Oh, you sillies, not that kind of tripping. This ain’t no Burning Man blog (although full disclosure: I have a couple of friends trying to convince us to go next year, but ehhhh I dunno, I feel a little jumping-on-the-bandwagon-ten-years-late-and-after-massive-commodification, ya know? Also it sounds kind of fun. And dusty).
No no: we’re talking road tripping.
See, before we embarked on our journey (for which I had to pack not only for the two weeks of actual cross-country driving, but for the week we spent being displaced prior to our departure, and for the week of I-have-no-idea-where-anything-I-own-is after our arrival), I put a lot of thought into packing. I tried to streamline everywhere I could, packing the bare minimum so that we wouldn’t be overloaded…but when it came to toiletries?
I went a little overboard.
I filled this entire bag. Not just with my stuff, obviously; I packed in every child’s medication I could possibly think of (…because of course they don’t have Tylenol in Texas? I can’t explain this other than as mama anxiety). But I also put in miniature eye creams and tiny exfoliating scrubs and what have you, figuring that this would be a good time to test-run all those little samples that I have laying around. I also brought things like electric blue eyeshadow and hot pink lipstick and this metallic liquid liner thing that I like to use to brighten up the inner corners of my eyes, because…
Honestly, I can’t explain this. I think I pictured having time to get dressed up. Or dressed, period. But what ended up happening was I didn’t have time to do anything (have you ever tried to get two children out of a hotel room? Exactly), and even if I had had time, I honestly didn’t care. I wore Kendrick’s college shirts and Birkenstocks and didn’t touch a blowdryer once, and it was lovely.
What I discovered at the end of it all: if I had to, I could happily exist all summer long with only the eight products pictured above. Maybe I’d *want* a hot pink lipstick…but could I live without it?
As long as I had my staples, I could.
Presenting: My Road-Tripping Toiletry Must-Haves (L to R):
1. Hawaiian Tropic Sheer Touch Sunscreen SPF 15. For ordinary old running-around (a.k.a. not baking in the sun), this is perfection: it’s light, smells like Hawaiian Tropic (which is to say “like heaven”), and has a tiny bit of sparkle to it that makes your skin look spectacular. Basically, it’s pretty perfume that also protects your skin.
2. NARS Eyeshadow Duo in Alhambra. On the left we have a lightly shimmery seashell; on the right we have a lightly shimmery bronze, and what it adds up to is warm-weather gold. This + a bunch of mascara = all you need on a summer night.
3. Simple Skincare Cleansing Wipes. I’m no longer working with the brand, but let me tell you: their wipes haven’t left my bedside table since I discovered them. The Radiance wipes are my favorite; they’re gentle, but get absolutely everything off, and are perfect for traveling (or for nights when you don’t feel like getting out of bed to wash your face and/or are sleeping in a hotel room with two tiny children and finally got them to go to sleep and are petrified of waking them up so you barely breathe, forget about turning on faucets.
4. NARS Blush in Luster. This shade is a new discovery of mine, and it’s great on lightly tanned skin – a nice deep pink with gold flecks that works on all skin tones depending on how heavy-handed you are with the brush.
5. La Roche-Posay Anthelios SX Sunscreen SPF 30. I’m extremely paranoid about clogged pores on my face, but I’ve been wearing this sunscreen every day for a good two months now, and so far so good.
6. African Botanics Marula Oil. Oh, I’ve talked about this enough by now. You know how good it is. Try it, already.
7. Jack Black Lip Balm. I was driving around with Francesca the other day and asked her if I could borrow her lip balm, and she handed me this. “It’s a guy’s product, but it’s SO good,” she said. And, weirdly enough (or, I guess, not weirdly, since we’re sort of in tune that way), that’s the exact same lip balm I’ve been carrying around for the past few months. I bought it for Kendrick’s Christmas stocking, and then immediately stole it, because it’s just great – non-sticky and heavily moisturizing and everything you want a lip balm to be.
8. Guerlain Kohl Kajal Eye Liner. Because sometimes you need a little drama…and when you do, this baby does the trick in a big way.
(This picture’s just here because she’s so freaking cute.)
Top image via Rebloggy.
