How to Pack & Organize Makeup & Beauty Products for Travel: The Sonia Kashuk Weekender Bag

I have been fortunate enough to explore many exotic cities and as someone who travels frequently I have become somewhat of an expert when it comes to dealing with long airport lines, security check points and packing for my trips. Overtime I've learned how to make the journey from airport to destination less tiresome and my packing and preparation has become more efficient. It used to take me at least two days to pack for a seven day vacation and now it only takes a couple hours! This post will focus primarily on packing makeup. 

Currently I am using the Sonia Kashuk Weekender Bag which is ideal for travel because of its various organizational compartments and versatility. I purchased the bag at Target in the U.S for $29.99 and it comes in different patterns and designs. If you aren't a big traveler but still like to get away for the weekend this works wonders! I also take it with me when I visit family or go on road trips as it has sturdy handles and fits everything!

If you need some organization tips and are interested in seeing what’s in my travel makeup bag keep reading! (Keep in mind this is based on a 7 day vacation).

This bag has a lot of pockets which makes it the ultimate travel companion and the best organizer I’ve used thus far! It has two main sections that zip all the way around for secure closure. Side one (seen below) contains 2 clear zippered pouches and another large side pocket.

These clear removable pouches have a velcro attachment to the main bag which allows you to detach them for easy access.

In pouch one I like to store my mini lash curler, makeup sponge, Make Up For Ever Skin Equalizer Face Primer, Urban Decay Eye Shadow Primer, Billion Dollar Brows Highlight & Concealer Pencil + application brush, MUFE Aqua Brow Gel + Elf Small Angled Brush (for application), Urban Decay Clear Brow Gel (to keep hairs in place), e.l.f liquid eyeliner, Lancome Grandiose Mascara and NARS Audacious mini mascara.

Pouch two contains: various lip liners from MUFE, Styli-Style and essence cosmetics, Stila Liquid Lipstick in Beso (bright matte red), 2 Burberry lipsticks in Ox Blood (deep wine) and Bright Plum, two Urban Decay lip glosses (pink and purple hues), a Burt's Bees lip balm and a Bath & Body Works hand santizer.

Adjacent from the pouches is a large slip-in compartment where I like to keep my MAC Setting Spray and a smaller padded makeup bag filled with my liquid products.

It also contains a small pack of Burt’s Bees Makeup Wipes, the L’Occitane Precious Cleansing Foam/face wash, Make Up For Ever HD Foundation, MAC Pro-Longwear Concealer and I usually take my MAC Studio Fix Setting Powder OR my MUFE HD Translucent Powder. This is also where I'd store my corrector if needed.

In the photo below you can see what the bag looks like opened up.

Side two contains a clear zippered section, two enclosed large zippered pockets and a brush organizer which many makeup bags don’t have.

The zippered pocket you see directly above the brushes (in the pic below) actually runs the entire length of the bag and the one to the right side (running vertically) stretches the entire width of the bag which means more storage space than I need and enough for makeup and skincare!

In the large clear pocket I store my eye shadow palettes, recently I have been carrying the Gwen Stefani Palette, the Sleek i-Divine Enchanted Forrest Palette, and the Purminerals Epic Illusion Contour Kit which includes blush, bronzer and highlight all-in-one. This section also includes a nail file, some Q-tips and a cute pack of Kleenex (designed by Betsy Johnson).

I also pack an eye cream and my favorite Lash Enhancer Serum by NeoStrata which I use every night.

In terms of makeup brushes I take an assortment for shadow, blending, contour, foundation, blush and concealer. Some of the brands featured below are Sephora, Arbonne, Sigma and e.l.f.

In the last large zippered pocket I usually keep a moisturizer like the Dermalogica Skin Smoothing Cream and a face serum for post cleansing hydration- in this case it’s Clarin’s super Restorative Remodelling Serum. I also tossed in Stila’s Stay All Day Beauty Balm. 

As you can see my travel bag includes everything I need to prep, apply, set and remove my makeup plus products to hydrate my skin after cleansing. This may seem like a lot but keep in mind the bag can also hold your skincare essentials and you can adjust according to your needs and use. By packing all of this in one bag it also saves room in my suitcase. 

More Makeup Travel Tips:

1. The first thing I consider when packing my makeup is what do I REALLY need? To avoid forgetting anything essential I tend to pack my makeup in the order I apply it, for example: moisturizer, primers, eyebrow products, shadow and so on. This way you are sure to remember everything you need for full face application.

2. This tip may be difficult for makeup junkies like me but it is important to narrow down and limit what you take (yes this was me narrowing it down). If you are going away for two nights or even a week you don’t really need 8 lipsticks, 15 brushes, 4 blushes and 5 shadow palettes! Chances are you will be so busy having fun you won’t spend an hour getting your face on. Choose a few wearable lipsticks or lip glosses and take multipurpose palettes with blush, bronzer, highlight and shadow all-in-one or choose a 1-3 smaller palettes with the versatility to go from day to night.

3. Makeup is expensive so you wouldn’t want to lose it all and arrive with nothing! I have experienced bag delays on numerous occasions and once my luggage even went to Germany when my final destination was Dubai! Things happen so make sure to keep what you need on you! I store all of my makeup in my carry-on so if a mishap does occur you won’t catch me looking jet lagged and dreary! Pack all of your liquids, gels and creams in those small ziplock sandwich bags and have them ready to take out and place in the security bins at the airport. These items include (foundation, primers, gloss, concealer etc). Everything else like shadow, lipstick and blush can be kept in the makeup bag in your carry-on.

I hope this post was helpful, if you have any tips of your own please leave them in the comment section below.