Capsule Holiday Skincare Packing: Getting It Right

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Holiday Skincare Packing is a great art. While many men shove a washes-everything bottle of something nondescript in a Tesco carrier bag, there is a kind of woman dedicated to skincare who knows that fitting the smorgasbord of products needed into a holiday toilet bag is a challenge. Yet for many, this challenge, and the prep surrounding it is part of the satisfaction of going on holiday. You’ve worked hard to hone down a beautiful skincare regime that works for you, and now going on holiday the practicalities of weight and packaging mean that you will basically have to put Vaseline on your face for two weeks. I say no.

I’ve always liked organising things, and so I bring my OCD tendencies here to ReallyRee to help you be the skincare packer you were always destined to be; a woman who has a product for any eventuality rather than takes two toothbrushes and no toothpaste.

There are three commandments you need to follow to master the content nitty-gritty:

1. Holiday Skincare Packing – Muji Is Thy Master

Firstly, if you want to beat the aeroplane weight limit, you’re not going to get anywhere taking that bumper shampoo bottle that was on offer in Lidl on the plane. That’s the liquid weight limit gone right there. I’ve tried travel bottles from Boots, Superdrug, Tiger, Wilko and Ikea, but Muji trumps them all. None of my Muji bottles have ever leaked. They have all sizes from a perfect tiny flip top bottle perfect for watery serums up to a 100ml flip top tube for shampoo. Incidentally, I bought two leak-proof Squeeze-it bottles from Go Travel via Boots before I left on my last sojourn. They both leaked every leg of my trip, so the moral of the story is stick with Muji.

The other beauty of decanting your favourites into minis is that you end up with a standby travel bag that needs a quick check before that last minute weekend to Cannes (ok Morecombe, but let’s keep our holiday spirits up), but is essentially ready to go after an occasional top up. Ryman’s do some mini labels to stick on all these bottles to make sure you don’t put shampoo on your face.

2. Holiday Skincare Packing – Get Thee Some Zip Lock Bags

There are two good reasons to embrace zip lock bags. Although I’m glad to say my Muji bottles have never leaked on me, accidents do happen. Air pressure changes on flights which can force that face wash to take over your favourite Lulu Guinness wash bag, and you’ll be glad you popped a few bottles in a sealed bag. Having said that leave a couple of centimetres open at the end so the air has room to escape when the pressure changes. However, the main reason to get some zip lock love going is to keep collections together. I use one bag for ‘day’, and one for ‘night’, another for ‘shower’ (shampoo, conditioner, razor and shower gel). It keeps it streamlined and easy and means you can swap sections out and in depending on how long you’re going for.

3. Holiday Skincare Packing – Collect Miniatures

It’s a short and sweet rule; if you buy the amount of skincare most ReallyRee readers do, you’ll have picked up a few freebies along the way. Keep a box somewhere where you chuck them; they could come in handy for that festival weekend or trip to the Amalfi Coast.

4. Holiday Skincare Packing – Don’t Experiment Far From The Roche Posay

I find holiday is time to take care of my skin. I have a bit more time, most of my carefully curated make up selection ends up staying in my suitcase, and it’s a pleasure to take some time to take your skincare back to basics. Now is not the time to experiment with intense AHA / BHA exfoliators. If you’re in the sun it’s a no no anyway, and if you’re skin over reacts then you’re a long way from calling international rescue in the form of Roche Posay to calm it down (insert your own favourite French pharmacy brand here). Keep it simple, keep it stable. Your skin will thank you for it, and only you know what suits your skin best.

Holiday Skincare Packing –  So What Do I Take?

Here’s my example. Your own can be entirely different – it’s about what works for you and your skin.

• A gentle, sensitive cleanser – I like Avene Extremely Gentle Cleanser £10.50 because you can use it both morning and evening and use it to remove eye make up too (you might need separate eye make up remover for waterproof mascara). Sometimes if I feel I need an oil cleanser for a winter trip I take Hylamide High Efficiency Cleanser £14.25
• A hyaluronic acid serum – something clean and easy to plump up your skin with moisture both morning and night. It can also be a great soother post plane (that’s a whole ‘nother post). There’s loads of these on offer; you can try Hylamide Booster Low-Molecular HA Serum (£18) (I actually mix this with Hylamide’s Sensitive Fix serum in its Muji bottle to help soothe my skin even further) or the upcoming Vichy Mineral 89 Daily Booster (£25) or Clinique’s Moisture Surge Hydrating Water Gel (£34).
• An antioxidant serum – the way to make your sun protection count is to layer antioxidants underneath it. In my case, this is a powerhouse vitamin C serum – SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic (£129): end of.
• A killer eye cream – you need a soother with an SPF which is tricky. I usually take two since my eyes often react oddly in hot locations. For day, Alpha-H’s Absolute Eye Cream SPF 15 (£46) which includes peptides, caffeine, antioxidants, brightening pigments and a tint (sadly only in one ‘universal’ shade), and for night Bioderma Sensibio Eye (£14.50) for the gentlest care post-sun. Nice small tubes mean I don’t decant these.
• An SPF that does it all – the tech in sun protection has come on leaps and bounds in the past few years. We’re now spoilt for choice for amazing, mattifying, non-comedogenic face protection. I’m currently trying and enjoying the brightening and lightweight Murad City Skin Age Defense Broad Spectrum SPF50 (£38.25), but I’ve also used and loved Avene Cleanance Very High Protection Sunscreen SPF50+ (£16), the tinted mousse-like SkinCeuticals Mineral Matte UV Defense SPF 30 (£40.95) and Eucerin Face Sun Fluid SPF30 (£15 – which my husband steals when he goes to play cricket). Don’t forget to take down your neck and on the tops of your ears.
• A light moisturiser that loves your skin at night – you can reuse a few of these products at night all sealed in with a light moisturiser. I like La Roche Posay Toleraine Ultra Overnight Care (£17.50 or currently £12.25 on Feel Unique). It’s a sensitive skin king, avoiding anything that could potentially irritate hot skin coping with the hazards of flights, travel, salt water and sun.
• If you want to do retinol on holiday (meaning it’s not too sunny), then Paula’s Choice do travel sizes. My favourite is Resist Anti-Aging Retinol Serum (£11 for a trial size) which is pleasantly soothing (for a retinol) thanks to oat extract.
• A pore-clearer – Ok, I know what I said up there. But I said no INTENSE AHA / BHA exfoliators so I use Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant (£25). This bad boy has anti-inflammatory qualities and I switch it down to use every other night to keep pores clear.

So don’t be the girl who lobs that supermarket shower gel in a carrier bag, be prepared for a summer sojourn too so you can come back glowing more than a Tom Ford ad.

Let us know your holiday skincare packing tips in the comments below – everyone knows a couple!