On the Road: Maintaining Your Beauty Routine While Traveling

Whether you’re driving across the country to a family gathering or flying halfway across the world to a business meeting, you cannot afford to totally disregard your appearance. Among other reasons, the people you meet are going to judge you and form opinions about you from the first impression you make on them. And because you only have one chance to make a good first impression, looking rugged and unkempt will never be an option for you, whether you’re on the road or not. But then, for most people, maintaining a beauty routine while traveling is almost impossible. Traveling is super stressful, granted, which is why many travelers relegate looks and appearance to the bottom of their priority list. With this understanding, this article seeks to help you maintain your beauty routine on your next vacation, business trip, weekend getaway, or family reunion. Here are 4 comprehensive beauty tips that you’ll find useful:

1. Master your skincare routine

The key to mastering your skincare routine lies in knowing which your non-negotiable, must-have skincare products are. You don’t have the space to carry every skincare product you own, so you should only pack the core daily elements such as a moisturizer, cleanser, and sunscreen. There are more skincare rules you must remember when on the road:

1. Avoid products that you know can aggravate or irritate your skin. If you are traveling abroad, the change in weather alone can be extremely harsh on your skin. You’ll probably be spending more time outdoors than you normally do, and that doesn’t help the situation. This is, therefore, not the time to try too many harsh skincare routines. Avoid retinoids, clay masks, and exfoliating toners, for example. Instead, bring calming and soothing skincare products such as hydrating serum and facial oil.
2. Do not experiment with skincare products that you’ve never used before. Your skin will be extra sensitive due to radical climatic changes, so a new product may cause a severe reaction. That is not something you want while traveling.
3. Traveling by plane may cause skin dryness and irritation, particularly due to air pollution, excess dust in the air, and the air being dry. To combat this, you have to keep your skin extra hydrated at all times. Be sure to bring a hydration kit that has basic stuff such as a moisturizer, a balm, an illuminating serum, and a hydrating mask.
4. Consider your travel destination when deciding which skincare products to bring and which ones to leave behind. For example, you will need a richer moisturizer and facial oil if you’re heading to Marrakech or any other desert destination. For hot and humid destinations, you’ll need a lightweight hydrator to help your skin stay in balance.
5. Eat well for optimal health and wellbeing. What you eat during your vacation will have a huge impact on your skin. Avoid sugary foods, junk food, and any other foods that could hurt your skin.
6. Insufficient sleep can mean a hit to your skin, so be sure to catch a good night sleep every night.
7. Keep your hands off your face. Your hands collect thousands of unknown bacteria during your trip, bacteria that can cause untellable skin problems if you keep touching your face. Speaking of bacteria, you’ll need an antibacterial hand wash for added skin protection.
8. You will need to blot out oily skin throughout the trip, so you may need to bring blotting papers or rice papers. Blotting out excess oil will leave you glowing and looking fresh.

Note: To save on space, be sure to bring travel-size versions of your favorite skincare products.

2. Nail your travel nail care

While many people rarely forget to pack makeup, skincare, and hair products while traveling, not many people remember to pack their nail care essentials. Don’t be like those people because you certainly don’t want straggly nails to ruin what would have been a wonderful vacation. Be deliberate about keeping your nails nice and tidy while traveling. This is the way to do it:

Bring a small nail kit set that’s fully equipped with nail polish, nail clippers, a file, remover pads, and a small bottle of disinfectant. Ensure that the kit has zips not to lose your little grooming tools, plus you don’t want the thin and sharp accessories to damage your bag or injure you accidentally.

Don’t forget a gel manicure. The gel will improve the strength of your nail coat and increase the durability of your nails’ texture. Without a gel, and with changes in climate, your nail polish will chip faster than you wish.

Add some bits of glitter and shine to your nails by applying metallic nail polish. Besides the glitter, metallic nail polishes don’t chip as faster as nail gel, are reasonably priced, and offer a variety of styles of coats and colors. That’s what you need for the best first impression.

3. Travel hair care

Traveling is good for your soul, but it is one of the worst things that can ever happen to your hair. It exposes your hair to excess humidity, dirt, dry air, sun, salty water, and a host of other not-so-hair-friendly elements. You cannot afford to pause your hair care routine when on the road if you want to keep your hair in tip-top shape. These tips will help you keep your hair healthy when traveling:

1. Avoid fancy hairstyles. Taking care of a fancy hairstyle is tedious, time-consuming, and costly. Complicated hairstyles can also be a bother when you’re visiting hot and humid destinations. In short, fancy is technically impractical when on the road! Go for a stylish yet practical and comfortable hairstyle, e.g. updos and high ponytails.
2. Remember to pack all the essential hair accessories that could come in handy on your trip. We’re talking hair clips, bobby pins, headbands, elastics, and headscarf, just to name a few. A headband or a headscarf, for example, comes in handy when you don’t have time to style your hair probably due to an extra-packed itinerary.
3. If you’re keeping your natural hair, wash it with warm water (strictly no cold water) in order to remove the grease that most hair conditioner products leave in your hair. That means you should avoid hotel rooms without hot water- you don’t want your hair to be uncomfortably greasy while on the road. When washing the hair, remember to scrub the scalp and rinse thoroughly.
4. Brush your hair from top to bottom every morning to untangle it. Tangled stands can make your hair snap and break in halves, which would then lead to unwanted hair loss.
5. Put your regular hair products in small travel-size bottles and bring them with you. You cannot rely on the toiletries that most hotels provide for their guests. You don’t want an allergic reaction from unfamiliar shampoos or conditioners.
6. Bring a dry shampoo that gets rid of dirt, absorbs oil in your strands, and allows you to freshen up easily without water.
7. Moisturize your hair before and during your flight to protect it from breakage due to excess dry, recirculated air in the plane.
8. When vacationing by the ocean or a pool, protect your hair from chlorine and salt by spraying it with a few spritzes of leave-in conditioner before and after your session in the water.
9. Wear a hat to prevent your hair from getting fried from too much sun exposure.

Pro tip: For prolonged vacations, it is best that you visit a hair salon for professional hair treatment, hair styling, haircut, or hair coloring. The hair care tips for traveling we have shared here can only take you so far. Search for “hair salons near me” and pick the salon with the most glowing authentic reviews.  If you’re traveling through Las Vegas, we have narrowed your search to these awesome Las Vegas hair salons. Book an appointment to get your hair fixed for an extra shine and protection!

4. Taking care of your lips

Lastly, say no to dry, cracked lips on your vacation. You want your lips to be beautiful, healthy, and kissable because, you know, you never know where the vacation will take you. You will maintain your lip care routine while traveling by:

1. Exfoliating at least twice a week. All you need is a wet washcloth or a soft toothbrush for brushing off dead skin flakes.
2. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! Your lips will dry out and become chapped easily when exposed to extreme weather elements.
3. Apply a protective lip moisturizer every two hours when exploring outdoors, after eating or drinking, after brushing your teeth, and before going to bed.
4. Remember to only use sun-protective products that have The Skin Cancer Foundation’s Seal of Recommendation.
5. Don’t use long-lasting lipstick when on the road because it can dehydrate and parch your mouth. The better alternative is to apply a few coats of a lip stain and then, upon drying, top it with a clear gloss. You can reapply the gloss several times during the day for a constantly fresh look.
6. Bring a lip treatment (a medicated lip balm, if you may) and apply it liberally throughout the trip. It will keep your lips hydrated especially when in a plane that has excess heat or air conditioning.

Final word

Generally, maintaining an impressive appearance on the road is time-consuming and tedious. These tips will, however, come in handy for you in a big way. And with a reputation to build and protect, the routines we discussed will be worth the effort.

Images from DESIGN SCENE STYLE: Cruise by Sami Oliver Nakari & Fabio Bozzetti – See the full story here