The travel beauty kit essentials you can’t live without

Not much can squash your sense of style like cramming into a tiny box, breathing stale air and munching on itty bitty, salty bags of pretzels for multiple hours.

Indeed, it’s hard to imagine getting off the airplane and feeling rejuvenated, sexy and fresh.

That’s why it’s so important to pack an intelligently-crafted travel beauty kit—to undo all of the airplane’s awful doings.

Of course, with strict rules on liquids, you have to be extra savvy with your beauty supplies, lest they get seized and tossed into the oversized trash bin with half-consumed sodas and water bottles.
Here’s how to pack the perfect travel beauty kit, stocked with essentials you can’t live without.

The bag

Make sure your travel kit is the appropriate size to hold the amount of liquids allowed on the plane. A slim, easy-to-access bag is great. Best bet: Pick a cosmetics case that can double up as a clutch to take out on vacation. This leopard-print Kate Spade bag can definitely do double duty. Of course, you also can repurpose your fancy clutch (love this gold Michael Kors bag!) as your cosmetics bag for the plane. Protect the inside by packing your cosmetics inside a liter-sized zip baggie.

For your skin

Freshen up with sanitizing hand wipes. Ulta’s Yes to Cucumbers travel face wipes will leave your face and neck feeling refreshed. Pack some travel-sized concealer, like this concealer from Amazing Cosmetics at Sephora. Don’t forget to reapply your travel-sized sunscreen—or better yet, save space with a multi-purpose product, like this tinted primer sunscreen. Three in one bottle for $35.

For your eyes

Eye makeup always seems to be the first to go—or, make that smear—especially if you try to get some shut-eye on your flight. Touch it up with a to-go palette from Urban Decay, which is known for its great shadows. Leave your eyeliner in the suitcase and use the darkest shadow color, an angled brush and a drop of purified or bottled water (not the yucky plane sink water!) to darken the lash line.
Make Up Forever’s travel mascara packs a legitimately dramatic punch in a tiny container. Make this your mascara for the whole trip and don’t risk losing your full-sized, more expensive regular stuff in the hotel.

Final touches

Mouthwash. A travel hair brush. Lip salve to rehydrate your lips from the dry airplane air. These are other must-packs. Finally, consider packing a light (underscore subtle) scent to freshen up; perhaps just a travel-sized deodorant or this roll-on fragrance by Stella McCartney.

Round out your beauty kit with a healthy snack or two, like a crisp apple or bag of baby carrots—because your nutrition is an integral part of your overall beauty. It doesn’t matter how nice your eyeshadow looks if your belly is lurching from hunger, your breath stinks from plane food and the grease from airport fast food is seeping through your pores, right?