Travel packing is one of those things that has always been tough for me. I always know what to pack, but I never know how much to pack. So, when I headed off to Daqingshan Mountain in China for just shy of four weeks this past May, I took the opportunity to pack some travel-sized beauty products to see what would and wouldn’t be enough.
And guess what? I didn’t run out of a single item while I was there.
It’s tough to travel-size your makeup, so what I focused on for this trip was taking the right sizes of the big stuff. Things like shampoo bottles and moisturizers can take up a ton of space in your suitcase, and I’m an over-packer to begin with. Unless I want to start hauling six suitcases around, I’ve gotta go small where I can.
(Insert short person joke here. But hey, the joke’s on all you tall people, because I can comfortably fit in airline seats!)
Travel-sized beauty: Bath, body, and hair products
I brought along a LUSH Shampoo Bar and their Veganese Hair Conditioner, neither of which I particularly love at home – but they performed like champs while I was away. The Shampoo Bar doubled as a satisfactory soap/shaving cream and bath foam when I tried it, too.
I’d estimate that 100 ml of conditioner will last you 2 months if you’re using lots (Veganese is pretty thin) and washing your hair every other day. One shampoo bar will last you a lot longer; I’d say half a year or more.
For my body, I brought a travel-sized Bioderma Atoderm Gentle Shower Gel. I found that I used about as much shower gel as I did conditioner, so 100 ml will last you 2 months if you’re showering every other day. Atoderm lathers lightly, and works well with the Venus Snap with Embrace that I brought with me.
The Snap is tiny, even in my little gremlin hands, and it makes a weird squeaking noise against my skin, sort of like it’s happy to be alive but really unhappy to be at work. It also delivers a crazy-smooth shave, though, so I’m not really complaining. I can torture razors for that.
I also (and I swear this wasn’t intentional) brought along a 100 ml moisturizer. The Karen Phytoplankton Moisturizing Lotion is a little light for me in Edmonton, but it was just right for China. This one’s close to being empty, so I’d say 100 ml of moisturizer will last about 4-5 weeks. (Karen is currently offering 40% off every order on their website until the end of the year with code KAREN4BLOGGERS, so snap this one up now!)
Sunscreen (which I totally over-packed)
I knew I’d be spending a lot of time outdoors in China, so I brought along two things of spray-on sunscreen and one stick. I have yet to find an affordable cream/lotion sunscreen that’s also silicone-free, but let me know if you can think of any!
Neutrogena Beach Defence SPF 60 is my go-to sunscreen, and this is my third bottle of it. It’s cheap and effective, but it’s still sunscreen, so it’s a little sticky and quite perfumed. I also brought along the super-smooth Neutrogena UltraSheer Face & Body Stick SPF 50+ for midday sunscreening.
On days when I knew I wouldn’t have time to shower off my sunscreen before meals, I used Ombrelle SPF 60 Sport, which is also silicone-free. It has a very low scent profile for a sunscreen, but I don’t know–for some reason, it just wasn’t as effective for me. I consistently picked up a bit of colour every time I used this, even though I applied until I was dripping and rubbed it in.
Itty-bitty face care
I wasn’t sure how much facial moisturizer to bring either, so I brought my full-sized Aveeno Fresh Essentials SPF 30. For the night, I also brought a tiny tube of my nighttime fave, DHC Extra Nighttime Moisture.
This mini (0.28 oz/8 g) tube lasted for all 3 1/2 weeks. It feels pretty light, so to be on the safe side, I’d recommend expecting that 8 grams of moisturizer will last you 4 weeks.
