Build a travel toiletries bag to save space

You can lighten your suitcase and be more comfortable on the road if you custom build a travel toiletries bag. You may already have a toiletry bag (preferably with multiple, sealable compartments) – but if you don’t, it should be the last thing you buy, not the first. I’ll explain why later.

First, you should create a list of the toiletries you use on a daily basis – such as soap, shampoo, conditioner, face cleanser, moisturiser, deodorant, toothbrush and toothpaste, shaving kit and any medications you need. If you’re prepping for a longer trip, think about things like nail clippers, tweezers and nail files (remembering that if you’re flying these kinds of items need to go into checked baggage as they’ll likely be confiscated from your carry-on baggage).

Next, decide which of these might be provided by the hotel or place that you’re planning on staying at. You may be fine with using hotel soap or shampoo and conditioner, in which case, great, no need to pack your own.

Once you know what you need to take  on the road with you, time to think about how to downsize them.
If you’re a frequent traveller you may have already picked up those
hotel freebie mini-bars of soap, shampoo, etc. They’re perfect for your
travel toiletry kit. I also have a couple of sample-size bottles of my
favourite perfume which I refill for travelling.

One thing I’d
strongly suggest carrying is either a face washer or one
of those small, soft packs of baby wipes. You can also snag those
little handwipe sachets that get given out by fastfood restaurants or
on planes. Any of these can be used
to freshen up your face and hands – which feels great after a yucky day
of travel. If you carry a face washer, make sure you also pack a
ziplock bag for carrying it when it’s damp (a sealable
compartment of your toiletry bag would also work).

Now you
need to find small versions of the toiletries you want to take with
you. Check out the travel toiletries accessories at your local chemist
- mini shampoo and conditioner bottles and
so forth. You may find it cheaper to buy small size empty bottles and
fill them with your own shampoo and conditioner. Rather than mouthwash,
you may want to consider the smaller and less prone to leakage breath
mints.

Here’s one tip I picked up from Wise Bread today – instead of a bottle of shampoo buy a shampoo bar from somewhere like Lush.
Basically this is shampoo in the form of a bar of soap for your hair. It’s
great for travellers because it takes up a lot of space compared to a
shampoo bottle, and it won’t leak.

Now you should invest in a toiletry bag – preferably one with multiple, sealed off
compartments to avoid leakage. I tend to carry ‘wet’  items like
shampoo or moisturiser separately from the items which can’t leak – but
if your toiletry bag has seal off compartments you won’t need to worry
about this. Try to buy the bag *after* you’ve worked out what will go
into your travel toiletry bag, so you know how much room you need.

In
the interests of saving space, avoid buying things like toothbrush
cases – just put everything in your toiletry bag. If it doesn’t have
compartments, place the items which might leak in ziplock sandwich bags
- you really don’t want to taste shampoo on your toothbrush, trust me.

And
finally – a tip for international travellers. If you are worried your
luggage
might go missing (it happens) then consider carrying your toiletry bag
with you in your hand luggage. (You may want to carry a change of
clothes too). If you’re stuck a day or two without your luggage, it
will feel better to be able to wash up and shave! Definitely carry any
medications with you in your hand
luggage – you don’t want to be caught without them if your luggage goes
missing for a day or too.

Got any tips for creating the perfect travelling toiletry bag? Please leave tips on comments.