Next week I am off Greece and Italy but NOT Iceland, for those who keep asking.
It will be warm but not violently hot, we will be swimming a lot, and I will eat tonnes of feta. All of this thrills me.
I used to pack 74329 cosmetics and toiletries for these trips; there would be a bag of face skin care, one for body, one for hair, and one just of makeup. I would take a tong and my ghd, as well as several brushes. And there would STILL be space for one bikini and my passport – amazing!
These days I have streamlined it considerably, in large part due to my own skin care line being so dang perfectly useful (which is why I made it), and having a baby whose accoutrements soak up most of my packing space.
So here’s the skin care I’m taking because it’s:
A) useful information for those wishing to protect and look after their skin while travelling to warm climes,
B) pervy knowing what other people use,
C) a wonderful way to extoll the virtues of a well-curated toiletries bag, and
D) less stressful than actually packing them.
So! We have…
1 x Go-To Properly Clean cleanser cos it takes off all my makeup and sunblock real good. One full bottle will get me around 30 days.
1 x SkinCeuticals Phloretin CF antioxidant serum to wear under sunblock each day to help prevent UV damage and premmo ageing. This anti-oxidant step (onto clean skin, first after cleansing) is important. We should all be doing this every day, in my opinion, holidaying or not.
1 x Aspect Pigment Punch pigment prohibiting serum to stop hyperpigmentation before it even really begins, rather than getting smashed by it and working on it doubly hard when I get home. (I will book a lactic peel for the week I get back all the same. I will go to Brooke at Me Skin and Body in South Yarra cos she knows her shit.)
1 x Invisible Zinc SPF 50+ water resistant physical sunscreen to wear on top of serums to thoroughly, physically protect my face and neck, even while swimming. I will make husband wear this every day also. Here are my thoughts on physical vs chemical sun protection.
1 x Go-To Very Useful Face Cream to wear at night because it’s lovely and hydrating and full of antioxidants to heal any UV damage I collected somehow through the day, and halt the free radical damage that occurs for up to 72 hours after sun damage, NOT that I would ever get any of course, cos I am a wild control freak about that and wear big hats to prove it.
1 x Go-To Exfoliating Swipeys… except I am just taking a little stack of them in a re-usable makeup jar for space saving. Being a thorough, chemical exfoliant, this will give my sunscreened skin a deep clean every few days, and you really want that, trust me.
2 x SK-II Facial Treatment masks as well as sample sachets of Elemis Fruit Active Rejuvenating Mask and Dermalogica Skin Hydrating Mask for a hydrating boost every five days or so. Full size tubes and jars of mask are way to big and space thievey for me.
I will buy my body sunscreen and body lotion and after sun (full of antioxidants like vitamin E at the least) stuff over there cos they’re way too heavy and space consuming to pack at this end.
Also, I bloody love an overseas pharmacy visit. Last time I was in Mykonos I found a bruise healing cream that, to be crude, defecated all over Hirudoid in terms of effectiveness.
No, I did not bruise myself dancing on tables, how dare you.
I was dancing on a podium obviously.
Zoe, welcome back! Do you use the Aspect pigment punch in the morning WITH the Phloretin?
Yep, one on top of the other.
Do you also need a moisturiser in addition to the Phloretin and PP in the AM?
Love your work Zoe! Congrats on everything! It’s all Quite Excellente 🙂 thanks for sharing (and caring?)
Hi Zoe!
Just a general wondering… I know you’re not suppose to exfoliate your face everyday so what do you recommend to clean an oily face daily other than face wipes?
Hi Zoe, Welcome back! Just wondering if you are taking your Clarsonic with you on holidays?
Thanks so much!
Love it! I am excited for you to eat all the feta!
On a side note, have a great trip! I’m happy to say that on my recent trip to Summer, my product list looked very similar!
staceylives.blogspot.com
Hi Zoe,
Great website, and good products, thanks for this.
Just off the topic completely ha, I have a Reiki Practice in Brisbane and have helped heaps of people with pain management and problems with recovery so if you ever want to try Reiki Therapy, I would love to hear from you.
Karen
Hey Zo,
What a wonderful post this is and I am a rather large Go-To fan. Thanks for all your advice it’s changing my skin care routine (and the results I’m getting). One question- where on earth can I buy that Skinceuticals serum in Australia that is reputable?
Thank you, Nat
Hi Zoe, it’s zoe. Sorry if you’ve answered this a million times, where can I safely buy skinceuticals in Melbourne (phloretin serum on my purchase list, thanks for the recommendation)- I don’t want to purchase online from a dodgy source. Cheers!