Deciding what travel-worthy beauty items to buy and pack for your next trip, can be daunting. If you choose the wrong things, you may find yourself scrambling to find what you need in a place where they’ve never heard of it. Frustrating! However, whether you’re a road warrior for whom travel season never ends, or you are an occasional traveler wondering what’s “good to go,” I have a few suggestions to try now!
My Favorite Foundation:
When you are at home, it’s easy to slather on serum, moisturizer, and foundation, plus color cosmetics. But when you’re on the go, especially when you’re traveling by air, you need products that will multi-task. When it comes to your face, start with IT Cosmetics Anti-Aging Celebration Foundation with Brush (srp. $43.50). This pressed powder compact is my personal favorite. It comes with its own sponge applicator in the bottom, a mirror in the top. But it is a beauty-loving product chock full of anti-aging peptides and antioxidants to fight free radicals, rose and aloe to harmonize the skin, hydrolyzed collagen and real silk that help minimize the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, and five shades, to help make your skin look more flawless from Fair (very light), Light, Medium, Tan and Rich (medium deep).
I usually wear light to medium, but the Medium Beige sample I was sent actually looked nice, giving me a believable, one shade deeper “glow” that didn’t look like a “fake bake.” You don’t need much to cover, and it’s layer-able if you feel you need more. You can apply this with the included sponge, or use IT Cosmetics’ own, super-soft, synthetic bristled, cruelty-free, Heavenly Luxe Buffing Airbrush Foundation Brush ($48.00 sold separately).
Eye Liner Notes!
You’re traveling, and can’t take a big bag of makeup, so your liquid eye liner is left behind? You can still have awesome eyes worthy of a rock star! Designer Liner by Rock Cosmetics ($6.99/ package of 4 designs) is a simple sheet of press on eye liner designs, that gives you (literally) an eye-popping look, in literally, seconds! Designer Liner. One thin sheet of paper holds three different designs of press-on liner that’s flatter than your ID!
If you long for dramatic liner but are all thumbs, this is the answer. There are two different sets, designed by Creative Director Zoe Pocock: classics (thin, curvy lines) and Trends, bold, cats-eye and feathery styles. If you have small lids or they’re very lined, these may pose a tiny challenge, but basically all you have to do is peel a “line” off the backing, hold the strip to your lide to measure the fit, trim of any excess on the inner corners with scissors, and then place the liner (use tweezers if you are a bit shaky) as close to your lash line as possible.
Fill in any gap between lash line and liner with black liner pencil or liquid. Each self-adhesive strip can last up to 16 hours, and peels off easily (remove any additional residue with a facial cleanser) but stays put when you need it to. The “Trends” trio really produced amazing results, but they’re not for a shrinking violet! You’ll be literally, astounded! Designer Liner is available at Ricky’s NYC, and CVS.
Special Edition Everyday Minerals Kit
Around Earth Day, Everyday Minerals came out with a special limited edition kit ($32.00) that includes three organic,vegan, travel-friendly items: the first is a beautiful, Organic Beauty Products. Everyday Minerals is a wonderful company that uses only pure essential ingredients. Even better, every item you buy sends10% of the sale to support wilderness preservation. I received the coolest bamboo tie dye brush roll, double ended eye shadow, eyeliner brush, raspberry and rose lip scrub (package retail value is $32.00).
You can also buy the brush roll, rose Lip Scrub and Double-ended shadow/liner brush, separately. When you travel, especially in airplanes, the air, the unfamiliar atmosphere, and change in weather can make your lips really dry. Protecting them with a moisturizing balm will help, but only exfoliation will rid them of the nasty flakes that stick to your lipstick and make lips look unhealthy. The Raspberry Rose lip scrub is infused with natural ingredients such as sugar, red raspberry, rose oil, and Vitamin E. This little pot of “scrub” melts as you rub it (gently) in your lips, and has a nice raspberry vibe.
You can rinse or dab it off, and you’ll find smooth lips, in literally, seconds! For travel, you can’t go wrong with Everyday Mineral’s Double-Ended Eye Shadow/Eyeliner Brush ($12.99) that features a bamboo (sustainable material-nice!) handle. One side is a flat liner brush with angled bristles, and the other, an all-purpose shadow brush. Let your makeup brushes and pencils travel in style, with this “Free Spirit Brush Roll” ($15.00) *this one is the Earth Day version, but there’s a yellow/red/blue/green version that looks Summer-bright and cheerful. No two are alike, and the 100% bamboo fabric is machine washable (cold water only).
2 more travel-worthy items to tuck into your carry-on:
The Luminizing Sunlight Powder ($12.99) arrives in a slim, plastic, shaker compact. It’s a 3 in 1 product that cuts shine, has a yellow base (to minimize the appearance of redness), has a bit of a sheen, and also is translucent, to set your makeup. Suitable for all skin shades, from Fair to Light to Medium to Dark. The Multi-Tasking Matte Base in Neutral ($12.99) is a true bonus for banishing shiny faces. It offers full coverage for combination skin, evening out skin tone, reducing shine, and offering a more flawless complexion without additional products. It’s best for light to medium complexions. For more amazing products visit everydayminerals.com
Travel Worthy Hair Accessories:
When you travel, bad hair days, happen. If you don’t have time to shampoo and/or style before the evening event, a small bag of hair accessories can save your day. Try a few Summer-worthy hair items from Elle and Scunci and make yourr hair not just presentable, but party-perfect.
These Silver Mesh Mini-Salon Clips by Elle (2/pk) for just $12.00 add a hint of sparkle, and can be used just for decoration, or to pull weather-weary bangs or pieces of hair off your face and into place. The Small Bendini Clips by Scunci ($4.99 2 pk) help you secure an updo, and add a romantic touch. They come in several different colors, with these ivory flowers are great for a bride or bridal party, at a destination wedding. you can get these and plenty of other affordable hair jewelry at local food, drug, and mass-market retailers or visit www.scunci.com. Tuck a few into your tote or suitcase and, as the Boy Scout motto says, you’ll always “be prepared.”
SPF: Don’t Leave Home Without It
…and speaking of being prepared, if you read my features regularly, you know that I won’t ever stop telling my readers to use a good sunscreen every single day, whether they’re in the sun, or not (most sun exposure is just from walking around, sitting in a car or near a window, etc.). While I have reviewed many sunblocks in all sorts of forms, from traditional to alternative (check the Beauty link in orange, at the top of this page for more beauty reviews), one nice, new, compact one from Artistry is very travel-worthy. The Artistry Time Defiance UV Defense SPF 50 Ultra Facial Sunscreen by Amway ($58.00 1 fl. oz) is packaged in a chic, white plastic bottle with a shiny gold top. It looks good and takes up almost no space in your little, TSA-approved quart bag.
But this travel worthy product packs a multi-tasking punch. The liquid sunscreen inside has a big UVA/UVB sunscreen and a light formula with a slight, fresh scent. But it also has Artistry’s Balanced Brightening Complex that reduces the melanin pigmentation (Artistry says up to 86%). Melanin pigmentation can cause age spots and discoloration, It is water-resistant, and you won’t even know you have it on (except that it moisturizes, too). Actives are 7.5% Octinoxate; 6.528% Zinc Oxide; 5% Octisalate; and 2.49% Titanium Dioxide. However, one of the features of this ultra-light formula is that it literally sinks quickly into your skin, which means no ashy look regardless of skin tone. Women of color can use it. You can use it before applying foundation. It’s a pricey potion, but it does a lot. When you travel, that’s, priceless! Visit the Amway Web Site to learn more.
