May 18, 2009 Carry-on girl
Tips from a decidedly more stylish and feminine source:
One of the most daunting tasks for a traveler that I find positively riveting is the packing of the suitcase. I used to be a high-maintenance packer, frenzied that I’d desperately want the one top-bottom-shoe combination I didn’t pack, and the entire trip would be ruined. But since then, I’ve learned both what my wardrobe multitaskers are and how to better combine items, and that combined with lots of travel has made me quite the light packer. - New York Girl
And her part two, makeup and jewelry:
When packing beauty supplies, like clothing, it’s important to bring multitaskers. Benetint doubles as blush and lip color, and Benefit 10 Bronzer has both bronzer and highlighter to use anywhere on your face. Now is not the time to try trendy makeup or to paint layers on your face. In my case, Italy will be very warm and I’ll want to keep it simple and pretty, as well as lightweight.
Reader Comments (6)
I invested in Lauren Hutton's face disc last year, with a couple of brushes, mascara, lash curler, lip pencil and a pressed powder compact, it was all I needed to improve on the scarey bathroom mirror image that greets me in the mornings, especially on holiday! ;-)
Last month, when looking up what else she sells, I found her new passport collection, slightly different from the face disc, it includes foundation and powder. So I bought it and did away with the seperate lip pencil and powder compact. It fits nicely in a pocket if required and doesn't fall under the liquid/gel category. So I use the disc at home and the passport on my travels.
Bought from the Canadian Shopping Channel.
As far as jewelry is concerned......I take one or two pieces and my watch and usually see something I like when abroad. Last year it was amber in London and some earrings in Spain.
I generally blend in with middle class European working women my age, so I use scarves to extend my basic wardrobe and don't wear makeup apart from lip gloss. I do bring a slice of my solid moisturizer-massage bar from lush.com and a small stick of Babies Sunblock SPF 45 . I also use Lush "Godiva" 3 oz solid shampoo-conditioner, which contains organic Jasmine and Ylang Ylang oils, works well in any kind of water and smells lovely. I usually don't bring any jewelry apart from my watch and occasionally an inexpensive pin to wear with the scarves. .For years now I've collected scarves as I traveled. They are wonderful conversation-starters and bring back memories of the time and country where I bought them.
Scarves are my most versatile item, usually oblong (instead of square), I wrap them around my head to keep my hair up (in hot weather), around my neck for added colour or warmth, in a couple of situations as makeshift shoulder bags and at other times as sash belts. The larger ones I have double as wraps in cool weather.
I've replaced my liquid foundation with a powdered one and I usually only take mascara and and eyeliner pencil for make up. For jewelry I'll take a nice chain and one pair of simple, small hoop earrings with maybe a dressier pair for evening.
Since I have sensitive skin, I do have to take some special face soap, 2 topical applications, and moisturizer. The face soap is a bar, so that's not so bad, but the other two have to be accommodated in my 3-1-1 bag.
I usually take a wrap for warmth or dressing up versus a bulkier jacket or sweater in warmer weather. As for my hairstyle, I've gone daringly short and so it needs minimal maintenance or product to look good. It even recovers from a hat fairly well.
I guess I'm not super girly, especially considering the horror I experienced when looking at the packing list.
For me, three pairs of shoes is two pairs too many. Also, for me, wearing that much jewelry is an invitation to muggers and other thieves. A watch and a simple pair of earrings does it for me.
There's other items on the packing list I have a quibble with, but these are personal choices we all make. However, for someone who does the makeup, jewelry, shoes, clothes and everything else, this is a good packing list suggestion.
Three pairs of shoes, I agree, is too many, but last trip I only wore one pair and I REALLY wished I'd taken a spare to keep my feet ache-free and fresh. As it turned out I bought a pair but only towards the end of the trip.
My hair was daringly short for quite a few years....brilliant for travel and no styling equipment. This year I started growing it to shoulder length and then panicked a bit, thinking, I'll be adding not decreasing items to my carry-on packing. However, I now own a cute tiny ion travel hair dryer, dual voltage and fits in the palm of my hand when folded up. It's one of those items I could stuff in my pocket if I really had to. Not great for large volumes of hair but has good blowing strength for short / shoulder lengths.