Monthly Organizing Challenge: Traveling with Toiletries

The Jones family is taking a mini-spring break for a couple of days so I am actually checkin' in courtesy of spotty hotel wi-fi and will be making this as short and sweet as possible.  Although, knowing me, Chatty McChatterton, not sure how that will go.

If you have been following on Instagram, you may have seen a few photos from our trip so far, here.  We are having a great time, it is so important for us to take time away from busy schedules and stress and just relax together.  We try to do it a couple of times a year.

This month's challenge is organization in the bathroom and linen closet, and one of the "to do's" on my list was to get myself organized in the toiletry area.  Of course, that means analyzing all of our lotions, shampoos, conditioners and body washes to ensure we only have one bottle of each, and that nothing half-full {optimist here} is hanging around taking up valuable space.

The other piece of it, for me, was to hook myself up with a pre-packed toiletry bag, because boy oh boy, packing for five can take time.  I often times find myself packing our full sized bottles and taking a giant bag filled to the brim with all of our shower and pampering goodies.  It's always excessive and I am always worried that I am forgetting something important.  If we are traveling on a plane, I hit up the travel section at Target and pick through the products, spend way too much money, and leave unhappy that they didn't have half of the products I like to use.

I decided for this month's challenge, I would snag the travel bottles, fill 'em up with all of my favorite "product picky" items {it's OK to call me a snob right about now}, and keep the bag pre-packed.  That way, the few times a year we travel, packing up the toiletries will be one less thing to worry about, so I can focus on more important things.  Like shoes.

I started out with a trip to Target and went straight back to their travel section and found a bunch of cute travel bottles {some were bundled on clearance too!}.  I noticed they also sell some near the suitcases, however, those seemed much more pricey.

Back at home, I took the time to transfer all of my lotions and potions into their new individual sized travel bottles.  And weird, I also labeled them....

Forgive the funny setup.  This is me in a hotel room with a freshly ironed towel and me standing on top of the table to take a photo near a window.  #lifeofablogger. 

Some items still come in full size packages since I couldn't find smaller sizes, which was OK for now.  I will just keep my eyes open so I can eventually replace them as I see necessary.  And see that straightener?  That was the only hair tool I allowed myself to pack {for the first time ever}.  It is travel sized {so cute and tiny}, but I figure I would save the space and use the hotel's hair dryer and that I could live without curls for the few days we would be away.

It seems like a lot to travel with, but it actually wasn't all that bad, and when it was all packed up, took up far less space than typical Jen packing style. 

I used my label maker to add labels to each bottle so I wouldn't end up confused and accidentally try and wash my hair with lotion.  I am not sure how long the labels will last, but I did run them under water to give them a bit of a "test" and they came through with flying colors.  And I figure if I just keep the bottles out of direct water, they should hold up for a few uses, and if I have to relabel, so be it.

If you are really short on space, you can just shave with conditioner.  Just thought I would throw that tip out to my lady pals.  I have done it quite a few times....

I bring my nail supplies, since I like to do my nails on vacation.  It screams vacation to me.  It's relaxing, and something I don't take time to do every day.

I found a set of travel bags awhile back, I believe they were a Joss & Main score and I luuuuurve them!  The first bag holds all of these toiletries nice and neat!

And closes up nice and compact.

For my jewelry, I just use these little plastic pods, which I also found at Target.  I also have a jewelry roll {seen here} when I am traveling with nicer jewelry, but for this trip, the pods were compact and worked perfectly to hold a pendant necklace in one, and some earring studs in another.

The other toiletry bag is used to hold my makeup.  I only bring my fav items, as it is a pretty small bag.  For my hair bands, clips, bobby pins, and chunkier jewelry, I pop those items inside a small box I found in my office.  The jewelry pods fit inside the box as well.

Here are all the items together.

I am a girly girl, so it may seem a little excessive, but it actually leaves a very small footprint in my suitcase, and is so much more compact than previous trips which makes me giddy as can be.  And since I purchased duplicates of all my favorite products, next time I just have to toss my electric toothbrush in the bag and go!

What are your favorite packing tips?  Is there a product you couldn't leave home without?  Any fun spring break vacations in your future?