Looking back on 2017, I’ve been on a whole load of trips this summer - I thought it only right that I dedicate a piece to the beauty products that have kept my face in place throughout the travel process. 

With weight restrictions (and suitcase size) on my mind, I used to spend ages deliberating which beauty products would make the cut and still end up bringing a kilo of creams and potions, most of which were barely used but brought 'just in case'. 

Sound familiar? The ongoing debate as to whether you need to bring the full skincare arsenal, or whether you can get away with just a tube of moisturiser. Those of you who have the full day cream, night cream, eye cream, serum routine wouldn't even believe it was even possible.

As a long-time beauty writer and skincare obsessive, I definitely fall into that category but I can safely say I've finally nailed it. Thanks to a series of trial and error on some recent travel breaks, I’ve now refined it to a trusted lineup of skincare superstars which I bring with me every time.

Obviously, certain trips are geared to more sun protection, more makeup glam or more outdoors inclined but when it comes to essentials, these are the ones that I will always need.

Take off time...

Air travel is notoriously hard on your skin, thanks to the dry air and dehydration. For anything over 4 hours, I always take off my makeup before protecting with a face oil or heavy cream.


Trilogy Rosehip Oil is one of my trusted facial oils. Certified organic and 100% natural, rosehip oil contains powerful antioxidants that help protect against the free radical damage of radiation. That, and a load of essential fatty acids that keep my skin hydrated and plump during the flight.

(If you have oily skin and hate face oils, Trilogy have also come out with a Light blend version too)





For long haul flights, I also use Christian Breton Deluxe Gold Mask when waking up onboard in the morning. Fortunately, I can pretty much fall asleep anywhere but when your skin needs a quick radiance & hydration fix, this mask is my go to. 

It's pricey AF but one tube has lasted me a year and I would buy with my own money. It contains little gold particles that add visible radiance to your skin. Just apply the cream to your face, leave and tissue or rinse off.

Touch down.

After 20 minutes with the radiance mask, I'll put my face back on - mainly so that I actually bare some semblace to my passport photo.

Instead of bringing a full makeup bag on the plane, I just bring my portable makeup pocket rocket - the Chanel Palette Essentielle compact which I dedicated an entire post to upon purchase. This, plus a mascara and an eyebrow pencil- inflight makeup kit is sorted without an overflowing liquid allowance bag.



Other than the palette, my FAVOURITE beauty discovery this summer was this Skin Defence Multi-Protection essence by The Body Shop. My new favourite and daily must-have in my skincare routine.

In a nutshell, it's the lightest SPF50 cream I've ever used, has antioxidants protection AND Vitamin C to slowly brighten my skin and reduce pigmentation with each use. It's billed as an essence but in my opinion, is moisturising enough for me to use a day cream. Dry skin may want to add a hydrating cream as well.

Cannot recommend this product enough, it protects your skin whilst slowly perfecting it. Check it out, on tour in Hong Kong.


After that, the only other thing is hand gel and eye drops. My favourite hand gel is Merci Handy - the least drying, most moisturising hand sanitiser that I've ever used. 

And eye drops, an essential for any contact lens wearer - I've upgraded to single use capsules instead of a bottle. They're more expensive but the bottles can only be kept open for 3 months (of which I use about half) and you can just slip a single use capsule into any handbag, whenever you need it.








And that's literally it. The 5 products that I always bring with me.

What do YOU think? Do you have travel essentials that you always reach for? IS there such thing as travelling light? Tweet me your thoughts @Zoe_Dubs or send me a comment on Facebook!

As I mentioned in my post, Downtime, there's been a bit of a silence because I've been moving flat, but also because I've been on holiday! Yay for holidays!

Every time I go on holiday I always keep an eye out for beauty buys which aren't available in the UK. I've brought back velcro hair slides from Hong Kong, P2 Lip Peeler from Berlin, Princess lipsticks from Malaysia but the ABSOLUUUUTE epitome of 'beauty not available in the UK' can very easily be summed up in one example. That example, my dear readers, is Sephora.

First things first, I need to get this off my chest - WHY DO WE NOT HAVE A SEPHORA IN THE UK?!?! More exclamation marks needed.

I remember we used to have one back in like 2002 but this was before my age of makeup enlightenment and all I bought from there were those bath foam capsules shaped as dolphins and hearts - which were quite useless - HOW NAIVE I WAS.

Flashforward another decade and this time, when I encountered Sephora in an out-of-town Portuguese shopping mall....I was prepared!! (and no longer interested in those bath capsules)

An hour in Sephora AND during the sale season - does it get any better?! There was reduced Benefit, reduced Lancome and eventually, poor Mr FV reduced to boredom. 

Shall we see the spoils of my shopping trip!?

There comes that time in your life where you start to make a more permanent move from Tesco Value to Tesco Finest and, for me, it's the same with makeup.

Let me tell you what I mean. Although I've dabbled in the occasional Lancome or Benefit product, I've spent the majority of my makeup years buying beauty-aisle brands and online budget beauty. As I've progressed with my career I've started to branch out but the big leap from high-street to high end can only be immortalised by one brand - and that's Chanel.

That's right - it's taken me a few years to get here but this month I bought my first bit of Chanel Beauty. A little healthy-glow compact which came with it's own velvet pouch. Say what?! How have I not gone high-end sooner? 

What is this MASTERPIECE before me?

This, dear friends, is the new addition to the Chanel Les Beiges collection and the latest addition to my make up bag!