The travel beauty hacks you’ll never have heard before

By Aisling Keenan
21st May 2019

The travel beauty hacks you’ll never have heard before

Fed up jamming all your liquids into a bursting plastic bag? Sick of going kilos overweight because your beauty stash weighs more than you? Here are the hacks that will help…

I counted them up and I took approximately a billion flights last year. Whether for work or for leisure, I’ve grown weary of trying to shove 98 different liquids into a 15cm x 15cm bag, opening up my smashed to smids pressed powder and having my favourite shampoo leak all over my belongings.

When you’ve only got carry-on luggage and so minimal options when it comes to squeezing as much as possible into one little plastic bag, these hacks will see you through and make things much easier, as well as helping you avoid leaking and breaking disasters…

Keep a samples box

You know those travel-sized samples you get at counters, or free with magazines, or free in fancy hotels? Keep them. Keep them like you’re entering some kind of hoarding contest. You’ll have everything from tiny bottles of fragrance to mini foundations in your shade, and you’ll be set for a three or four day trip away.

Prioritise dry items

Love your liquid highlighter but can’t fit it into the plastic bag? Bring your pressed highlighter instead. Have an SPF in stick format? Throw that in instead. And grab yourself some genius beauty bits like Moxi Loves Bare Faced cleansing pads – they’re dry pads that are pre-infused with cleanser that will take eye make-up off when you add water to them.

Moxi Loves Bare Faced Cleansing Pads, from €3.95

Stop leaks forever

Is there anything more distressing than unpacking your liquids only to see that your oil cleanser has leaked all over everything, leaving a coating on your beauty bits and leaving you with no cleanser? Solve it by getting a small square of cling film, placing it over the top of the open bottle and then screwing the lid on. No more leaks!

Never break another palette or bronzer pan

When packing your breakable favourite bronzer or eyeshadow palette, before you close them over, stick a cotton pad (cut up to fit whatever shape your palette is) under the lid. It’ll stop both the pan from cracking and the mirror from breaking.

Decant your heavy stuff

You can buy travel bottles really cheaply in Penneys, and they come with a funnel. This means you can take four washes’ worth of your favourite shampoo and conditioner instead of taking the entire bottle (weighing you down, taking up precious shoe space). You can also use old contact lens containers to store your moisturiser or serum instead of carting the entire bottles along.

Travel Bottle Set, €1.50, Penneys

Pack double duty products

A lipstick that doubles as a blush? A powder that works as a base eyeshadow colour? An SPF and primer combo? All of these will save you time, space and fuss when travelling. My ultimate travel companion product these days is the Your Skin But Better CC Cream from It Cosmetics. It’s moisturiser, primer, SPF and foundation all in one. Talk about being MADE for holidays.