Green Beauty on the Go: Simplify Your Routine for Summer Travel

Lighten up your beauty routine for travel this summer, trading out bulky, heavy items for multipurpose products that will keep you feeling pampered and pretty, even in the heat and humidity. You can pare down your cosmetics and toiletries to the bare essentials with a few powerhouse products like castile soap, coconut oil, a good BB cream and eye makeup that won’t smudge. Here are some suggestions for your warm weather adventures, along with a few tips for avoiding the face-puffing exhaustion of jet lag.

Castile soap: four uses in one

What’s not to love about castile soap? Not only is it natural, and often made with organic and fair trade ingredients, it’s shampoo, face wash, body wash, and hand wash, all in one travel-sized bottle. Dr. Bronner’s Baby Mild Castile Soap is gentle enough to be used in delicate areas, like around the eyes. If your hair gets flat when traveling, and you need a bit of a volume boost, mix just a teaspoon or so of baking soda into a squeeze bottle of castile soap. It’ll help keep oily roots at bay.

Lighten up your cosmetic essentials

There’s no reason to carry around an entire case of cosmetics when traveling, unless you’re a makeup artist. Do yourself a favor and cut it down to the bare essentials: preferably light, multipurpose products that don’t take up much room.

I switch from my usual routine of moisturizer, sunscreen and mineral makeup powder to tinted moisturizer with built-in sunscreen when traveling. My favorite is Tarte’s Amazonian Clay BB Tinted Moisturizer, which offers light-to-medium coverage in an oil-free formula with SPF 20. (Starre loves Marie Veronique’s BB cream!)  Aveda’s Uruku Cheek-Lip Creme is another great double-duty product, providing a hint of natural-looking color.

I’m a big fan of Tarte’s Amazonian Clay eye makeup as well. I’ve never found anything that lasts longer, with deeper pigment, than the brand’s EmphasEYES Waterproof Clay Shadow/Liner, which also comes in a convenient waterproof pencil form.

Reduce the effects of jet lag

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Photo: D. Zampiron