Welcome to our new series: High Maintenance Travel where we will guide you through everything from packing all your liquid products, to creating a dynamic vacation capsule wardrobe, and how to pack when traveling with only a carry-on and personal item.
How To Pack ALL Your Must-Have Liquid Products
Whether you wear this badge of having a “high maintenance” beauty routine proudly or are trying to transition to becoming a minimalist, packing for vacation can be especially stressful when you’re flying. If it feels like you can’t compromise leaving one of your products at home, with mindful planning and packing, you won’t have to.
TSA Liquid Rules
3-1-1
The basic rule for TSA liquids are that each 1 person is allowed 1 clear plastic quart-size bag, and each of the product containers in that bag have to have a volume of 3.4 fl oz or less. Your solid toiletries do not have to fit in this bag with your liquids.
Even if a product is almost empty, it’s the volume of the container that is measured, NOT the volume of the liquid.
Here is the link to the quart sized bag I’ve seen recommended by flight attendants all over YouTube. If flying into certain airports in the UK, this specific bag may not work for you.
Packism – Clear Toiletry Bag 2pk
The 2pk comes with a medium and a large bag, and I believe the medium is the TSA approved size, but the larger one can be used for your solids and toiletries like your toothbrush and comb.
***If you’re flying with your partner, you may be able to share some products or have them hold products for you in their own quart-size bag if they have extra space***
What Is A Liquid?
Some products are very obviously liquid whereas some other products are ambiguously somewhere between solid and liquid.
If you can:
- Spread it
- Spray it
- Pump it
- Smear it
- Squish it
It’s a liquid.
Gels, pastes, creams, oils, aerosols, glues, etc. are all liquids.
Here’s specific examples of liquids you might pack:
- Toothpaste/Mouthwash
- Shampoo/Conditioner
- Soap/Body Wash/ Shaving Cream
- Makeup Remover Balm/Cleansing Oil/Micellar Water
- Hairspray/Gel/Mousse
- Aerosol Dry Shampoo
- Cleanser/Moisturizer/Scrub
- Lotion/Sunscreen/Body Oil
- Perfume
- Contact Solution
- Liquid Foundation/Primer/Concealer/Mascara/Brow Gel
- Gel Deodorant
- Pomade/Hair Glue
- Lip Balm in a Pot
- Laundry Detergent
Pro Tip #1
As a first effort to cut down the amount of liquids you’re trying to fit in your bag, try to swap out as many liquids as you can for solid versions.
- Solid Deodorant
- Stick Sunscreen
- Wax Stick instead of Pomade
- Bar Soap
- Solid Laundry Tablets
- Shampoo Bar
- Makeup Wipes
- Toothpaste/Mouthwash Tablets
- Chapstick/Beeswax or Solid
- Powder Dry Shampoo
Now, I personally don’t LOVE the idea of swapping out my products for solids, especially if I’ve never tried the solid versions of these things before, but if there are some things that your skin/hair won’t be too fussy about switching over to solids for, I’d say it’s a smart move.
Here’s my list of what I could swap over:
- Dr. Bronner’s Baby Castile Soap- Solid Bar
- Makeup Wipes
- Solid Stick Deodorant (I already use)
- Possibly Stick Sunscreen
I know, that doesn’t seem like much, but my skin and hair are extremely sensitive, and I can’t use just any products. I don’t wear sunscreen on my entire body and I’ve only been able to find a stick sunscreen SPF 50+, which will show the lines of demarcation, indicating clearly where I’ve applied it or not. I prefer to use SPF 30 on my body to make it less harsh. So needless to say, I’m sort of being forced to use liquid sunscreen at this point.
Pro Tip #2
Some Things… Just Leave at Home
If you are someone who uses both a soap and a body wash, bring the one product that best serves your intimate skin, and leave the other home. If want to make sure you smell good, make sure the body lotion you bring is scented or use a travel perfume instead.
All your liquid makeup. Yes, some concealer, lipgloss, mascara, and brow gel don’t take up much space, but the liquid highlighter, liquid blush, full size liquid foundation, finishing spray, glow drops, multiple liquid lipsticks, etc. are unnecessary. Powder products are your friend here.
Multi-Purpose Hack
If you want a little extra liquid glow, dab some of your lip balm on your cheeks or bridge of your nose for the liquid highlight look. You can even mix some powder highlighter or blush in to a sheer moisturizer to create your own liquid glow product.
We’ve all used conditioner or a thick/creamy body wash as a shaving cream, but trust me, a good soap lather works just as well when helping your razor glide smoothly. Leave it at home.
Choose one way to wear your hair. Different styles call for different products, so try not to switch it up.
For example, my upcoming vacation is to a Caribbean island, where it’s really only practical to wear my natural, curly hair, which although it uses less tools than my heat styled hair, unfortunately it calls for 3x as many liquids. The curly girls get it.
I typically use a conditioner and a leave-in conditioner before hair lotion, soft gel, and sometimes hairspray. For this trip I’ll be attempting to swap out the leave-in and regular conditioner for a hair mask treatment instead.
It should still serve the purpose of filling and moisturizing my hair, but with much more power and much less product, and that means one less bottle to pack.
Pro Tip #3
Bring a Realistic Amount and Decant it Yourself
Have you ever gone on a one-week trip and used the ENTIRE bottle of travel size Listerine?
Me neither.
The travel size version of products you regularly see do fit the rules and regulations, but can be way more product than you could ever need for your trip. Purchasing tiny versions of your products add up. Save your money and decant your full-size products into smaller, reusable toiletry containers.
Before you pack, or purchase your containers, start taking note of how much of these products you actually use in a day or week.
How To Plan Packing
- Make a list of products you’d ideally like to pack for your trip.
- Sort products by category: solid or liquid.
- Look over your list again and attempt to eliminate any liquids that don’t feel crucial, or that could be swapped for a solid.
- Figure out how much of each product you’ll realistically use during the trip.
- Decide what kind of container you’d put your liquids in: Squeeze bottle? Jar? Spray bottle?
- Update your list of liquids by specifying a container and generally how big it should be.
- Purchase the containers on your list and see if any adjustments need to be made.
Pro Tip #4
Get Creative With Your Containers
Only need what would fit in a contacts case? Pack it in an empty contact case.
As long as it won’t leak or explode, and it’s under 3.4 oz in volume, you can pack your liquids in it!
Sadly, the hard plastic travel bottle set that we’ve all seen at Target has terrible reviews and is known to “explode” on planes. Sonia Kashuk and Conair are also sadly not immune to physics.
This doesn’t mean you have to spend a million dollars on those Cadence honeycomb capsules or buy packing cubes for the rest of your stuff.
Rolling your clothes still works, and so do containers and sets under $10.
The more flexible a container is, the less likely it will be effected negatively by pressure changes when flying. For larger amounts of liquids, opt for a silicone container instead of hard plastic.
Don’t waste your money on a label maker or stickers to label your products.
You can tell your products apart by color, smell, and consistency. Write a key for yourself as you’re decanting “shampoo in green bottle, conditioner in blue…etc.” or take a video as you’re packing that you can look back at.
Our Recommendations for Toiletry Containers
Humangear – GoToob+
4.5 star reviews, silicone, locking handle, leak-free, and popular for a reason. Comes in 3 sizes, and plenty of colors, it’s sold Individually or as sets of 3.
Innerneed – Collapsable Silicone Bottles
Silicone, expandable to 3 fl oz, collapsable to 1.4fl oz, buying a 4 pack is like buying 12 different bottles. 1,700 five-star reviews on Amazon.
LCFALO – 6 Pack Clear Contact Lens Cases
4.5 star reviews, leak-free, clear plastic cases, perfect for products you don’t need much of, but can’t leave at home.
Conclusion
For those who are visual learners or who are less spatially aware (i.e. myself), I’ll be creating some videos to better help illustrate these tips. This post is the first in a series on all things travel, so be sure to follow us on Instagram to stay updated on new posts!
I hope these recommendations make you feel more at ease when packing for your next flight.
As always,
Good Luck & Much Love,
