The travel kit: skincare

 We all have times when we are going away and baggage allowance means you cannot cart the odds, sods and kitchen sink away with you. Then there are the overnight trips either with work, as a surprise by a loved one or a friend's wedding. On these occasions you want a slim lined skincare routine that can take up minimal space but still effectively look after your skin whilst complying with airport rules.This is my current travel kit that perminately lives in my suitcase for short notice work trips.

Cleansing
Normally I would not advocate facial wipes for day to day cleansing but when away they help get rid of grime, dust and all other things that stick to the skin without taking up that much space. Also because they are not liquid you do not need to worry about decanting cleanser into a clear plastic bottle. Nivea do a really handy travel size pack which contains sufficient wipes for a weekend break but my current wipes are Boots Botanics.

Short term this will not adversely impact on your skincare routine too much but if you are going away for longer than a week you should consider decanting some of your normal cleanser into a travel bottle.

Moisturising and Eye cream
My travel kit currently has Clinique's Moisture Surge cream and All about Eyes which came as part of a bonus gift. Normally I would suggest that you are better placed to use they same products that you use day to day but these are hypoallergenic and very thirst quenching, perfect for when you find yourself stuck in a trains air conditioning. Plus once the containers are empty you can fill them up from a full sized container.

Freebies and samples
These are made for travel and I try and collect the free samples of products that come with magazines   that are for my skin type or for all skin types for trips within the UK as they take up less room can be thrown away and your not committed to sticking to the product if it does not work for you (clearly I avoid those products which contain ingredients I know do not work for me) . There are also certain brands that are very liberal with samples as they want to induce you to try out their other products and potentially buy those. These tend to be the higher pricing brands and I always try and see if they will give me samples in the product ranges that I naturally buy anyway and use these for overnight work trips.

Other travel kit essentials
My travel kit includes a sample of toothpaste, all purpose balm, body lotion an a travel sized body wash and (unseen) shampoo and hair oil samples. I also throw in a sample of perfume or one of my travel size perfumes. Why do I do this when most hotels will have products in their rooms for you to use? Well essentially it is because I have sensitive skin; if a skincare product so much as has a whiff of strawberry perfume in it I get red blotchy and itchy and for some unknown reason Simple skincare products dehydrate my skin. Secondly I like to smell like me rather than the hotel I stay in, if I pack my own products I know that their scent harmonises.

As for perfume I tend to buy perfumes in handbag sizes so that I can throw them in my bag and give myself a refresh latter on in the day if I am going out straight after work or if my scent has worn off during the day. Recently I seem to have gained a number of perfume samples and if I like them and want to wear them again I keep them in my travel pile, that way I can wear them for a few days to decide if they really are me or not without being tempted to go back to my normal perfume and keep a note of what works and what does not so when I run out of my full size perfume I can review whether there has been another scent that I have preferred.

So what's in your travel kit?

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The Facial Kit/added extras part 2; skincare

Everyone has a skin off day and the basic facial should be tailored to respond to those concerns. Here are a few of the tips I have picked up to solve some of those days that are sent to try us.

Puffy Eyes
Whenever I get a cold or hay fever it seems to settle in my eyes and consequently I get puffy eyes so I have discovered a few tricks.

• Grate a cucumber wrap it in muslin and apply to closed eyes and rest for a few minutes. 
• During they hay fever season I make sure that I have eye drops on hand and I keep my eye cream in the fridge for an added cooling boost. 
• Removing your make up at night and regularly replacing mascara also reduces the risk of infection and dried mascara getting into your eyes. 

Spots

Everyone gets the occasional spots even those of us with dry skin. If I get a flare up I make sure that I generally exfoliate my skin so that my pores don't get blocked up further. But my real tip is to get a liquid tablet of ibuprofen pierce it and with a cotton bud apply the liquid onto the inflamed spot. This will help reduce the inflammation. 

Blackheads
Apparently these are a result of dirt getting trapped in large pores an oxidising- yuck! So the aim is to remove the blockage and prevent it happening in the future.

 Face strips are the most effective home method I have come across and Biore are the best of the best. Superdrug and Boots do their own version but they are not as efficient in my personal opinion. Just damp your skin apply and allow the strip to harden, it should feel as if paper mâché has dried on your face. Then swiftly remove in a single motion and marvel at the tiny black hair like blockages sticking up from the surface.

As for preventing it in the future there are a lot of products that claim to reduce pores but I think the best approach is to try and clear the gunk by steaming, cleansing and exfoliating.

Dull Skin
When your skin just looks a bit meh facial oil is your friend (a long with 8 hours sleep nightly). Massage into your face before sleep in an upward motion before letting it soak in as you sleep. If your skin is really dry you can always add a moisturising mask on top for an extra boost.

If you are still struggling fake it! I am not a fake tan advocate; there was once a flaking oompa loompa orangutan moment in the blue lagoon in Iceland when I was sixteen that should have put me off for life. Unfortunately I did not learn and there were several streaky bacon attempts in Uni which definitely did put me off. There are however different ways to fake it, radiance boosting primers like Smashbox Photo Finish Luminizing Primer or L'Oreal Paris Lumi Magique Primer worn under make up or alone are candlelight for the skin. I also use the LOreal primer as a highlighter were the light would naturally touch your face.

If you are a foundation girl look at luminizing foundations and colour correcting creams. But the best way to look instantly healthy is to use a rosy blush to bring a flush to your cheeks. The optimal word here is rosy; peach, apricot and bronzed shades will not have the healthy glow effect that energising pinks and reds do. I would also avoid powdery consistencies and opt for something that will melt into your skin such as a cream or stain. I like Body Shop Lip and Cheek Stain which I got free with a magazine and Maybelline Dream Soft Blush in Berry.

Chapped lips
In winter my lips react by drying out and cracking so that they resemble a smashed window frame. With this the old tips are the best I use one of my old tooth brush heads a slather of Vaseline and some elbow grease to buff away the dry skin leaving behind soft lips.
I then apply either lip balm or coloured balm. Currently I love Clinque Chubby Stick Moisturising Lip Colour Balm in Chunky Cherry and Woopin Watermelon as the are subtle enough to wear to work but make my lips feel amazing. Clinique now does an intense range which has more of a colour punch if these are too subtle for your tastes . Revlon's ColorBurst Lip Butter gives a shimmery intensely moisturised balm that leaves your lips soft. My personal favourites are Peach Parfait and Strawberry Shortcake which are better than neutral. 

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The basics: skincare

When I reached my tween years Santa Claus became more inventive in his stocking choices, he moved away from oranges, brightly coloured stationary, totes socks and marzipan mice and skin are products started creeping in amongst the chocolate coins. At first he brought Simple moisturiser, cotton pads, body shop body lotion and white musk perfume. 

Ever since I first slathered on scented body lotion I have been fascinated with skincare. Well if I'm honest this probably predates my stocking stockpile, my mother will happily tell her friends about the time I poured oil of Olay all over a boy called Sam when I was about 3, apparently he has amazing soft hair for weeks afterwards. 

Over the years I have played with different formulas and combinations of products and whilst I will still mix things up every once in a while I have created a three collection of products; daily basics, the facial kit/ added extras and the travel kit. 

The daily basics should cater for your general skin type. This is usually categorised as dry, normal, combination and oily. You may also have another skin concern such as fine line, puffy eyes, dullness, age spots etc, however in my experience if you get your basics to address the moisture levels in you skin you can use additional products to address specific concerns as well. 

There are various ways of checking what your skin type but if you take a tissue and wipe it on your nose, if a greasy mark is left you are likely to have oily skin or skin with an oily t zone. If you often get a dull tone or flaky skin you are more likely to fit into the dry category. Personally my skin falls in the dry category but I find that heavy creams cause me to break out so I look for hydrating rather than emollient products.  

Essentially you want to think about removing dirt from your skin (cleansing),removing the traces of your cleanser (toning) adding moisture (moisturiser) and shielding harmful damage (SPF).  When thinking about the level of sun protection you need it is advisable to consider how prone your skin is to sun damage. I have very pale blue toned skin with freckles so I try and wear a high level of SPF even in the grim north where I live an actively avoid tanning in summer. The majority of advice I have seen suggests as a minimum you should wear factor 15. 

Personally I like a wash off cleanser which you can use either with a hot cloth or a facial cleansing brush and I switch between either the Sanctuary Spa polishing hot cloth cleanser or No7 Beautiful Skin Melting gel Cleanser . I have in the past tried cleansers which you remove with cotton wool and I use La Roche-posey toleraine dermo-cleanser when my skin is feeling sensitive and needs to be removed gently. 

The verdict seems to be out as to whether toners are necessary but my rule is if your skin feels tight after cleansing you probably should. Again there are many different toners you can use and I generally find that if I use a wash off cleanser I do not need a toner but for those days when I do I prefer to use a thermal water spray such as La Roche-Posay Thermal Water Spray. 

The cleansing a toning part of my daily skin care routine remains the same regardless of whether it is day or night but I differ according to the time of day when dealing with moisturiser. During the day I favour l'occtaine's angelica range. I cannot rave enough about how hydrating this range is without being heavy or cloying which is often a problem with products designed for dehydrated skin. Personally I used either Angelica Hydration Cream or the Angelica UV shield SPF 40. It does smell quite herby when you first apply it but that quickly disappears. 

As for eye cream, I do not separate this from the normal moisturising its just a bit more specific for more delicate skin. Currently I am using Temple spa windows of the soul which seems to tighten everything up. 

At night I use facial oil for an extra boost of moisture when you can look oily. The best value facial oil have discovered is Botanics 100% organic facial oil with rosehip oil which is only £9.99 but as a boots own brand product is often on offer. Sanctuary spa also do an amazing facial oil but is to mind beat in price by Botanics. I find oil is too greasy to wear during the day but if you smear it lightly across your cheekbones it gives you a dewy complexion all day. 

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