In honor of my fabulous traveling companions, and all the people who told me that it is so hard to condense toiletries, I give you the Toiletry Travel Tips Roundup. Here are my favorite and most effective tips for making the most of your liquids bag.

• I take three bags–my liquids bag, non-liquids bag, and makeup bag. It is easier to shove three small bags in various spots in my suitcase than one huge one.
• Don’t put anything in your liquids bag that doesn’t have to go there. For example, deoderant, contact solution, glasses, makeup, etc.
• Use those contact lens cases! You can get them for super cheap from drug stores, and store small amounts of liquids in them. I keep my face wash, moisturizer, hair glaze, and curly hair cream in there.
• Dip q-tips in make-up remover. This way you don’t have to take along a full bottle.
• Get small bottles from Aveda or Amazon and fill them with your favorite shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. I use lotion from the hotel.

Readers, what are your favorite toiletry packing tips?

There are a lot of things I love to write about. Shoes, bags, and etiquette come to mind, as well as travel beauty and being eco-friendly. The Prive Concept Vert Travel Kit combines those last two, as a fabulous travel beauty shampoo and conditioner kit that uses recyclable containers to boot. The great folks at Prive sent me a set to try out, and I have to say I’m in love.

(Note: This week, for some reason, most of my posts are about something eco-related, from re-usable water bottles to re-using hotel towels, and now green travel beauty. Didn’t do it on purpose, just happened. Interesting.)

First, let’s talk about the products themselves. Prive is extremely high quality to start with, and the Concept Vert line is no exception. Because my hair is so dry, I will typically only wash it two to three times a week. As I’ve recently added swimming into my fitness routine, I need to wash it more often, and have been concerned about what effect that will have. Not to worry! My hair has never been this soft, and the conditioner is incredibly moisturizing and gentle on my color-treated hair. Also, the shampoo and conditioner come out like shaving cream , so you need only a very small amount which then expands. It’s also really fun!

The packaging is also really cool. The kit comes with full size bottles and complimentary travel sized bottles. Using the included “link”, you can easily fill and refill the travel bottles. Both the large and small bottles are recyclable, so when you’re done using them they won’t go in the landfill. The travel bottles are 3fl oz exactly, so they will go through airport security with ease.

In addition to their environmentally-conscious packaging, Concept Vert products themselves are eco-friendly.  They are not made with commonly used artificial ingredients such as sulfates, gluten, phthalates, DEA, TEA, mineral oil, paraffin, PABA, paraben, or artificial coloring.

I have used Phyto products exclusively for years, but am likely to  switch permanently. The products work incredibly well, and with no harsh chemicals and recyclable containers, you have yourself a winner. I highly recommend!

Available at salons and spas for $58 (a $68 value).

Last week’s toiletries post sparked some debate over the weekend at my parents’. My mom said that she sees people clearly staying somewhere overnight, traveling with suitcases, who don’t take out their liquids bag for security. I always have, and I think most people I know always do. But do most frequent fliers? I remember one time forgetting to take it out and no one saying anything to me. But I also remember one time accidentally leaving a large bottle of sunscreen in my backpack from a camping trip that was found immediately by TSA. So I decided to do a poll, because I am very curious!

Do you take your liquids bag out to go through security? If no, have you ever been busted by TSA? Do you think it makes going through security faster if you don’t take it out?

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A year ago, I gave you all a list of my favorite travel toiletries. It was a good list, I still use a lot of those products. However, due to some evolutions in my beauty routine, as well as some updates on what is considered a liquid by the TSA, the contents of my liquids bag has changed.

What’s the same:

• Opti-Free contact solution
• Any body wash
• Crest toothpaste
• Frederic Fekkai hair glossing cream
• Skyn Iceland eye pen
• Juice Beauty Hydrating Mist

What’s new:

• Eminence Lemon Face Cleanser. Love, love this stuff! Smells amazing, made from all organic ingredients, and works great. I keep it in a contact lens case and refill it every couple of trips.
• Aveda Tinted Moisturizer. It’s perfect, really–light, creamy, works great, and has SPF. I also keep this in a contact lens case.
• Lotion. Now that my Rosemary Mint has run out (sob) I just use whatever is available–usually one from a hotel.
• Prive Concept Vert Shampoo and Conditioner. This is the best. shampoo. ever. I am doing a full review next week, suffice it to say it will make your hair soft and lovely and the packaging is too cool.
• L’Oreal Eye Makeup Remover. Now that I’ve got so many things in contact lens cases, I have freed up a lot of room in my bag. So now I can carry eye makeup remover with me, instead of using moisturizer.

What’s not in there anymore:

• Deodorant, lip gloss, mascara. Yes! TSA has changed the rules and I don’t need to have this stuff in my liquids bag anymore.
• Korres face cleansing cloths. Cleansing cloths are great for long days, but don’t have to be in the liquids bag.

I actually carry three extra contact lens cases with me these days, with face wash, makeup remover, and moisturizer in them. This bag holds everything I need for my full beauty routine, with space leftover. I am one happy traveler!

Readers, what’s your favorite travel toiletry item?

One of the easiest things to speed up your packing is to keep two sets of toiletries. Have one full size set that you use every day at home, and have a travel-size in a bag ready to go at all times. Some people may worry about the expense, but there are ways around that. One idea is to use samples from your favorite makeup store (Sephora in my case) or freebies from the hotel. Another way to cut costs is to simply purchase a set of toiletry bottles and fill them up. Sometimes I have had to purchase travel size toiletries, but that isn’t common–usually just contact solution and toothpaste. I have a mix of refillable toiletry bottles (love the Fillables from Aveda), samples, and free hotel toiletries. I keep them packed at all times, my liquids in a plastic Ziploc and the rest in a cute bag.

The only set I don’t keep duplicates of? Make-up. There aren’t a ton of sample or smaller options available, and so I would basically have to keep a whole second set. I’ve thought about getting less expensive makeup for travel, but my thoughts are that it is hard enough to look good while traveling, and I don’t want to use sub-par products. So I’m still working on that. I may have to just bite the bullet one of these days, especially after forgetting my makeup last month.

I am curious what other people do with their make-up. Readers, what do you do? Do you keep a full set of all of your toiletries, including makeup? Just shower stuff?

It’s not just in DFW anymore!! Monday morning I was leaving the plane, checking out the cute outfits of the New York lady business travelers (they are inspiring, seriously) and started heading toward Starbucks. An amazing sight stopped me. There is a Sephora vending machine in DFW, across from gate C12. It’s so exciting to know that the place I visit the most can finally take care of me if I forget my makeup or hair or skin stuff!!

As soon as you start thinking about or listing or practicing creative ways to pack your toiletries, it seems like the tips just start coming out of the woodwork. Everywhere I have gone, lately, I have heard or discovered new clever ways to pack my face creams. Love!

I was out to dinner with my parents and some friends earlier this week to celebrate a birthday. As we are all avid travelers, conversation eventually moved to this blog. “I love your packing tip from last week!” one friend exclaimed. “Of course, I read that the day after I came home from a trip, too late to do me any good.” Isn’t that the way it always works.

But she did have one excellent suggestion that I would like to share with all of you now. And as it involves one of my favorite places on earth, I am even more excited to share. If you go to Sephora and tell them you are interested in trying out a few new products, they will give you samples. Nordstrom, Sak’s, and a few other places will do this as well. This is good for many reasons: 1) You get to try out new products without paying for a full container; 2) You get travel sized products; 3) You often get reusable containers. Yes!! Win on all sides!! Also, when you purchase from Sephora.com, you typically get the chance to order sample-sizes of a few products as well for free. I am definitely not advocating going in and scamming Sephora or Nordstrom, but it’s a great way to try some new stuff before you shell out big bucks for a full size. And get travel toiletries to boot.

I was recently asked what my most important travel items are. What are the things that I never leave home without? I guess I talk about this in various ways all the time, but I’ve never thought about it in quite those terms. So, here is a list of my favorite things for travel.

• Pashmina. The most versatile clothing item there is!! Blanket, pillow, scarf, sarong, bathing suit cover up.…The last time I talked about pashminas one reader also suggested using it as a nursing cover. I would never have thought of that! They are available in a multitude of patterns in all price points.
• iPhone. If I didn’t have music on the plane, I don’t know what I would do. Plus it’s super handy for that whole phone/email thing. And I love my other apps too! TripIt, White Noise, Facebook, Echofon, YogaNow are all apps I use on a regular basis while traveling.
• Kindle. Gotta have my Kindle! Carry 1500 books with me at once. Buy a new book with the touch of a button. Love.
• Hair and face products. Keeps me looking and feeling great no matter where I am. Helps repair damage done from flying, and keeps my routine consistent.
• Travel yoga mat. Doing yoga on the road keeps me sane. Plus, if I have time or am on vacation, I love to try out local studios.
• Knitting. Just because I love to do it.

This is my off the top of my head list. I may have forgotten an item or two, but these are definitely items I can’t live without.

Yesterday on my favorite blog, Corporette, there was a post about business travel. Many gems of travel wisdom were suggested, some of which were new to me, and I would like to post about one of these now.

Several people suggested putting moisturizer and eye makeup remover in a contact lens case, and said that you can fit enough for as long as 5 days in that tiny space. Wow! Talk about brilliant. I have contacts cases lying around my bathroom, my bedroom, and my suitcase area. And, I am slightly embarrassed to admit, I have a tiny bit of face moisturizer in a 3 oz bottle. That is some wasted space, friends.

For my next trip I will certainly utilize these tiny packing dynamos.  I think  the obvious thing to do is label the outside with a permanent marker with what is in each side.  In addition to eye makeup remover and moisturizer, you could also put facial cleanser and hair products in there. I am so excited about all the space I will be saving!! Thanks, Corporette readers!

I promised this a long time ago, and now I am delivering!

I have gone through several toiletry phases in my traveling days, but I am by far happiest with the system I have now. I have my two bags, my clear plastic 1-quart size bag with liquids and my cute travel kit with my non liquids.  I have also tried many different brands of toiletries, and here is what I use (and love) now.

• Face wash, toner, moisturizer (one of them)–Juice Beauty Organics To Go travel set. This has the Cleansing Milk, Hydrating Mist (which is GREAT for long flights), and the Moisturizer (which I mix with a tinted moisturizer, see this post). Before I switched to Juice Beauty I used a traditional cleansing set made with traditional ingredients. About a year ago I started replacing all of my beauty regimen with organic products made without parabens or pthalates. I was a little anxious about how my skin would react, but after a few weeks of transition time my skin has never looked better!
• Contact solution–I use Opti-free Replenish in the tiny little bottle.
• Body wash–I am not that picky about this. A few hotels (thanks Marriott!) give away good body wash on certain floors, so I always snag one (or a few) whenever I stay there. If I run out of those I will just pour whatever I am currently using into a reusable bottle. Read more of this article »

This is one of those tough situations. It is so hard to feel beautiful while traveling, but it is one of the most important times! When you have to worry about remembering all of your presentation, your giveaways, and all the little details of working in a place NOT your office; or when dealing with the constant hassle of airline travel–you don’t want to have to worry about your hair, or if your makeup looks right.  (Or, like this week, it rained heavily all the days that you traveled. sigh)

This means that one of the trickiest things about traveling a lot is condensing all of your toiletries into 3 oz containers and then fitting them into a tiny little one-quart bag. It’s enough that we have to cut down on the number of shoes we bring, but the toiletries too? I know some people have just never adapted, and choose to check their bags even though it’s a pain. Just like packing your clothes, it forces you to make choices and only take what you truly need.

I have three small bags for my toiletries—one for makeup, one for non-liquid items, and the plastic quart-size bag for my liquids.  I have found that packing a few smaller bags is easier that trying to cram one larger one into not a lot of room.  I’m not going to talk too much about makeup—you know what you need to feel beautiful and polished, so take those things and figure out a way to make it fit into a small bag.  Below is my list for what I take for the other two bags. Change it around to suit your needs, but know that it can be done—a woman can take all the toiletries she needs in two small bags.

Non-liquids

• Toothbrush
• Contacts case
• Glasses
• Razor
• Comb

Liquids–travel sizes (3 oz or less) of all

• Face wash
• Contact solution
• Body wash (from a hotel)
• Toothpaste
• Deodorant (full size—I can’t find a travel size of my favorite deodorant)
• Lotion
• Shampoo
• Conditioner
• Tinted moisturizer
• Hair smoother

Next time I will give recommendations of which toiletries I use, and love. Have a great weekend everybody!!