that my skin is not dried in those air-conditioned hotel rooms.
7. Belif Peat Miracle Revital Eye Cream
   This is the eye cream I’m using right now. Loving the texture and moisturisation.
8. Tonymoly Backgel (Backstage Gel) Eyeliner – Dark Brown
   I didn’t end up using it, but I always take an eyeliner with me just in case I want to put on some serious makeup. Gel eyeliners are my favourites.
9. Manyo Factory Galactomyces Niacin Special Treatment Essence
   My current essence. It is lightweight and hydrating, perfect for morning and night applications. This is a sample size I had.
10. Moroccan Oil
    My hair also needs a bit of help with hotel’s unbranded shampoos.
11. Son & Park Beauty Water
    The 60ml size is perfect for travel. It is a toner and cleansing water in one.
12. Lucas Paw Paw Ointment
    For those random cuts, burns, insect bites or dry lips.
13. Chateau Labiotte Wine Lip Tint
    Portable and natural. I ended up wearing the Innisfree Eco Flower Tint Balm throughout my trip, which is not shown here as it’s not a liquid.
14. Heimish Artless Perfect Cushion
    Light to medium coverage, extremely natrual looking, doesn’t cake up. I used a light layer of this over the Banila Co CC Cream, which gives a radiant flawless look.
15. Too Cool For School Dinoplatz Lip Balm
    Can’t live without lip balm. These are lightweight, extra moisturising lip balms.
16. Thank You Farmer True Water Cream
    I had a 15ml size of this. This cream is a thick gel, which is perfect for protecting and hydrating the skin.
17. Too Cool For School Egg Cream Mask
    These masks are easy to wear, non-sticky and soft. They provide a ton of hydration and nutrients to dry and fragile skins.

Packing Tips

Some final tips for packing for travel:

• Separate liquid and non-liquid items. Because there are limitations to liquids, so it is best to pack those “non-liquid” items in a separate bag to maximise your allowance of liquids.
• Have a habit of collecting samples and travel sizes. They save so much space.
• Read your content label carefully when packing. 100ml is not always what you think.
• Avoid bulky packagings.
• Don’t skimp on essentials such as sunscreen, you’ll need a lot of it.
• Decant watery contents into smaller bottles. You can get empty travel bottles from Target or Daiso.
• Decant cream contents (eg. sleeping mask, eye cream) into contact lens cases.
• Bring solid cleanser and makeup remover so they don’t count towards your liquid allowance.

So how do you think? If you pack smartly, you can actually take a lot with you without sacrificing on the luggage space. Let’s take skincare with us when we travel!