Struggle With Packing? Your Need-To-Know Guide To Travel Beauty Essentials

We don’t know about you, but we find such joy in getting our travel beauty essentials together and packing them for an upcoming trip – ideally, a holiday. But not everyone loves the packing process, so our guide to the “must takes” will have you covered.

Firstly, you don’t have to buy a travel miniature of everything in your routine (unless you want to, of course!). In fact, decanting your usual skin and haircare routine into travel empties and streamlining your usual makeup bag is a lot easier when you’re limited on packing space.

However, there are a few key things worth stocking up ahead of a big trip. So, if you feel overwhelmed by the thought of getting your holiday beauty stash sorted, consider this a streamlined guide to the core must-haves to get you started…

Sunscreen

Of course this was going to be the first mention: sunscreen and plenty of it. We know the sun feels great on the skin, but given that it causes 80% of skin ageing and DNA damage that can lead to skin cancer, you’ll want to layer on sun cream to any exposed areas of skin to protect it. Go for factor 50 and water-resistant formulas if you’ll be in the pool and/or the sea – and don’t forget to reapply every two hours or when you get out of the water!

Spot stickers

It is super frustrating when you get a big old spot while on holiday. Thankfully, so many brands now offer effective spot stickers, usually made from hydrocolloid, which protect the blemish and draw out fluid to speed up healing time. Some are even supercharged with skincare ingredients, like salicylic acid, to help take down the inflammation.

Body lotion or aftersun

If you’ve been out and about in sunny climes, you’ll want to really re-nourish your skin to counter the drying effects. A lightweight and non-sticky body lotion is a good one for warm weather as it’ll soak in quickly; many “aftersun” lotions often contain Aloe vera, which has a nice cooling effect on the skin.

Leave-in conditioner

Hands up if you find your hair gets drier on a hot holiday? This is no coincidence, because warm weather, chlorine and sea water are all rather drying. Carry a leave-in conditioner or oil, depending on what your dry hair absorbs best, with you for on-the-beach top-ups, as well as applying it to freshly washed, damp hair to replenish lost moisture.

Waterproof mascara

If your make-up ride or die is mascara and you don’t want to go a day without it, a waterproof one is key for any holiday involving swimming. Pro tip: If you won’t be in water or somewhere very humid, tubing mascara is sweat resistant. They’re also easier to remove than a waterproof formula as they soak off with warm water – but that’s exactly why you don’t want them for a pool or sea swim moment!