How to pack your Holiday Makeup Bag like a Pro

Packing for holidays can be quite daunting. While you don’t want to be carrying your entire make up drawer, you still want to carry enough products to be able to create various makeup looks.

This summer we are travelling to Greece and Morrocco for two weddings in a span of 15 days. This means I have the task of packing the ultimate makeup bag, equipped to last any situation; weddings, beaches, sight seeing, pool parties, night outs, city life. You name it, and this holiday has all elements that a holiday could possibly have.

Over the years, I have gone from someone who used to carry three big wash-bags to one compact traveling case with all toiletries, skincare and makeup.

So, here are my top tips when packing:

Tip 1: Travel size products are your best friends

Travel size minis help free up a lot of space in your makeup bag and help in travelling lighter. Most brands do travel sizes of their best selling products, so it is usually easy to your favourite products. However, if your favourite product is not available in a mini size, try transferring the product to a smaller container. Stores like Boots and Sephora do great empty container sets consisting of mini bottles and jars, making it easy to carry toiletries while travelling.

Tip 2: Carry Multi tasking brushes

Multitasking brushes help in saving space in your makeup bag and can double up as brushes that do more than one thing.

The Oval Brush: Oval brushes are great for base. They are dense and create a flawless base. This MAC Oval 6 brush can be used for both, applying foundation and blending concealer, making it the ultimate base brush while travelling.

Angled Brush: Angled brushes are typically used for contouring. However, they can also be used for applying blusher, so it saves you from carrying two brushes when travelling.

Shadow/ Brow Brush: This brush has both brow and shadow in one, making it easy to carry along. Also, for someone like me who often forgets the little brushes while packing, a dual ended brush means I have one less brush to pack.

Face Blending Brush: This Bobbi Brown Face Blending brush is a great brush to ensure that all the makeup has blended in perfectly without leaving in any harsh lines. Its also great at doubling up as a fibre brush as a powder brush.

Tip 3: Products in Sticks Rule!

Stick products are usually designed for a certain ease of application. They also make great travel products as they don’t take up a lot of space and often don’t need a corresponding product or makeup tool for application. This includes everything from eyeliners, eye shadow sticks, contour and highlight products to lip sticks in pencil format.

Tip 5: Sunscreen Sunscreen Sunscreen- Do not forget to pack sun screen

There is no such thing as too much sun screen. It if very important to protect your body from the harsh sun. This is true at all times, not just holidays, however, one tends to do more outdoor things like sight seeing, going to the beach/ pool on holidays, so its very important to have adequate sun protection.

Depending on how much makeup I’m wearing, I alternate between Estee Lauder Day Wear SPF 50 and the Estee Lauder Clear Difference BB Creme with SPF 35. The Clear Difference BB Creme is tinted and doubles up as a base product. Where as the Day Wear SPF 50 I wear when I don’t want to wear any kind of makeup.

Also do not forget to carry a sun sunscreen for your body, as your body needs sun protection too. It is often recommended not to use the body sun screen on your face as it is not specifically formulated for face and the ingredients can cause breakouts when used on the face.

Tip 6: Carry Two Nail Colours- A Bright one and a Nude one

It is a good idea to carry a bright and a nude option when it comes to packing nail colours. Although bright colours look great, they require more maintenance. You can see a chipped bright colour nail more prominently than you would for a nude colour. If your bright colour starts chipping off, replacing it with a nude colour might be a good idea. This tip is especially helpful when you are going on a longer holiday as the probability of your nail colour chipping is higher. Also, carrying more than one colour helps in having a little variety of nail colours when on holiday.

Tip 7: Swap a Perfume for a Perfume Oil

Perfume oils are incredible. They are the purest and most potent form of fragrance as they have the essence of the fragrance oil without any of the alcohol. The alcohol often dilutes the essence.

Fragrance oils are great to travel with, as they often come in a smaller size, and since they are concentrated, they last on the skin for longer. This is especially great if you are travelling to a place with warmer weather.

Tip 8: Carry a Good Mascara

Whether you carry a lot of makeup or not when you are on holiday, the one product to always carry is a mascara. A mascara instantly lifts lashes making you look more awake, wide eyed and instantly more put together.

It is also advisable to carry a waterproof mascara if you are going to a hot place or are going to be in the water a lot. Personally, I don’t like formula of waterproof mascaras and hence stick to non-waterproof formula, but thats just a personal preference.

Tip 9: Carry a Neutral Eye shadow Palette

A neutral eyeshadow palette with a good mix of mattes and shimmers equips you for any kind of eye look – the au natural look, the smoky eye, the glitzy glamorous look, you name it and a good neutral eyeshadow palette can do it all!

Carrying a palette also saves you from carrying individual eyeshadows occupying more space in your makeup bag.

Following these tips helps me pack more efficiently and also saves time and effort while packing. I hope you find these tips helpful and Happy Packing!

D x