Travel Skincare Tips + Skincare Packing Checklist

Remember to bring all your magic skincare essentials on your travels with my skincare packing list.

Darlings, working as a makeup artist all over the world has taught me a thing or two about packing. I’ve curated my skincare packing checklist to help everyone, everywhere curate a portable and powerful skincare routine that’s easy to travel with.

Whether you’re travelling near or far and by plane, train, or automobile, it’s important to bring supercharged skincare along for the journey that will keep your skin feeling hydrated and glowing from day to night.

Skincare Packing still life

Discover my tips and tricks for skincare packing and tick off your checklist to make sure you’re travelling equipped with all the skincare you need to prep, protect, and perfect the look of your skin while you’re away.

Travel Skincare Tips: How Should I Pack Skincare?

Darlings, when packing your skincare, there are a few magic rules that I live by:

Magic Tip #1: Pack travel-sized skincare products

Reaching for travel-sized versions of your go-to skincare products will allow you to travel with your favourite formulas while saving space in your luggage. Travel-sized options are lighter to travel with and are conveniently sized to slot into your wash bag; by choosing smaller, travel-friendly skincare, you can pack lighter or make room for more beauty essentials.

Shop travel-sized beauty

Magic Tip #2: Consider the duration of your trip

Before you pack your bag, consider how long you will be travelling for as this will inform how much skincare you really need to take with you. I know you love skincare darlings, but on a three-day weekend break you don’t need to pack full-sized serums, face masks and moisturisers. On the other hand, if you’ll be travelling for weeks or months, you might want a larger size of your favourite formulas, as well as more variety in your skincare kit to allow for a pamper night or two. For shorter trips, my advice is to pare back your skincare edit to your ultimate favourites and daily essentials, and for longer trips, I recommend packing full-sized favourites or multiple travel-sized options to give you choice and the right quantity to maintain your routine.

Magic Tip #3: Separate your skincare from your makeup

Having a wash bag dedicated to your supercharged skincare routine makes all of your skincare products easy to find and avoids unnecessary clutter. Choose an accordion-style cosmetic bag with different compartments to help organise your products.

Discover how to organise your skincare and makeup

Magic Tip #4: Make sure all lids are secure

Travelling with skincare products always poses the risk of spills, so it’s important to secure the lids on each of your favourites before packing them into your bag. After every use, make sure lids are air-tight to help avoid any spillages, and pay particular attention before travelling to and from your destination to help prevent any accidents in transit.

Magic Tip #5: Decant into lightweight bottles

If you want to bring your favourite serum on your travels and the bottle is already half empty, I suggest decanting the formula into a smaller, lightweight container that’s designed for travel. Working as a makeup artist, I’m constantly scooping, scraping, and pouring different products into new containers – it’s an easy way to use up the last little bits of a product without carrying its packaging around. I suggest doing this for any products that you think you’ll only require a small amount of while you’re away, or products that are running low and are almost used up.

Magic Tip #6: Streamline your skincare routine

It’s always best to pack light, darlings, and streamlining your skincare routine will help to save space in your luggage. When packing your skincare, reach for the essentials first such as a purifying cleanser, gentle toner, hydrating moisturiser and a high-factor sunscreen to form the core of your routine. Then, you can add any additional products that you’ll want to reach for on your trip such as concern-targeting serums, energising eye cream and refreshing face mist.

Magic Tip #7: Choose tried-and-tested formulas

Your next trip isn’t the time to start experimenting with skincare – it’s always best to travel with tried-and-tested formulas that work for your skin and won’t cause irritation or a reaction. Travel with your go-to skincare products that suit your skin type and leave your skin feeling hydrated and perfectly primed.

Magic Tip #8: Wear sunscreen even on travel days

Sunscreen is an unmissable step in your skincare routine, darlings. Whether you’re travelling somewhere hot or ice cold, it’s always essential to apply a high-factor SPF that helps to shield the skin from sun damage. You should be wearing sunscreen every day – even on a long-haul flight or train journey – in order to give your skin vital protection from harmful UV rays.

Learn more about SPF

Can I Bring Skincare Products on the Plane?

You can take skincare products onto the plane with you, but they must comply with TSA regulations. Some airports and airlines require liquid and cream products such as moisturisers, mists and serums to be below 100ml or 3.4 ounces and sealed in a see-through, ziplock bag to board the plane. If you are travelling with a carry-on bag, you’ll need to make sure that all your skincare essentials are cabin friendly - be sure to check before packing to ensure you’re complying to the rules and regulations when flying!

Discover my inflight skincare essentials

Discover My Skincare Packing Checklist

  1. Makeup remover in a clear bottle with text on it that reads, 'Take it all off' with a white-coloured lid.

    Makeup Remover: Take It All Off (30ml, 120ml)

    If you’ll be wearing makeup on your travels, remember to pack a high-performance makeup remover like Take It All Off. This biphase makeup remover is formulated to melt away makeup including stubborn lipstick and waterproof mascara. It’s gentle on the skin and is infused with soothing, calming chamomile, working to hydrate and condition the complexion, lips and lashes and leaving you fresh faced and ready for some rest and relaxation.

    Shop Take It All Off

  2. Charlotte's Magic Hydrator Mist radiant skin rescue essence with lid off

    Face Mist: Charlotte’s Magic Hydrator Mist (75ml)

    To refresh and revive the look of your complexion on the go, pack Charlotte’s Magic Hydrator Mist for a magical moisture boost. This hydrating, oxygenating face mist gives the complexion an instant, dewy-looking glow while providing skin-shielding pollution defence and lasting hydration. Signs of digital fatigue appear reduced, which is a must for travellers that occupy themselves with their tablet or smartphone while on transport. Mist anytime, anywhere for immediate moisture.

    Shop Charlotte’s Magic Hydrator Mist

  3. A glowy toner in a large, white-coloured bottle with a silver-coloured lid.

    Toner: Glow Toner (30ml, 150ml)

    Glow Toner is my secret to gorgeous daily radiance. Formulated as a gently exfoliating toner that refines the appearance of pores and lifts the look of the complexion with brightening niacinamide, this acid-free formula helps skin to appear smoother and more radiant. Travelling with a toner will help your skin to feel gently resurfaced and baby soft throughout your trip while enhancing the look of your natural glow.

    Shop Glow Toner

  4. Magic Eye Rescue eye cream with personalised engraving

    Eye Cream: Magic Eye Rescue (15ml)

    The delicate skin around your eyes can become tight, dry and dehydrated while travelling, so it’s important to pack a supercharged eye cream that helps to hydrate and nourish around the eyes. My Magic Eye Rescue eye cream is formulated to smooth, hydrate and brighten the eye area, helping to depuff the look of the under eyes and illuminate the appearance of dark circles that can become even more apparent thanks to late nights and a busy travel schedule. It’s also infused with time-released retinol which helps to reduce the appearance of fine lines for younger-looking skin.

    Shop Magic Eye Rescue

  5. A luminous, ivory-coloured facial serum in a glass bottle with a white and gold-coloured dropper lid,

    Face Serum: Charlotte’s Magic Serum Crystal Elixir (8ml, 30ml, 100ml)

    Face serum is a powerful way to supercharge your travel-friendly skincare routine. Charlotte’s Magic Serum Crystal Elixir is my youth-boosting, crystal-infused formula that floods the skin with hydrating polyglutamic acid and brightening golden vitamin C to lift the look of the complexion. Travel with this magical serum and give your skin a surge of skincare benefits for immediate and lasting hydration.

    Shop Charlotte’s Magic Serum Crystal Elixir

  6. Charlotte's Magic Cream with personalised engraving

    Day Cream: Charlotte’s Magic Cream (30ml, 50ml, 150ml)

    Magic Cream is Magic Skin, darlings! I never travel without my award-winning, globally loved moisturiser – it’s the secret to perfectly prepped, smoother, plumper-looking skin! Born backstage and enriched with my research-powered Magic 8 Matrix of skincare ingredients, this moisturiser immediately revives the look of skin and creates a gorgeous canvas for makeup application. Travel with this iconic face cream and make every day a magic skin day!

    Shop Charlotte’s Magic Cream

  7. A thick and luscious dark champagne-coloured face cream in an open glass jar with a black and gold coloured lid next to it.

    Night Cream: Magic Night Cream (50ml)

    After an action-packed day trip or a non-stop travel day, reach for Magic Night Cream in the evenings to give the skin magical, overnight nourishment. This decadent beauty balm helps to repair the look of skin while you get your beauty sleep, massaging into the face and delivering hour-by-hour moisture with supercharged ingredients such as time-released retinol and conditioning vitamin E.

    Shop Magic Night Cream

  8. A lip oil in a white coloured tube with reflective geometric patterns on it in silver colour and a rose-gold-coloured lid.

    Lip Oil: Charlotte’s Magic Lip Oil Crystal Elixir (8ml)

    Travelling can cause lips to become dry and chapped, so be sure to pack a nourishing lip oil like Charlotte’s Magic Lip Oil Crystal Elixir to keep them hydrated. This crystal-infused lip oil has the power of a serum and the shine of a gloss, gliding onto the lips to moisturise and condition with a single swipe. You can apply this magical lip oil on its own or on top of your favourite lip products to give your pout a burst of moisture while you travel.

    Shop Charlotte’s Magic Lip Oil Crystal Elixir

  9. A primer in a white-coloured tube with a white-coloured lid with text on it that reads, 'invisible UV Flawless poreless primer SPF 50 PA++++'.

    Sunscreen: Invisible UV Flawless Poreless Primer SPF50 (30ml)

    Sun protection is essential wherever you’re travelling to, so be sure to carry a high-factor sunscreen like Invisible UV Flawless Poreless Primer to prime and protect the face from harmful UV rays. I created this SPF primer to work as a triple-action formula; it hydrates the skin with hyaluronic acid; protects the skin from sun damage with SPF50 protection; and works as a smoothing, pore-blurring veil that primes the skin for makeup. Apply every day to help shield your skin from the sun and reapply as needed.

    Shop Invisible UV Flawless Poreless Primer SPF50