Road trip skincare and makeup bag

~ stashy

Starting this Friday, I’ll be on a road trip!  We’ll be heading to northern parts of our province, also known as “cottage country” (don’t let the word “cottage” fool you, they have multi-million dollar homes that are owned by Hollywood celebs), and then heading to Ottawa.  We’ll be staying mostly at Bed & Breakfasts (B&Bs) which are essentially rooms or a portion of someone’s house. They’re more homey than hotels – and usually the breakfasts (included) are amazing!  We won’t exactly be roughing it, but I will be fairly low-key in terms of attire and makeup.  I always ask myself 3 questions when packing makeup for a trip:

  1. Do I really need it?
  2. Is it the smallest / most compact item I own of that product category?
  3. Would I be devastated if I lost it or it got broken during the trip?

Keeping these in mind, here is what I’m packing for our 9-day trip.
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I typically carry my makeup roll for the cosmetic items and a separate bag for skincare.  The makeup roll was a gwp from Smashbox, and the cute travel bag is from Consonant Skincare.

Skincare:

I know most “what’s in my travel bag” posts feature makeup, but for me, skincare is more important.  I don’t skimp or skip steps on skincare on vacation! That’s why I hoard gwp sizes of my favourite products so that I can bring them with me when I travel. 🙂
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• Shiseido The Skincare Instant Eye and Lip Makeup Remover – gwp size
• Vichy Calming Cleansing Micellar Solution – gwp size
• Shiseido Benefiance WrinkleResist24 Balancing Softener – gwp size
• The Face Shop THE THERAPY Essential Formula Emulsion and Secret-Made Anti-Aging Cream – gwp sizes – I’ve been trying these for a couple of weeks prior to the trip to make sure my skin gets on with them and so far so good – I’ll be doing a review soon (Pro-tip: avoid trying out new skincare / makeup while on vacation! You never know if it’s going to disagree with your skin.)
• Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Eye cream
• Shiseido Sun Protection Eye Cream SPF 32 PA+++
• MAC Prep + Prime Fix+ – travel size
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• Consonant Skincare The Perfect Sunscreen – picked up the travel size version just for this trip! (shown above with the corresponding full size bottles for scale)
• Consonant Skincare Natural Foaming Face Wash – travel size
• MAC Cleanse Off Oil – I decant from my full sized bottle to the travel size one, which I’m reusing
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• Facial cottons: Shiseido Facial Cotton, Delon+ cotton rounds, and Up&Up Exfoliating cotton rounds – all the essentials! 😉

Makeup:

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I try not to pack liquid foundation on vacation so I rely on powders and creams.
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• MAC Matchmaker Concealer in #1 – I will just use mainly under eyes, around my nose and on my chin
• Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch Highlighting Concealer in Buff 340
• Shiseido Sun Protection Compact Foundation SPF35 in SP30 – this powder has light coverage and provides added sun protection, it’s a bit orange on me but on vacation I don’t mind the “bronzed” look.  I’ll also use this as my transition eye shadow shade to blend
• Marcelle BB Cream-to-Powder Compact in Light to Medium – I debated whether to bring this or not but it’s a 4g travel size so it’s tiny, and it’s a great no-makeup makeup that can be applied with just my fingers
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• NYX Power Blush in Angel – it was difficult to narrow down which blush to bring but I wanted something understated and Angel is definitely that
• Clinique Chubby Stick Shadow Tint For Eyes in 04 Ample Amber – this will be my shadow base or I can wear it alone
• Lancôme Color Design Eye Shadow in Impress – perfect bronze shade for a single colour eye look
• CoverGirl LashBlast Volume Blasting Mascara
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• Make Up Forever Aqua Eyes pencil in 24L Taupe – I found this pencil sharpener topper in a stationary shop and it’s perfect to bring, in case I need to sharpen the pencils while on vacation.
• Shu Uemura H9 Hard Brow Pencil in Seal Brown
• Not shown: Dr. Hauschka Lip Care Stick

Brushes and accessories:

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• bdellium tools #755 Smudger, #776T Blending and #964T AP Blusher brushes – these have shorter handles and are part of the Travel Mineral 10pc. Brush Set
• The Body Shop kabuki – you know I love my kabukis!  This has its own little carrying case.
• Shishida Seishindo Metallic Mascara Comb
• Travel eyelash curler – I don’t know what random brand this is, the label has mostly rubbed off but it’s my favourite for travel
• Anna Sui Eye-brow Brush 1 (brow spoolie)

Hair & Body:

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• Curl Keeper Original – decanted this into a travel-size bottle (full size shown in photo for scale)
• Tresemme Tres Two Ultra Fine Mist hair spray – travel size can
• COLAB Extreme Volume Dry Shampoo in London – travel size can
• Various shampoo, shower gel, body lotion – these are from other hotel stays which I’ll be re-purposing for our B&B stays. I’m not sure if the B&Bs will provide toiletries like normal hotels do (I think they will?), but just in case.  I highly doubt these little bottles will last us the full trip but we’ll be staying in a proper hotel in Ottawa so we should be ok.
• Not shown: deodorant and a sample size of Chloe perfume

What do you pack in your travel makeup bag?

Since we’ll be on the road for quite a bit – we’re thinking of downloading some Podcasts to listen to – are there any that you would recommend? 🙂

40 thoughts on “Road trip skincare and makeup bag”

    1. omg I was soooo into that until I got distracted and stopped listening. I’m at about episode #55 but i may restart the whole thing and force my SO to listen to it! I think he would like it too. 🙂 “all hail the glow cloud”

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      1. Some overly chatty ones I tune out because I just register the talking as background noise, but Welcome to Night Vale is more like a play with different characters and they even have a music segment, which they call `the weather” It’s a weird show lol.

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  2. I definitely bring more makeup with me than skincare! ITA with not bringing new skin stuff on vacation. I did that once. NEVER AGAIN. I also avoid bringing irreplaceable items in case they get lost or stolen. Also, must leave room for bringing new beauty stuff home. 😉

    Hope you have a fun-filled vacation next week!

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  3. I’m kind of nostalgic of the time when my stash was minimal: I travelled with shower gel, shampoo, deodorant, sunscreen and mascara. Now, a third of my suitcase is full of skincare and beauty products that I ABSOLUTELY need! Have a nice holiday 😉

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      1. Yeah that’s good! I always struggle with my makeup the most! I feel like I need 20 different lip products lol! When I went to Michigan in May I brought a ton and didn’t use them all of course lol. Though I was very proud of myself on my last overnight trip and just brought the minimal. 🙂

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  5. Sounds like so much fun!!! have a great trip! Ummmmmm, I usually pack my entire bathroom and closet lol! I love all the essentials your bringing with you for your road trip, I may have to scope out some and try them for myself 🙂

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  9. Great tips on travel packing. I like how you organized them so neatly.
    I usually pack light with skincare essentials and a few makeup products since I love to pick up unique makeup products everywhere I travel. .

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  11. That makeup roll looks so convenient for travel. Love all of your little travel sized products, makes packing so much easier.
    Enjoy your trip, it sounds amazing 🙂
    xxx Anne

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    1. Oh neat! I use to go to Ottawa quite frequently but haven’t been there in ages. It’s a sleepy little town but we’ll be doing all the touristy things like the parliament and museums. 🙂 Will report back on the highlights!

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  14. I’m with you on the skincare. I hoard deluxe sized samples and always have a running inventory (though I’m a bit low at the moment – soon to be corrected by two Nordstrom orders that included GWP’s hehe). I never skimp on my skincare routine no matter the circumstances. These days I bring a fair bit of makeup as well but it’s not too bad. I hope you’re having a great time on your Road Trip!

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  15. This is so helpful considering I’m heading over to Morocco at the end of the month!

    Mind checking out my blog? I’m pretty new to this.. it would really help if you commented and/or followed 🙂
    bakergirlfashionista.wordpress.com

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