Holiday Beauty Essentials

July 17, 2012 by poppy in Beauty

As you may have noticed from my 'less rainy than usual' outfit posts, I was on holiday in Mallorca last week.

Ever since I was a fetus (really!) I've spent summers in Mallorca with my family. Normally I travel with my sister, so we pool resources when it comes to packing beauty bits and boring things like straighteners. But this year I had to share a suitcase with my boyfriend. SHOCK HORROR ETC ETC. This shouldn't be that big a deal as I do live with my boyfriend BUT, crucially, we have separate bathrooms. And I am 99% certain that's why we're in love.

When it was announced that we were SHARING A SUITCASE it was made pretty clear that I couldn't bring the kitchen (or rather, bathroom) sink with me.

Fair enough. I'm cool. I'm laid back. I don't need lots of beauty products. I'm carefree. I'm breezy!

I looked around my bathroom pondering what should make the cut and settled on the following:

And I have to say, this was a-ok. Except for make-up and sun tan lotion (Ambre Solaire Light & Silky SPF 30), the above was all I took. I didn't yearn for any of the things I left at home. And all these products were tip top.

So what did I pack? (L-R)

Vaseline Aloe Fresh Gel - £2.79

This was purchased after a hilarious sunstroke incident in Rio (I wasn't the victim) and it's pretty heavenly to keep in the minibar fridge and slather on your skin after a day in the sun. I much prefer gels to creams and butters, in fact I hate creams and butters, and this one is simple, effective and absorbed superbly quickly. Also, not girly at all so if you are sharing a suitcase with a fusspot boy, he can also use it.

Clean & Clear Morning Energy Facial Scrub - £3.99

I have to scrub my face, I don't get people who don't. It's completely psychological, but I just don't understand how anything can be clean without scrubby grainy bead things. This stuff smells gorgeous and summery and doesn't leave your skin tight or horrid. I know skin is a very personal thing, but I rate this above Eve Lom and a bunch of other posh brands. And it's cheap.

Lansinoh HPA Lanolin - £10.20

This is my desert island beauty staple, there is not a product in the world more effective than this. It's more awesome than an iPhone, probably. It's a treatment for cracked nipples, but I use it on my lips. (I don't have cracked nipples). It is quite literally a billion times better than every other lip balm ever. I wear it every day and I am never without it. Buy it, it will change your life.

La-Roche Posay Anthelios XL SPF 50+ - £14.50

I am a bit OTT about sun protection, sunburn is SO tacky and, more importantly (errr), it's bad for you. I don't want to be a wrinkly old burnt faced hag, so I won't wear less than SPF 50 on my face. Problem is, normal sun tan lotion makes me go all spotty and teenagery when I put it on my face and even facial sun tan lotions I've used in the past have felt heavy and horrid. I took to Twitter pre-holiday to get recommendations and this stuff got rave reviews. I found it in Boots and highly rate it from a skin protection/non breakout point of view BUT if I was buying it again I might opt for the tinted one as this made me look pale as my natural skin is fairly olive anyway. Seriously powerful stuff, I applied once per day and my skin didn't even get a hint of pink or red. (Altho I do obsessively wear a hat.)

Dove Spa De-Dimple Serum - £45

My approach to a pre-holiday diet is always 'carry on eating burritos and just find a good anti-cellulite cream'. It's not a very smart approach, as you will see as I blog my efforts to lose weight as of next week (gulp), but it has meant that I've tried lots of cellulite products. This Dove Spa (Dove's snazzy posh beauty range) product came as a two week 'course', in 15 individual tubes. Pretty nifty idea as the 'doses' are all worked out for you. And if you're not checking in your luggage, these are handy and small to have in your stupid clear plastic bag. This a high end product with the usual suspect ingredients, algae and caffeine etc. Def made a big difference...and I'm a very lazy bumpy fugly thighed person.

label.m Protein Spray - £12.25

This stuff is a god send all year round, but I wouldn't go on holiday without it. I don't wash my hair every day at home, but I do on holiday so I make an extra effort to protect it. I apply this in the morn onto dry hair before a day in the sun (and pool and sea!) and then apply it to wet hair after I wash it in the evening. It protects against heat damage, UV and all sorts of other things. And smells very nice. And keeps your hair healthy, moisturised and proteined. Yes.

Otrivine Nasal Spray - £3.79

This isn't exactly a glamorous product but, after Lanolin, this is my next 'must have' when going on holiday. This is more important to me than make-up on holiday, really! I'm a very allergic person and struggle to breathe through my nose at the best of times, but on holiday in foreign climates and air conditioned hotel rooms it's always 100 times worse. Without this, I essentially have no nose at all. It's a genuine miracle product and enables you to go from 100% blocked to 100% clear in a matter of minutes. But be warned, you're not supposed to use it for more than a week as it causes reflux issues and you will have dependency probs. (Not in a crackhead way, but it really will screw up your airways). It's not good for you, but in a short term capacity it is literally heaven in a bottle.

Original Source Mint and Tea Tree Shower Gel - £1.15

I remember using this in the early 2000s, Original Source products were 'a thing' that everybody seemed to use. Now I don't see people rave about them, why? I was re-introduced to the minty goodness by my boyf's family last year and it has replaced Molton Brown and all that lot for me. It's super cheap and super tingly and after a hot/sweaty/sandy day this is the only product that you can depend on to make you feel fresh as a daisy. Or fresh as a mint leaf, anyway.

label.m Therapy Shampoo and Conditioner - £16.50

Granted, I am the biggest label.m fan girl ever, but I've converted many a girlfriend and they all agree this stuff really is a world apart from other haircare brands. Yes, it's more expensive than Head & Shoulders, but it's a damn sight better too. I think the Therapy range is label.m's best range yet and when you're in the sun you want all the extra moisture you can get, this stuff (packed with white caviar) literally makes your hair feel like silk. And when you're on holiday, that's a rare treat.

Clean & Clear Morning Energy Brightening Facial Moisturiser - £3.99

This is the only 'brightening' moisturiser I've found that doesn't make you look like a glittery idiot. Light and non-greasy and smells suitably summery.

Garnier Body Tonic Firming Lotion - £3.10

To be honest, the first time I bought this I just did so because I liked the yellow bottle. I like yellow. But this is my fave body moisturiser and has been for years. As mentioned above, I hate creams/butters. I don't want rubbing in moisturiser to be a chore, it should glide on. This stuff smells nice, comes in a huge bottle and is the perfect gel-cream consistency. Always on offer somewhere too. Oh and it firms, which is a nice bonus.

I probably missed something embarassingly obvious, but if I did I didn't miss it over the 7 days I was away!