My Top 5 Travel Beauty Essentials

I travel a lot of work, and after almost ten years of it, you’d think I’d be pretty efficient in packing the necessities. Well…no. I wish I was, but I’m ALWAYS finding a way to overpack, underpack, end up at Walmart at 7am buying deodorant before a meeting (true story. Happened to me in Nashville) because I forgot to pack it.

Sigh.

In my years of service to the multiple CPG giants I’ve worked for, I’ve also forgotten the following, in addition to my lack of deodorant #thatonetimeinNashville (ok maybe it was a couple times):

• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste
• Underwear (HOW does someone forget this?!)
• SHOES. Yep. Forgot to bring my work shoes once, because I wear sneakers on the plane…#facepalm…#helloDSWinChicago!
• Phone charger (I forget this ALL.the.time. I finally put spares in all my purses and suitcases)
• Hair brush
• Hair ties
• Feminine products
• Sleep attire (that night I slept in the hotel’s bath robe)
• Socks
• Mascara (that was an awful day)

There’s probably more to the list, but I’m just proving my point that it’s so easy, even after a decade of traveling consistently for work, to forget even the bare bones essentials. I’ve tried to think of my top 5 favorite beauty travel items that I need and always pack together, and so I thought I’d share that list. Even as I type this, I can think of way more (like, DEODORANT…which should have been in the top 5, but…oh well!). So here are my top 5 favorite beauty/skin care travel items that I always have. Add deodorant as #6 and you’re pretty much set:

My Top 5 Beauty Travel Essentials

1. Foundation. My favorite is the It Cosmetics Bye Bye Foundation in this travel tube. I’ve talked about how much I love this stuff on my Instagram account, but seriously, it’s AMAZING. I’ve thrown away all my other foundations (true. story.) because I finally found the perfect one, and this is it. 
2. A Lipgloss that Feels like a Balm, but Looks Better. I love this travel size one from Laura Mercier. It’s small (it came as a set), can fit anywhere, and isn’t heavy. I don’t carry around 10 different lipsticks anymore to choose from whenever I’m traveling. I pick a favorite go-to color that works with everything, and that’s what makes it into the bag. Also, I just noticed there’s a hair on my finger in this picture. Gross. But I don’t have time to fix it. Oh well…keeping it real, folks!!
3. Mascara. Maybe you have gorgeous lashes and don’t need it. But I do. And if I don’t have it or forget it, I have to buy one, because otherwise it’s horrorville. Maybelline Rocket Lashes is my fav!
4. Makeup Remover Wipes. These are my absolute favorite. They smell SO GOOD, and get everything off. I used to carry around some that you added water to in order to get it to lather up, but that was too annoying. I just wanted something easy, and this is it!
5. A Travel Toothbrush. A lot of times, the hotels will have a spare if you forget yours, but I like having my own. I used to carry around a full sized toothbrush with a cover on it, but the cover would always fall off. There is NOTHING grosser to me than having my toothbrush flying around in my makeup case getting toothpaste and goop all over everything! After trying this Mouthwatchers travel toothbrush, I don’t think I’ll ever go back to my previous method. It folds right up, and is infused with silver technology that eliminates 99% of bacteria that grows on the bristles. Disclaimer that I got this for free to try, but tell me that something gets rid of 99% of disgusting bacteria and I’M SOLD.

Ok, so obviously you would pack more than these 5 things, but these are just my top 5! If I was making it a top 10, I’d definitely add travel deodorant, toothpaste (duh), a travel eyeshadow palette, a regular chapstick, and tweezers.

What are your favorite must-haves for travel?!

If you like it, Pin It!