Travel week on Beautyholics Anonymous has begun! For the next few days, I thought I’d show you my travel beauty essentials, what beauty products I brought with me on holiday, some travel tips and more beauty essentials from fellow bloggers as well. I hope you like it!

If there’s one thing I enjoy watching on YouTube, that’s videos on travelling tips. Before I left for my holiday, I was busy trawling YouTube for videos on how to pack more efficiently, what people brought with them on flights, what makeup the ladies carried with them, etc. It’s very interesting at how much (or even how little) people bring with them when they’re travelling!

I travel overseas at least once a year and while I’m not a jetsetter, I have done a fair amount of travelling the past 12 years and have since then come up with a list of in-flight essentials I need with me when I’m flying.

By the way, please excuse the photos if they’re not up to par. Even though I used my brother’s DSLR to snap the pictures, editing them on his laptop wasn’t easy because there’s this perpetual glare on the laptop that doesn’t allow me to view the images accurately. I edited the images the best I could and emailed those photos to myself so that I can check them with my phone and iPad to see if they look okay. Again, apologies if the colour, brightness and contrast are off for the photos of this post and the next few ones.

Okay, now that I’ve cleared that up, let’s begin! 🙂

The clear 1qt bag

Airlines require that you carry any liquids, aerosols and/gels 100ml or less in a clear 1 quart bag. A number of beauty brands cashed in on this requirement and came up with their versions which obviously look better than the Glad sandwich bags or the ones you get for free at the airport. I got mine from Manicare, which also came with clear travel-sized bottles and jars for decanting.

• Eye drops – essential for dry and tired eyes. I love the ones by Refresh.
• Rubbing alcohol – for the toilet and any other surface I touch. Air Asia plane loos can be quite dirty. *shudder*
• Hand sanitizer – I like having one on top of the rubbing alcohol for my hands. Plus the Aesop one smells good 🙂
• Hand cream – a must on any flights. My current favourite is the Sea Buckthorn by Weleda. Good for rubbing in the elbows too.
• Cuticle oil – my cuticles get terribly dry when I’m flying and when they start peeling, they tend to bleed and it becomes very painful. My handy OPI one helps prevent dry cuticles and hangnail.
• Moisturiser – for my parched skin. I brought along one of my favourite moisturisers for this trip and that’s the Uriage AquaPrécis Moisturising Refreshing Cream Gel.
• Hydraluron – a hydrating serum to be used under my moisturiser. I originally wanted to use a facial sheet mask on this flight but decided against it at the last minute. For extra hydration, the Hydraluron works just swell. Also useful for the hands and elbows.

• Hair velcro strips – perfect for holding my hair back when I apply face products.
• Lip balm – My favourite for travelling (and any time, really) is the one by Uriage.
• Hair brush – brush out those awful tangles and in the process, give my scalp a bit of a massage.
• Toothbrush and toothpaste – a must when I’m flying especially on long flights. It doesn’t just keep my breath fresh, it keeps ME feeling fresh and not too grubby.
• Mouthwash – Another essential to keep the breath zingy fresh.
• Bioderma Crealine H2O – I use this in lieu of makeup wipes. My face feels cleaner with this plus how cute is that tiny bottle?
• Deodorant – to keep my body smelling fresh without the travelled-for-hours-without-a-shower pong.
• Sunscreen (not pictured) – I may or may not bring this on-board with me depending on my travel times and when I arrive. If I travel at night and arrive at night, I don’t need sunscreen. However, if I travel at night and arrive the next morning, then sunscreen is a must.

You’ll notice that I didn’t include any makeup in my clear bag. I don’t like wearing makeup when I’m flying and as long as I keep my face and breath fresh, brush my hair out and tidy up my clothing, I don’t have to look like something the cat dragged in when I land. If my itinerary tells me I’m to head straight to the hotel at night after I land, who’s going to see me? Plus, people don’t know me from Adam so I don’t really care if my skin tone isn’t very even. I’ll just wow them the next day when I finally put my game face on. 😛

Miscellaneous Items

The stuff that doesn’t go into the clear bag but are still essentials that I carry with me when I fly are:

• Panty liners – can’t even begin to tell you how important this is. Can you imagine wearing the same pair of undies for hours on end? If you don’t carry an extra pair or two of knickers with you, at least wear and change panty liners frequently.
• Snacks for the flight – Air Asia doesn’t allow outside food but most of the time, as long as you don’t bring smelly food on board, most of the air hostesses close an eye if you munch on your own small packet of nuts. I usually just bring breakfast bars with me.
• Small bag of meds – paracetamol, ibuprofen, stuff for unsettled stomach, plasters and so on. You never know if you’ll need them.
• An empty water bottle – non-budget flights allow you to refill your water bottle. You can also fill it with water at the water cooler at the gate (after you’ve gone through security checks and all that).
• iPad and iPod – I never travel without these, even if the flight has complimentary entertainment. I can write or read on my iPad and listen to music I want on my iPod.
• Noise-cancelling headphones – I finally acquired a pair of Bose QC15 that I’ve been lusting after for almost a year. It fits my ears perfectly and does an amazing job in shutting the noise out. Having said that, you don’t need Bose for noise-cancelling earphones as a lot of AV brands have them at cheaper prices too. These headphones were immediately put to the test when I was seated in front of two young children on both of my flights. Let’s just say, these were the best thing I’ve ever purchased via duty-free, and that includes all of the beauty products I’ve ever bought.
• Neck pillow – I don’t like the inflatable ones so if possible, I travel with the ones with microbeads in them. They’re so much more comfortable to use.

Oh boy, this sure is a long post :P. There are more (depending on where I’m going) but in general, these are my in-flight essentials. I may not use all of them in every flight but I feel better having them with me when I travel.

What are your travel essentials like? Do you bring makeup along with you in your clear bag? Is there a special item you like to bring along with you when you travel?