Good morning from Chatham, friends!
If you’re following along on our trip right now, then you know we’ve been checking out this beautiful town in Cape Cod over the last two days….
We are having such a nice time, and already, our vacation is off to a great start!
Today, I have LET’S LOOK! If you don’t know what this is, once a month, Erika and I do a little link up where we “look” at different aspects of our lives (and then if you blog, you share and link up too!). It’s often a random little assortment of topics.
In January, we looked at our coffee bar areas.
In February, we looked at our love languages.
In March, we looked at a perfect night in.
In April, we looked at our fridge and pantry.
In May, we looked at our outdoor organization.
In June, we looked at our summer bucket list.
And today, we’re looking at our BATHROOM ORGANIZATION!
Buuuuuuuut…I thought it would be fun to put a vacation spin on things, so I’m going to share how I stay organized in the bathroom when I travel. Packing and traveling with six people isn’t super simple, but because I’m Type-A/Enneagram 8/Over-Planner/Control Freak/Crazy Uptight about things, I have it down to a science 🙂 .
Right now, this is the bathroom that the six of us are sharing in Chatham…
Suuuuuuuper charming, not all that spacious for our “stuff” (and by that, I really mean my stuff 😉 ).
So, it’s a good thing I came organized 🙂 .
Here are just a few rules/things I do when it comes to traveling with toiletries:
1: I don’t fret about bringing full-sized items! I love a good hair, skin and makeup routine, but when it’s time for vacation, I love to change things up a bit. After all, when I’m traveling my fitness routine and diet change up, so why not my skincare and such? One easy way to do this…I don’t worry with bringing all of my “normal” things. This is a fun time to try out smaller items of products/samples I get in the mail or travel-sized items I buy just for the convenience and fun of playing with new things. I’ve shared this one with you many times before…
…Colleen Rothschild’s Discover Kit. This has all of the “mini” versions of her best selling products in one case. If you love her skincare like I do, this is great for traveling, but if you just want to try it out for the first time, it’s great for you too. For this trip, I also bought…
…the Drunk Elephant Littles set! Oh my gosh! I’m already having SO MUCH FUN playing with this!! Just look…
…inside this pouch is a great variety of Drunk Elephant products plus…
…information on how to create custom “cocktails” for specific skin concerns. You know I already love several of their products (like their Retinol Cream!), so this set here makes me super happy! Now, if I really love one of the products, I can buy the full size version when I get home and know for sure that it’s a good match for my skin.
2: I don’t bring our “normal” toothbrushes! Yeah, we leave those at home and always bring a fresh one on a trip and then…we toss it before we return home. It grosses me out to think of traveling with my toothbrush, so I buy new ones just for vacations OR I use all of those extra toothbrushes we always get when we leave the dentist’s office.
3: I bring a loofah for each hotel room. Hi, my name is Shay and I love showering with a loofah. I don’t need an expensive one (my grocery store sells them for $.99), I just need a brand new one for each hotel bathroom. If we’re going to change hotels, I bring more than one. A fresh toothbrush and fresh loofah make me happy.
4: I use great organizers for travel! This is so important and over the years, I’ve found that it’s really helped me out SO MUCH because items don’t break or get lost. I have specific organizers for jewelry, bath products and makeup! Here is what I’m using on this trip…
Hello there bath products! Everything I need for the shower and my hair are all nice and tidy in this one travel case. I love that it hangs on the back of the door too. When it’s my turn to head into the bathroom, everything I need is tidy, organized and out of the way. Look how much it expands…
…I also love how things are packed in there nice and tight so that nothing breaks when my suitcase is tossed around getting on and off the airplane.
I also have a coordinating case for my…
…JEWELRY! My very favorite part about this travel case is that my necklaces stay nice and tidy and don’t get tangled! Look at the pic above, I purposely removed two of the necklaces so that you could see how they can fit nice and neat in the pocket. Everything is super organized and doesn’t get damaged. For all of my statement earrings, I use…
…one of these clear bags. This set comes with three clear bags and there are endless ways to use each one.
All three bags keep me organized in the hotel!
Now, I’ve shared this with you about a million times before, but I must mention it again…
…this makeup case is brilliant. I bought this after our girls trip to Boston and never looked back. I love all the room, zippers and pockets. I love how the dividers can be moved to make a gazillion combinations. I love how I’ve NEVER had one thing break in there (even though, it’s traveled with me many times!), and I love how nice and tidy it stays. I love, love, love!
Now, if you want to take a peek at my bathroom at home (that’s been recently gutted and remodeled!), you can catch it in this post HERE.
And to make things easier, I tried to grab as many items that I took with me on our trip (pictured here) and put it below in this widget. You can slide and click to see what’s I brought…
That wraps up this month’s Let’s Look! Next month…
…we’re looking at PHONE, APPS & SUCH. Ohhhhh! All things phone…I’m excited 🙂 .
Before we go today, if you blogged Let’s Look too, please make sure you link up below annnnnd…
…don’t miss the first of hopefully many recipes featured here on my blog by my lovely sister-in-law, Catherine Lowe! She’s sharing her Texi-Cuban Quesadilla recipes with us today!! They’re so delish!! You’re going to want to make them STAT.
Finally, tomorrow evening, our giveaway ends…
…if you haven’t entered to win $1000 in Nordstrom gift cards, make sure you do right HERE! The winner will be announced on Friday!
Happy Wednesday, friends! I’ll see you tomorrow!!
Elspeth says
I love to read about organizing so this was the perfect post for me!
http://www.elspethsdaybyday.com
Erika Slaughter says
Keep all the vaca pics coming, friend! LOVE seeing them all!
Rachel says
Hi Shay, I hope you’re enjoying beautiful cape Cod. I just wanted to mention the toothbrushes can be easily disinfected when you return from your trip. Throwing them away seems wasteful. My family is continuing to work on reducing plastic waste and every little thing really helps! Have a fun trip.
Sara says
We sanitize ours by throwing them in the dishwasher about once a month.
Susie Harrold says
I would love it if you (or you and Erika) could do a budget friendly skin care regimen recommendation. I love the products you write about, but could not even come close to affording them.
Mix and Match Mama says
I really like the tarte skincare products too which are more budget-friendly!
Kim says
How do you typically store your makeup at home? Do you use that black case with the dividers?
Mix and Match Mama says
I use two drawers with little divider things that I bought years ago from the container store!
Carly says
This was the best surprise change. Who doesn’t love hotel bathrooms? Although yours is pretty perfect.
Corren says
I’d love to see your organization of your travel organization! (Where you store them, how you choose what bag for which trip etc)
Nicole says
I second this! Shay please consider. I’m so curious how you pack all this in your suitcase -including shoes, etc -I struggle between wanting to bring all the accessories to not just because I don’t know how to pack and keep it organized and make it fit! Thanks in advance!
Sheaffer Sims says
That Drunk Elephant set and your travel bag looks amazing! And you know I never go anywhere without my CR Discovery Kit!
Faith says
Love this – Shay, how much room does the bath products case take in your bag? I’ve seen some that take up like half the bag. I need that room for shoes, lol!
Mix and Match Mama says
Not much at all!! Everything I brought with me is in one suit case (shoes, clothes, swim stuff, toiletries…). Everything is in one bag!
Faith says
Ok, sold, thats amazing!
Debbie Lei says
Hey Shay! Love your blog, your family, and your trips! I am commenting here to encourage some thought about being sustainable while travelling. I read somewhere this week that every plastic toothbrush ever made still exists today, and that is because plastic takes 450 years to decompose. Love your hygiene for using a new toothbrush per trip and a new loofah per hotel room but please consider re-use as our lands and oceans are overflowing with single-use plastics. Items like a toothbrush and loofah are easy enough to reuse, especially after a rinse/wash. Thanks for considering <3
Joanne says
I always bring/ buy trial sized items on vacation too.
Kristine says
I love all the organization! Do yuh struggle to keep your bag under 50lbs or do you just pay the extra fee if it’s overweight?
Mix and Match Mama says
I struggle with it when we go skiing (because my clothes and shoes weigh more!). Andrew refuses to pay extra, so we weigh them at home before we leave and he makes me take things out. Bahahaha!
Missy says
Love the bath products bag! I’m always putting some in baggies in case they bust open.
Kristin says
I always bring a fresh toothbrush on vacation and then toss it too! I’m totally grossed out by the idea of packing my regular toothbrush and my husband has always thought it was so weird! Glad to know someone agrees with me ?
Stephanie says
So glad I’m not the only one grossed out by traveling with a toothbrush. Except what I do is I bring my toothbrush from home and toss that one at the end of our trip and take the opportunity to use a brand new one at home. Also glad I’m not the only one still using a loofah. I know their gross ??♀️