13 Makeup Hacks For Traveling

Anyone who wears makeup knows the eternal struggle of travel. You're forced to pick and choose everything you think you might need, or worse, you end up bringing everything you own in a cumbersome giant travel bag. But there are several key travel beauty tips that can seriously make a world of difference when it comes to transporting your favorite beauty products. It's just about having a few super simple tricks up your sleeve.

I first truly understood the importance of knowing how to travel with makeup when I took a weekend trip with friends only to discover that basically all of my clothes had been destroyed. Yep. All it took was a compact of bright pink blush and some lipstick to shake free from my makeup bag, and all heck broke lose inside my suitcase. While some of my outfits were salvageable, my favorite dress was forever ruined.

And while this absolutely isn't the biggest deal in the world — we're talking about dresses and makeup here — it definitely was annoying and was something I never wanted to have happen again. Plus, after investing some time and a little money into full-proof makeup travel techniques, I find traveling with makeup has gotten way easier, and planning for it takes less time. If you're gearing up to go on a trip and are looking for a few hacks to make traveling with makeup easier, here are 13 simple tips that should majorly help.

1. Get A Quality Makeup Bag

Travel vlogger and YouTuber Sonia Gil stressed that a good makeup bag is extremely important for efficient and stress-free makeup packing. In her YouTube video Travel Tips: How To Pack Your Makeup, she recommended investing in a bag with ample pockets as well as a plastic interior to make cleaning super easy.

2. Plan Around Your Outfits

A helpful piece on traveling with makeup on the travel advice site Travel Fashion Girl, said to plan your makeup choices around your outfits and to just bring a few shades that match your ensembles. This will help minimize what you pack and simplify your life.

3. Bring Multi-Purpose Products

Benefit Cosmetic Cheek and Lip Stain, $30, Sephora.com

A tip on the Julep.com blog recommended packing as many multi-purpose products as possible in order to streamline the process. According to the blog, "A pale, shimmery eye shadow can work beautifully as a skin highlighter, a cream blush can also work as a lip or eye color, and lipstick can be blended out as a cheek stain" They also recommend packing a few extra tubes of lipstick in various colors, since lipstick is super easy to travel with and can help create many different looks.

4. Cushion Your Compacts

Clinique Perfectly Real Compact Makeup Sponge Refill, $4.50, Macy.com

The Julep.com blog also recommended cushioning your blush and bronzer compacts with either a cotton ball or applicator pad by placing one inside the compact with the product. This will help act as a "makeshift shock absorber" and help prevent valuable product from breaking off.

5. Bring Facial Wipes Instead Of Cleanser

Simple Cleansing Facial Wipes, $4.91, Jet.com

This is a personal tip. I'm all about the facial cleansing wipes over traditional face wash when I travel. It means I can leave a bulky, spillable bottle at home. Plus, it means I can freshen up during travel, like on airplanes or road trips.

6. Ziplock Bag It

Ziploc Reclosable Bag, $6.14, Zoro.com

This is another personal tip that I adopted after my epic makeup travel disaster. I put everything with the potential to spill — makeup bags, shampoos, and lotions — in disposable plastic bags before putting them in my suitcase. Plastic grocery bags work great for this as well.

7. Invest In Refillable Plastic Bottles

GoToob Squeezable Plastic Tube, $19.99, BedbathandBeyond.com

A compilation piece for Stylecaster on how to pack makeup recommended investing in a few small, reusable travel bottles. This tip is especially helpful for those of us with color-treated hair, as it means we can continue to use our specialized color-protectant products without taking up a ton of space in our luggage. I never realized how much I needed these little bottles until I finally got them!

8. Use Your Clothes As Extra Padding

Stylecaster also recommended placing your makeup at the center of your luggage and placing your clothes around it for extra cushioning. Just remember to do this step before you're finished packing, or you'll find yourself having to take clothes out of your suitcase only to repack them.

9. Use The Compact Trick

This is a trick I learned from the online beauty community a few years ago and it has kind of changed my life. Just grab some rubbing alcohol and a butter knife and you can repair basically any powders that have broken apart in transit.

10. Bring What You Love, And Nothing Else

YouTube beauty vlogger Jessica Braun reminded us to only bring the products we really love and use all the time, as opposed to bringing anything that we want to have "just in case." Odds are you won't actually end up using that super-purple neon eyeliner that you like every now and then, but you will use your tried and true brown or charcoal.

11. Don't Bring Products You've Never Tried

Bruan also warned against bringing a product you've never tried. This can lead to disappointing results, or worse, actual breakouts, and you may not have the time to replace it. Travel is definitely the time to play it safe when it comes to our makeup product selection!

12. Get Your Roller Ball On

Chloe Eau de Parfum, $28, Sephora.com

If you don't have a roller ball of your favorite scent, go out and get one now! There's absolutely no need to be traveling with a cumbersome bottle of perfume. Plus, I actually prefer the way my perfume smells when it's in a roller ball because it seems more concentrated.

13. Remember That Dry Shampoo Is Your Best Friend

Klorane Nette Sebo -Regulating Dry Shampoo, $12, Lookfantastic.com

No makeup travel list would be complete without dry shampoo. Seriously — you just never know when you won't have time to wash your hair or when you're going to feel like you need a quick refresher. I like to use mine in tandem with my perfumer roller ball when I get off a long flight to feel instantly fresher and more put together.

Makeup should make our lives better, never harder! So just keep these simple tips in mind the next time you're gearing up for a trip, and get ready to look awesome — no matter how long you were on that bus.

Images: Pexels (4); Lizzie Guilbert/Unsplash