Travel Prep (Toiletries)

Is this housekeeping? I say yes - it's getting your travel bag ready to go and this saves tons of time during the year. Whether you manage to get away for a two days, 7 days, or a month, having the things you need ready to go gives you more flexibility and confidence traveling. It also means you are ready to go if your life gets exciting and a fab opportunity comes up

Run, don't walk, to your nearest beauty counter! This is the season most prestige cosmetics companies wait for to launch their new products, offer special deals, and most of all, to offer a GWP. The GWP (gift with purchase) is an industry standard for the big cosmetic lines which is decades old. It's a win-win situation where you go to buy a mid-to-high price product from their line, and with it they give you a bonus. They often offer a cosmetics bag perfect for your purse or for travel and they offer trial sizes of colour and care cosmetics.

This practice makes this time of the year the best time to shimmy up to the counter, buy something you love and use, and get to try a bunch of new treats. In doing this, you can get a new/replacement cosmetic bag and travel sizes of cosmetic goodies.

So take this time to pull out that travel cosmetics bag, empty the contents, and clear out the old, broken, or shabby and replace with the new. My tips are these:

• I buy doubles of my most-used cosmetics - so one is in my bathroom, and the new one is in my travel bag. Of course I rotate when my daily-use one wears out to keep the stock 'fresh'. For me this means translucent powder, concealer, lip-liner and mascara. I change lipsticks too often to keep doubles! What would you take if stranded on a desert island with your hottie of choice?
• I keep two bags - one small one for colour cosmetics I'd need in a week or two away, and one for toiletries such as cleansers, toner, cotton pads, folding hair-brush, fave travel toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, etc.
• I keep my little bags packed and ready which means I can throw them into a weekender bag or a suitcase at a moment's notice and not have to even think about what's in it. I love the hanging toiletries bags precisely because you can hang then when you don't have counter space. But, I prefer taking my 2 separate bags because they are easier to pack and take less space.
• I keep a typed list of what goes in my cosmetic bag (it varies for each person) so I can print and refer to this list as I pack, but also take the list to make notes while I'm traveling - what to take (or what not to take) next time. You think of things in the moment when you need them and forget them on return!
• I always keep my eyes open for space/time saver items I can add to my travel bag - it's a little game for me.

I know we don't often have the opportunity to get away for a weekend, jet off to an exotic locale, or even manage a week in the tropics, but shouldn't we always be ready to go? I say we make our own adventure ... so be ready and be open!

Bon Voyage!