Travel Bag - Tropical Summer Edition

Thursday, May 25, 2017

Good afternoon! I thought I'd show you what I packed for an extended vacation. We'll be seeing so many family and friends, I'm so excited to be spending this time with loved ones and my most loved one while exploring new places and revisiting some of my favorite restaurants and bars. We've both been intensely busy the last couple of months (the Mr. especially, poor guy has been burning the candle at both ends) that we both need some serious unwinding. We're heading to hotter and more humid regions of China and Thailand, so my packing needs are completely different from when we traveled in the winter.

If it seems like a lot of products, it's because it is. Again, I need to stress that this is for a longer period of time - not days, think weeks. Also I'm meeting my mom and sister in Shanghai, and I'll take any opportunity to share my makeup and skincare. Any. As I'm writing this, I've already given a lipstick to sestra (Pony Effect On Fleek looks miles better on her) and happily applied eye hydrogels to my curious mother.

Last time I bought little travel bottles from Muji. The thing is, while the tiny little bottles were high quality, the hinges on the bottle caps were not. Most unfortunate when the moving part of an object is the weakest part of the design. This time I opted for vacuum pump bottles in 5, 10, 15, and 50 mL. The only thing I would note about these pumps is that they really work best with runny lotions or gels. It's not pumping super effortlessly with my thicker creams. I purchased these from AliExpress and eBay.

In addition to decanting a lot of my regular skincare products, I tossed in a bunch of deluxe samples. Most of these are products I've used before or successfully patch tested.

Left to right:

Innisfree Eco Safety SPF 35 (trying to use this up on the body)
Dr Jart+ Water Drop
MizuMi Physical UV Water Serum SPF 50
2 little jars of masks: Pure Heal's Centella 65 Green Tea Mask and Kouji Hime Face Pack (reviewed here)
In the pumps -
Manyo Factory Miracle Overnight Sleeping Pack (it was a poor choice to keep this in a clear tube, it has Vitamin C)
Glossier Milky Jelly Cleanser (reviewed here)

Klairs Supple Toner

Cosrx Ultimate Nourishing Honey Mask

Missha Timer Revolution Purple Ampoule

Pure Heal's Centella 70 Ampoule

Pure Heal's Propolis 70 Ampoule

Manyo Factory Caviar Vita Eye Gel

2 horizontal bottles -

Manyo Factory Clearskin Toner

Oolu Jasmine Moisture Liquid

The MUFE bottle actually contains Manyo Factory Lactobifida Mist

Tatcha Pure Camellia Cleansing Oil

Boscia Charcoal Cleansing Balm

Su:m37 Bright Award Bubble-De Mask

Tata Harper Clarifying Moisture Cleanser

I have been in the unfortunate situation where I keep getting foundation stains on the insides of my makeup pouches. My solutions:

1) switch to a stick foundation for travel and
2) use somebody else's makeup pouches.

I kid, but in all seriousness, my friend C. was kind enough to lend me her fantastic Chanel case for this trip.

It has a brush holder and so many useful pouches.

A built in brush holder! Boy do I wish Chanel hadn't discontinued cases like this.

Some miscellaneous items: Mont Bleu Hard Case Nail File, blotting papers from Daiso, and half length bobby pins from Goody.

I brought a small handful of lip color options: the Sephora + Tarte Creamy Matte Lip in Birthday Suit, Pony Effect Stay Fit Matte Lip Colours in On Fleek and Magnificent (reviewed here). I also brought a couple mini pencil liners, one of the new Bite Beauty pencils in #22 as well as Kevyn Aucoin The Flesh Tone Lip Pencil in Cerise.

For nails, I've brought my favorite formula for travel: Essie Gel Couture. I love how these well these polishes level. In fact, that allows me to patch up worn tips and stretch a manicure to 9+ days without the lacquer looking thick or lumpy on the nail. Another product I like quite a bit is this jar of Boots Nails Strengthening Remover Pads. The oily finish the pads leave is very nourishing for the cuticle but needs to be washed off the nail in order for your manicure to last.

Base makeup:

NYX Duo Chromatic Illuminating Powder in Twilight
VDL Perfecting Last Foundation Stick
A'Pieu Moist Creamy Concealer in Sand
The Saem Cover Perfection Tip Concealer in 1.5
The Face Shop Oil Clear Blotting Pact
NARS Foreplay Blush Palette
Kevyn Aucoin Contour Duo (reviewed here)
Sephora Collection 8 HR Mattifying Foundation Compact

I pulled that NARS blush palette from my stash completely untouched a few months ago. I had been a little tempted by those NARssist Blush palettes and was chagrined to find this completely unused selection of blushes just sitting in a drawer.

My hair, body and lip options. I brought these 38mL silicone squeeze tubes full of Ryo shampoo and conditioner, more than enough for a few weeks even with daily use. The humidity takes my fine hair and oily scalp down to unattractive new lows, I brought a travel bottle of Toppik Hair Fibers and Alterna Bamboo Plumping Strand Expander to combat the limpness. The fibers not only tone down greasiness, but they also add volume and make the scalp appear full of hair. This minuscule bottle of Davines Oi Oil is all I'll probably need in terms of heat protectant for blow drying.

My body lotion is a 50mL vacuum pump full of this Missha emulsion that I'm desperately trying to finish, rather than sending it to the skincare graveyard. I've recycled some little plastic clam shells that were full of lipstick samples by using them for lip nourishment: I decanted a bit of Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask as well as two pods of Tatcha Gold Camellia Lip Balm*.

My two palettes for this trip: NARS Loaded and Tom Ford Solar Exposure.

I'll have reviews on these palettes in the next few weeks, I'm just starting to really use them now. The Loaded palette was part of my birthday present from the Mr, Solar Exposure was a little self treat I bought a few weeks ago. Neither one of them comes with applicators/brushes, this pleases me. Immensely. Oh and they're gorgeous to boot.

Some foil packet samples, to add a little variety/fill in any gaps. We're using Shanghai as our base and doing some side trips, so there'll be days when I want to grab a small baggie full of foils and a couple small pumps for ease of portability. The downside of empty foils is that I'm currently saving all my empties from 2017 for an epic empties post at the end of the year - so anything that gets used has to be wiped clean and brought home.

All these products, a little excessive? I'll readily admit that I usually tend to overpack. However with my last few trips, I've found that I'm pretty good at gauging exactly how much product I'll end up using. For my winter trip, the only leftovers at the end were a dab of Dr Jart Ceramidin cream and an unused foil of Josie Maran Argan Oil. Not too bad!

What are some of your favorite things to bring with you, whether it's in your purse for the day or in your luggage for a week?

Products featured were purchased by me. *indicates PR sample. Post contains affiliate links. For additional information, please refer to my Disclosure Policy.