Travel Products Worth Your Money

I have this obsession with being a "bag lady" and carrying around all the possible things I could need throughout the day. This ranges from gum to a phone charger to 10 different lipsticks, vitamin E stick and various lip liners. I have perfume, eye drops and even a book sometimes.
After years of accumulating things to throw in my purse that I may or may not need, I've also come to recognize the products that are and aren't worth buying mini versions of. When I browse the Target travel sections I'll look at some items that are about 1/3 the size of the original, yet they want to charge half or usually more than half the retail price of the full size version. As a penny pincher (sometimes) I have to realize that with these products what I'm paying for is the convenience of it and not the amount, so if it costs as much as most travel products do the convenience better be pretty amazing.

I've created a list of my favorite travel products that I believe to be worth your money. You don't want to be lugging around a full sized bottle of something that you don't need to and this goes for whether you're a Bag Lady like me and just want them on hand, or if you're traveling and need to save some space. So here are my favorites...

1. MAC Fix + - I had been eyeing this little guy for a while and seriously considered making the purchase. I use Fix + on a daily basis and also do my makeup on the go during the week on my way to work. I try to keep my travel bag to a minimum and that really left no room for my fix + spray. With it being summer and me having dry skin I finally decided to buy the mini bottle and I'm so glad I did! This bottle takes up nearly zero space in my makeup bag and because I'm constantly using it I know I'm getting my money's worth. The full sized product retails at $19.00 and the mini is $10.00 for less than half the amount, BUT it's worth it to me because I always use it, plus it's really cute. 

2. Deodorant - This is a staple in my purse right now, with it being so hot (104 in Southern California today!) my daily swipe of antiperspirant is just not cutting it as the day goes on. I keep a mini in my purse to touch up at work and make sure I'm smelling fresh. To me the full sized takes up too much space in my purse and I worry about it melting and causing a huge mess. With the smaller one at least if it melts there won't be as much of a clean up. Also, I've noticed the Secret with Olay are built much more sturdy than other brands so it's less likely to give you problems in terms of mess.

3. Foundation - So I'm not sure if I mentioned if before but I constantly have to do my makeup in the car because I don't have enough time before I head for work in the morning. One of the biggest hassles I've come across is finding the perfect size or type of foundation to take with me to make application easier. I used to squeeze my MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation on my Beauty Blender and do it that way but it still would turn out to be kinda messy. Right now what's working for me is placing a cream foundation in a travel container and dipping into it that way. The foundation isn't liquid so I don't have an issue with it spilling and I don't have to lug around a full sized product. Right now I'm using Cinema Secrets Cream Foundation in a MAC stackable container.

4. Mascara - This one actually came about because of how often I was getting sample size mascaras as gifts from different brands. I also prefer the minis because they get less mascara build up around the wand so there is less likely that I will have clumpy mascara or that I will make a mess under my eye due to having too much on the wand, not to mention they're space saving and can prove to be less costly if you get one as a gift with purchase which I often do. 

5. Conditioner - This suggestion is more for my Gym goers who are showering and possibly getting ready for the day at the gym. I happen to go to one where they provide us with Shampoo and body wash (but I bring my own body wash, the shampoo is OK) so I really only have to worry about conditioner. Because my hair is dry this step is important and I struggled with remembering to add it to my bag. Either because I left it at home, in my car, or because it didn't fit in my travel case. In last month's Beauty Army subscription I was given a mini travel container and decided this would be perfect for my conditioner. It fits in my shower bag and I haven't forgotten it anywhere since! 

Are sure there are many more products I can list so if you can think of any, let me know! I hope you are all enjoying your summer :)