Hey, ladies! Today I wanted to give you guys a glimpse into how I pack for trips. I travel quite often for both business and pleasure so I do consider myself somewhat of an ‘expert packer.’ So, I figured I would share some of my packing tips and tricks for you all! This blog post will focus on packing for a trip where you won’t be checking a bag, like my recent trip to San Diego that I took the photos below from. On this trip I only packed a small rolling carry-on suitcase and a carry-on duffel bag. It was a 4-night trip so I wanted to save the cost (and risk of loss) of checking a bag on this one! Here is a photo of it all packed up:
My first tip for packing is to always have a packing list to guide you! I keep a general one saved on my computer. For each of my trips, I edit the list a little to fit that particular trip and print it out so I can check everything off as I pack. Here is the list I used for this trip:
I like to lay everything out before it goes into my suitcase so that I don’t forget anything and can see all of the clothes next to each other so I get a good idea if I’m over-packing or not (which I usually am!) This also helps me see the overall color scheme of clothing I have planned to wear so that I can choose the appropriate accessories, makeup, etc. It is easier to stick with a few colors if you are trying to pack light so that you can bring minimal accessory options and you will be confident they can be mixed and matched easily! Clearly on this trip I stuck to a grey/black/white color scheme mixed with neutral accessories.
What I did not picture above is the toiletries and makeup I packed. Quite frankly, on this trip I would say that 50% of my space was taken up by that plus shoes! Everything else was squished into the other 50% of the space, but hey, that is the life of a beauty product and shoe obsessed girl! Haha! Shoes are the item I most often over-pack so I am working on improving on this! I think I did a pretty good job only bringing one heel, one bootie, flip flops, and my sneakers I’m wearing on the plane ride for this trip. Anyways, below you will see the case I bought at Target for bringing my toiletries/makeup into a carry-on. (Note: when I check a bag, I pack these items a bit differently…will explain in future blog post if you’d like! Leave a comment and let me know, please! ) This exact bag is no longer available, but the same brand sells them now in other designs that I’ve linked below if you scroll to the items in the bottom of this post!
This pouch has a space on each side and then another double-sided pouch in the center that flips back and forth. On one side I fit in all of my shower items (loofah, body wash, conditioner, razor), hair products (dry shampoo, hairspray, heat protector, gloss serum, leave-in conditioner, sunscreen) , and oral hygiene items (toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, mouthwash.) Then, across from that in the opposite sleeve of the middle section I included all of my skincare products (face wash, toner, moisturizer, night cream, eye cream, makeup remover, face-tanner, mask, zit treatment) along with a few random other items (makeup brush cleaner, EmergenC, lip balm, melatonin.) Make sure that if you are carrying on toe toiletries everything is under 3.5oz in size! Below is how I organized all of these items:
On the other side of the toiletry organizer, I fit in all of my makeup that I did not need direct access to during travel. This includes: primer, foundation, color correcting, concealer, setting powder, bronzer, mascara, eyeliners, lip liner and glosses, setting spray, lash curler, falsies, and my Lorac palette which includes shadows, blush, and highlighter (see my post reviewing it here!) Across from that in the opposite sleeve of the middle section I placed all of my makeup brushes and q-tips, as you can see below:
Below are some other items I absolutely adore for traveling that you can shop by simply clicking on each photo!
Small Travel Pouches (click to shop):
Passport Holders (click to shop):
Cosmetics/Toiletries Organizers (click to shop):
Duffel Bags/Carry-Ons (click to shop):
Thanks for reading, everyone! Leave me a comment and let me know if you enjoyed this post and would like to see me do another post focusing on what I pack when I am checking a bag (for longer trips.) xoxo