I travel a lot as a hobby (I usually take 3-4 trips per year, both international and domestic) and enjoy it, so I thought it would be helpful to share my little travel shelfie for the AB community 😗 over time I have worked out some tips and tricks that work for me, and I tweak it as needed depending on my destination and needs.
My skin, unfortunately, is a high maintenance b****. It clogs easily and demands daily care, even if I’m on vacation. So my routine is longer than the stock standard of “cleanser, moisturizer, sunscreen”. 🫠 I’ve tried simplifying it many times and honestly it’s just not the same LOL.
I’m not really a fan of decanting my full sized skincare as I find the travel sized containers sold in shops to be of inferior quality compared to travel sized skincare. Plus… I’m into trying new stuff 🤣
For this recent trip, where I’m spending some time in Ipoh, Malaysia (Michelle Yeoh was born here!!! 🛐🥹) I decided to pack these products as the city is hot, fairly humid, and tropical.
Cleansers pictured:
– Minon Amino Moist Face Wash powder (35g): This is my daily driver cleanser that is travel friendly because it has no liquid in it. Not only is the size super convenient/durable for tossing into a toiletry bag, it is also a gentle + powerful cleanser that dissolves into a foam effortlessly with a little bit of water.
– LAGOM Cellup Gel-to-Water cleanser (30mL): this is a really nice and gentle cleanser which I like to use in the morning after nights of actives (tretinoin, chemical exfoliants). It has a pleasant, spa-like scent and balances out my oily skin very well, cleaning it while not being stripping at all.
– Kose Speedy Cleansing Oil (80mL): This is a sub favorite and for good reason. I use it to remove makeup and sunscreen in the evenings and it emulsifies cleanly and efficiently. I’m happy to report the lil travel size bottle is very durable and doesn’t leak at all. I will definitely be buying a full sized bottle when I pan this one because it really is a great oil cleanser 🙏
Hydrating products:
– Skin1004 Madagascar Centella Ampoule (30mL): generally I don’t like packing pipette products but this is a nice product I use to moisturize my oily clog prone skin. The Skin1004 travel toner I also used up but I needed multiple layers of it to hydrate my skin so it was finished up quickly 😔 This ampoule is great though. Four drops and my skin is happy 😊
– Dr. Ceuracle Vegan Kombucha Tea Essence (18mL): I’m almost finished with this product 🥳 If I need some extra hydration before going on a plane I’ll layer this underneath the Skin1004 ampoule. It’s very good for me in cold and dry environments (NSW Australia) but unnecessary in SEA 🤣 Also, it slightly clogs my pores, but it’s fine as it happens pretty slowly over time 😮💨
Actives/Exfoliants:
– Dr G Brightening Peeling Gel (30g): All gommage/peeling gels have the same level of efficacy on my skin but this one is dope asf because you can use it both on dry and wet skin. Super convenient as I like to cleanse my face in the shower. On vacation I usually am active and wearing sunscreen/makeup for longer amounts of time so peeling gels help a LOT with keeping my pores unclogged and smoothing out the texture of my oily skin. Basically, it’s great for physical exfoliation when my skin is feeling kind of rough.
– CosRX Blackhead Power Liquid (unpictured, 50mL): My ride or die chemical exfoliant 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 🥹 I’ve spoken heaps about this product many times before but I will never go without it!!! It’s a good spot treatment, it clears out my pores, and it smooths out my oily skin 💖💖💖💖💖 I own a full size at home and of course a mini size for my travel bag 🫡. I would love it if CosRX made some toner pads of these 🥹
– Dr Wu Mandelik Intensive Renewal Serum (5mL): Having already finished the full sized bottle I was looking for a travel friendly AHA and saw this baby sized bottle at my local Sasa 🫡 it is a LOT stronger than my Isntree Chestnut AHA 8% at home and is 18% mandelic acid which I don’t mind as I need less of this product for the same results. I use a few drops over the CosRX and it’s a good brightening serum. The only not so great thing is it’s made out of glass and the opening is too big and dispenses too much product if I’m not careful, so -5 points on the design 😮💨 I will probably replace this with either AHA toner pads or the CosRX Whitehead Power liquid (50mL).
Previous travel friendly skincare products that I am currently not using as I finished them already but would also recommend for traveling: Papa Recipe Blemish Serum (5mL), Papa Recipe Blemish Cream (7mL), Banila Co Clean it Zero cleansing balm (50g)
P.S. I didn’t put sunscreen here as most AB sunscreens are already travel/TSA friendly, but mine is the Abib Heartleaf Sun Essence Calming Drops SPF 50+ (50 mL) 🥳 It is the only sunscreen in the history of my life of not clogging my pores with everyday wear, so for that alone I give it a solid A+. Me and the husband are using up the sunscreen that didn’t work on my face on our bodies 😂. So far so good, husband has not seemed to burn under the Southeast Asian sun as of yet 🫡
by love-at-third-sight