18 Apr Bare Essential Toiletries For your next road trip
There are some bare essential toiletries you NEED for your next road trip to lighten the load. Ask yourself this, be honest. Have you been known to overpack? Especially on a short camping or road trip? Yup… I feel ya.
Most people overpack when they go camping or when they go on a road trip especially the ladies (aka me), I’ll bring everything but the kitchen sink.
Traveling light is an art and can be learnt.
I don’t know about you but one of the most annoying things is unpacking all the things you didn’t use at the end of the trip. So over the years of consistently over packing, it has taught me what is a bare necessity and what isn’t. The more you camp or go on road trips, the less “stuff” you will want to bring to make the load lighter and/or to take up less space in the van, camper, tent, car etc. Plus you know you don’t have to go rummaging through everything when you are only bringing the bare essentials for traveling light.
It’s surprising how little you need on a camping trip or road trip, especially when it comes to toiletries. Here is what I am currently using as my bare essentials. You by no means have to use these brands, I change the brands I use all the time so just use this as a guideline to craft your ideal bare essentials toiletries bag for your next road trip.
- Day N Night, Sea and Stream Friendly shampoo/body wash
- Hot Tresses Travel Size Leave in Conditioner
- Baby Wipes (Water Wipes)
- Eco Store Toothpaste
- Toothbrush
- Sukin Tinted Sunscreen
- Face Halo, cleansing face wipe.
It’s nice to have luxuries, but when you are camping you are in it for the simplicity, the experiences of life, you can skip your 10 step skincare routine for 2 days or one week. When you are traveling off the grid to say somewhere like Ningaloo Station, or spending days at the beach down in Esperance you just don’t need all the toiletries.
I used to pack makeup and all most of my skincare items but in all honesty it never gets used and takes up space, time or leaks everywhere.
For the regular camper that wants to travel lighter or trying to pack less you need these essential toiletries for your next camping, road trip or overnighter. Anything else is not a necessity. If you need to bring makeup that’s fine, keep it simple think bb cream, concealer and mascara.
Bare Essential toiletries list for Road trips
Night and Day:
Night N Day is a sea and stream friendly body wash, that doubles as shampoo too. It’s for those beach camping trips where you have to bathe in the ocean OR in the bush where you might have to bath in a fresh body of water. It’s sea and stream friendly which means it does not contain any harmful chemicals to upset the ecosystem. This is super important because a lot of personal care products can contain harmful chemicals which can also be harmful to the fish, reefs, wildlife etc. IF you do have to shower in the ocean or freshwater make sure you research or find a product that is deemed “safe”. There are other brands but this is actually made locally in Perth (#support local). You can get it here locally at most BCF or other boating stores or you can buy it online. Buy a 250ml bottle or a 1L and you can decant it into a small bottle.
Leave in conditioner:
Is a must for the ladies. I’m no princess but oily hair is not a great look or feel. Leave in conditioner is great because you don’t have to worry about using extra water if you are using your hand held shower or bathing in the ocean. You only have to worry about the shampooing part and then apply conditioner after. Some people like to bring “dry shampoo” which can tie you over for a day or 2 but still needs to be washed out… plus I’m not a fan, it dries out my scalp too much and i end up itchy… but you do you, dry shampoo is a good option if you like it. When you discover how good leave in conditioner is
Baby wipes:
These are perfect for a quick freshen up of the pits and bits. Especially if you don’t want to waste your drinking water. Great for whipping off the sunscreen at the end of the day or even keep some in the esky or fridge for a quick cool down on a hot day. The uses are endless. Even if you need to wipe your hands before eating. Not all baby wipes are just water though, we prefer the water ones for the most “natural / chemical free option.
Face Halo / Face cloth:
This may seem useless (even for the lads) but a face halo just a brand that is a microfiber cloth that removes dirt, mainly for makeup but it’s great for removing zinc and sunscreen too. There are plenty of different brands but this one is from Myer is relatively cheap and does the trick. Personally I feel dirty if I can’t clean the sunscreen or makeup off my face at the end of the day. Even for the lads it’s nice to wipe all that dirt and zinc off. Make-up wipes don’t remove the dirt 100% (plus its added waste) but the face halo or any similar microfiber face cloth will do the trick at removing close to all the dirt that can accumulate. It means you won’t have to bring a foaming cleanser all you need is some fresh water and viola this will do the “cleansing” for you.
Sunscreen:
Always have face sunscreen or zinc with you. You will be surprised even in winter how much you will need this. I prefer to get a tinted zinc or tinted face sunscreen to make me feel a little nice while im lounging on the beach. Plus it doubles as sun protection. Face sunscreen is especially important if you have problematic skin, it is gentler and less likely to make you breakout. Plus it doubles as a bit of coverage if you are self conscience going makeup free. If you are not worried about your skin breaking our or coverage keeping a travel size sunscreen stashed away is a good alternative and can save the day. If you are going on any trip I hope you will be packing a big tub of sunscreen but having a tiny one on hand in your toiletries bag will be convenient to slap it on in the morning as a ritual or you can chuck in your backpack, car glove box, pocket… wherever.
PS – you don’t have to use these brands, these are just what I am currently using, which changes all the time apart from my travel leave in conditioner, that I have been using for a long time. I’m loving the Sukin Tinted sunscreen, but it has the funkiest smell. Colour, price and sun protection is amazing.
Obvious other toiletry items include toothpaste, toothbrush and deodorant but I didn’t think I needed to mention those because they are pretty obvious. I wanted to provide you with some unusual and really bare essential toiletries you can use on your road trip so you can attempt to travel with less. That way your toiletries bag will end up as one tiny pouch that wont take up much space at all.
Now if you have the room to take some more items, I always take a bb cream, concealer and mascara, a daily moisturiser for my face and an all over moisturiser. If you are going for a longer trip say 4-7 days yes it might be worth packing a facial moisturizer. If i’m going on a beach camping trip the excess salt water can dry your skin out and it can become itchy moisturiser can make your camping experience more luxe. OR if you do get sunburnt the moisturizer can prevent peeling… just a touch of luxury if you want it.
Hopefully you can try going bare essentials on your next trip. Traveling lighter is yes about the space but also about eliminating decisions too. Having less things to think about frees up your mind, reduces stress and will help you relax and really enjoy your camping or road trip experience.
Now you are all set, go out and explore.
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