I love traveling - seeing new places, trying new food, getting out of the familiar day-to-day routine. I used to travel a lot more in my pre-family and pre-baby days - fortunate enough to go to England, France, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Germany, The Netherlands, and of course back to Russia. Not sure if a brief few hour visit to the Canadian side of the Niagara falls counts as “visiting Canada”, but I’ve done that too. Most of that was before discovering the amazing Korean skincare and all the bottles and tubes involved.
All the yummy food from the last trip:
The natural question this time a year, when so many take vacations and short weekend trips is “how do I travel with all of these products?”. Here are a few of my tried and true tips. Since diving into Korean beauty, I have taken a week long trip to Kentucky, a week long trip to Germany, and a few weekend trips to different places.
1. Sample wisely
If you are a fellow hobbit that likes to hoard lots of products, you will quickly accumulate a menagerie of random samples that sellers so kindly include with most purchases (look here for the list of my favorite places to shop). You might even be able to put together a hodge-podge routine from things you’ve never tried before. Do NOT do that. There’s no faster way to create some awkward vacation photos than to pick that time for skin experiments. Try the new-to-you samples of products at home, one at a time, to carefully gauge the reaction.
With that said, I love traveling with samples of tried and true products that I already know and love. I had an impressive plastic baggie with my entire routine in my suitcase to Germany, which included pretty much all my regular steps in samples. It was very convenient to count out exactly how many little packets I needed per day and then toss the empties as I went. For a weekend getaway that’s even better - a few samples hardly take any space in your bag.
2. Get some travel sized sets
Many brands make travel size sets of entire routines. For Kentucky, I picked the Laneige ones - a cleansing set (eBay) and a hydrating set (eBay Amazon). I did test them at home first to make sure my skin liked them. For Germany, I added the sleeping set (eBay Amazon) since winter is so cold and dry.
Travel sets might seem small but are actually quite generous. After a week of daily use, I still had some things I brought home. Plus, this is a great way to test out an entire line of skincare to see if you want to invest in the full sized products.
Beginning of vacation week:
End of vacation week:
I can’t recommend these Laneige sets enough. My only wish is that there were more of the foaming cleanser as that runs out first. But the products are high quality, hydrating, and gentle. The sleeping set is luxurious and allows you to still indulge the skin while away from home (it includes a sleeping face mask, eye mask, and lip mask).
3. Decant your own items
If you are frugal or very particular about your skincare and can’t find the items you want in samples or travel sizes, then make your own! Get some cheap travel bottles at your local grocery store (although sometimes the sizes are very large), or do what I do and save a couple of the empty travel sized bottles from step 2 and simply pour your products into them (wash them first). Easy!
Perfect containers to save for later:
4. Avoid spills If you are taking samples, avoid squishing them too much as they could burst. If taking travel sizes, consider putting a small piece of food wrap over the opening before twisting on the lid to make the bottle leak proof (also great for the way back if you opened sealed bottles while traveling but have some products remaining to take home).
5. Downsize Try to do your “extras” at home. If you exfoliate once a week, consider doing that shortly before you leave and then soon after coming back to avoid having to bring that product along. Also take multi-purpose products if able - for example, a good eye cream works wonders on the neck, so you can leave your neck cream at home.
6. Take sheet masks
The one exception to the “downsize” tip are sheet masks. They weigh little and the packaging can be recycled or discarded as you go, but your skin will thank you later. Travel can be stressful and dehydrating (especially if you are flying), so give your skin some love with a mask or two. You can read about the ones I’ve tried here.
What are your best travel tips? Share in the comments below.
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