Take Flight and Take Care: How to Build a Minimalist Skincare Routine for Traveling

If you love to travel but hate having bad skin, join the club. As in the “good-skin-care-while-on-vacation” club!’

In this post, I will give you all the best tips and tricks I’ve learned as a skincare expert, plus an easy routine to use while traveling.

Here’s how to build a minimalist skincare routine for traveling:

Never Leave Home Without This

If you’ve hung around my blog for a bit, you can probably guess what this ingredient is. The #1 skincare ingredient you cannot leave home without is (drum roll, please)… SPF!

Yep. Good ‘old sunscreen.

Sunscreen is essential for literally any skincare concern you might have. Protecting your face from the sun prevents wrinkles, fine lines, dryness, the negative effects that come with many acne toners and treatments, and the list goes on.

Wear sunscreen. It’s that simple.

Essential: A Solid Face Wash

What does every single human being in the world, regardless of identity, have in common? The need to wash their face!

A face wash is the essential first step of any skincare routine (snag my full routine below). And you are no exception, best friend. Don’t pack your suitcase without a face wash that you trust.

Vital: A Good Moisturizer

Every good face wash should always be followed with a good moisturizer, no excuses (I’m looking at you, people who identify as ‘oily.’)

If your fav moisturizer doesn’t make a travel-sized product or you want to be eco-conscious, squeeze some of it into a portable container.

Get Your Steps In

Every good routine can be broken down into a series of steps. And skincare is no different. Even if you’re traveling and keeping it minimal, be ready with a solid 1-2-3.

Here’s my simple skincare process that works for any skin type and is easy to customize:

• Wash your face with a cleanser
• Moisturize
• SPF (in the morning).

And that’s it! Cleanse, hydrate, protect and repeat.

6 Extra Tips For Your Minimalist Skincare Routine

So now you’ve developed the perfect skincare routine for traveling. You’re ready to pack what you need and leave the rest.

Before you get that suitcase poppin’, check out these 6 extra minimalist skincare tips for your next vacay:

1 Coconut oil: The world’s most versatile ingredient

I love coconut oil because it has a million uses, plus it’s inexpensive and easy to find.
These are just a few ways to use this miracle from Mother Nature:

• Makeup removal
• Face and body moisturizer
• Face or hair mask
• Lip balm (you’ll still need sunscreen)
• Makeup brush cleaner
• Cuticle oil/ moisturizer
• Dandruff relief

As you can see, packing some coconut oil can easily improve your minimal skincare routine. Even when you’re limited on space, squeezing some coconut magic into a travel-sized bottle can pay off big time.

Tip: There’s nothing better than organic virgin, cold-pressed oil, but any will do!

2 Give it some lip (balm)

Lip balm is especially important if you’re traveling to a dry destination or a place with lots of sun. When my sister Jade visited me last spring, we took a weekend adventure to Palm Springs, and let me tell you, my lips would not look as great as they do now without tons of moisturizer and SPF.

The low humidity of airplane cabin air can also be super harsh on your skin, drying it out like vegan leather. Ok, maybe not that bad, but the longer the flight, the more intense your skin will feel it, and the vulnerable skin on your lips will take the harshest blow.

A lip balm with sunscreen is an absolute must!

3 Say it again for the people in the back: Drink some water

Water is the miracle skincare ingredient. Drink water to take care of your skin from the inside out. If you don’t like the taste of water, add some fruits like lemon or lime or experiment with drinking hot vs cold water.

Whatever you do, just hydrate!

4 No extra baggage: Cleanse the night before your flight

One of the best ways to prep your skin for your minimalist travel routine is to pamper it before you go.

This can take many forms:

• Doing a face mask at home
• Exfoliating
• Getting a facial
• Avoid tons of sugar or food bad for your skin
• Avoiding stress as much as possible

Even if you’re packing last minute (been there), set aside 15 minutes to do a face mask at home. Your skin will thank you later!

5 Hope for the best, but plan for the worst

Let’s face it, travel is stressful. Even the best trips can stress out your body and skin. New climates, humidity levels, time zones, less sleep, and even extreme happiness levels can cause your face to break out, especially if you’re prone to acne.

So, prepare for facial chaos, just in case. If you know you’re prone to acne, pack a pimple patch (say that 5 times fast) or a spot treatment, such as a BHA cream. If you know you’re prone to flaking, pack a powerful overnight moisturizer.

6 Find your groove and stick to it

All the best skincare products and ingredients in the world won’t help you if they stay in their packages.

Once you’ve found your perfect travel skincare routine, use it! Staying consistent will help your skin abroad and at home.

I recommend you perform your skincare ritual every morning and night, but you can adjust as needed. For example, if you know you’ll be sweating all day, you may need to throw in an extra cleansing.

Before You Take Flight

Feeling ready to take on the world with good skin? I love to hear it! Comment below if you found this post helpful! Check out my other natural skincare resources if you have some time on your layover.