I like to keep things simple when I travel, as well as make sure that I’m not missing any essentials. Honestly, I’m not too sure how they all fit into the tiny carry-on bag, but they do! Also, not all of them are liquids, which means they can come out of the bag for the security check and go back in to keep everything compant.

So what did I bring along for a weekend away? Here’s everything that fit inside my carry-on travel bag (though I’d forgotten to take a photo of my earplugs and mini deodorant):

To go into a bit more detail:

• headphones (cheap and cheerful, just in case they get lost or forgotten on the plane)
• Batiste dry shampoo (a must for long-haul flights and trips where you want your hair to look good, but don’t have the time to wash it every single day)
• L’Occitane Huile Demaquillante / make up removing oil
• L’Occitane toning water, great to refresh the skin throughout the flight
• Starazolin HydroBalance to keep contact lenses moist
• a little tub of the miracle worker that is coconut oil, brilliant to moisturise the face, lips, hands (can be used as a cuticle oil), generally all over the body and I found that my skin looks best when I use coconut oil on a flight – forget about expensive creams and serums
• another tiny tub of… baking soda/sodium bicarbonate. It’s a wonderful thing to travel with, I use it to calm down my stomach if the airplane food wasn’t that good, or to alkalise my body generally when travelling. It’s also a great exfoliator and can be added to the toothpaste for an extra super clean.

Then we have make-up and perfume:

• Pacifica Tahitian Gardenia solid perfume, what a great scent, refreshing and deep, I use it during the day and at night when travelling
• Hoola by Benefit, great to warm up the face a bit for a night out
• Wet n Wild’s trio eyeshadow in #335 Silent Treatment. I find that the more high-end make-up trios are not as light and compact as this, so this is pretty convenient and the colours are great to create a few looks for day and night time.
• Bare Minerals mini compact foundation – comes in really handy when travelling, as a setting powder or on its own.
• Shu Uemura eyelash curlers
• Blush brush
• Concealer brush by e.l.f. (works great with concealing, but is also really handy to blend in eyeshadow)
• No 7 Beautiful eyebrow pen – I normally prefer a powder product for my brows, but this is a great, versatile item for travel. The waxy pen is not as ashy as I’d like it to be, but it works just fine, whilst the spooly on the other end is perfect to arrange the brows
• Collection concealer – great all-rounder, I’ve also used it as foundation when mixed in with moisturiser
• Physicians Formula Organic Wear mascara
• Japonesque mini brush set, with a small eye pencil suck inside too

Medicine:

• Liquid Melatonin, one of the easiest ways to get to sleep whilst on a plane
• Lemsip Max – just in case I feel like I’m getting a cold, or if the person next to me sneezes a couple times
• Ibufen – in case I get any pain anywhere in my body

And finally – the bathroom and shower essentials + sewing kit:

• two samples of shampoo and shower gel, useful when you can refill mini bottles
• contact lenses
• exfoliating glove (works wonders when travelling and paired with the coconut oil – perfect!)
• tea tree oil, just in case I get spots when travelling
• dental kit: toothbrush, floss and dental wax (I’ve got braces…)

That seems like a lot to bring along, but I feel like I’ve managed to make it as compact as it can get. I guess I could make it even more compact with:

• 2 in 1 shampoo/shower gel and use coconut oil as conditioner
• drop the other medicine apart from melatonin/bring an even smaller bottle of melatonin
• drop the L’occitane oil and just use coconut oil to take make up off

Hope this was helpful, have a great trip, wherever you might be headed to!

Joanna x