Packing hints, tips and cheats

I am mega excited at the moment, as I am packing for my exciting trip to Thailand with the Boy, my best friend and her boyfriend! I also get to see my parents, which I am secretly excited about as I haven’t seen my dear old mum since the wedding last August!!!

I am lucky enough to have travelled quite a bit in my time so packing is nothing new to me, although it does seem to take me ages as I am bit of a perfectionist. Over the years I have learnt some great tips for packing which I wanted to share with you today!

Use cotton wool to protect make up

There is nothing more irritating, upsetting almost, when you arrive at your destination and you find that your make up smashed in transit. Dam those heavy handed luggage handlers. To prevent bronzers, blushes and eye make compacts from cracking and crumbling, place a cotton wool page in the compact to act as a cushion. Simple but very clever. 

protect your make up 

Protect bottles with arm bands

Ok so a little confession…I am quickly approaching 28 and I still wear arm bands. But apart from protecting me from drowning when I can’t tread water for more than 30 seconds, they also come in handing if you want to bring bottles home. Simply slip the bottle into a blown up arm band for the perfect protection for your bottle.

saving lives... and bottles! 

Roll up silk 

Silk is a beautiful material, one that glides over your skin. But it doesn’t travel well thanks to the light material easily creasing.  The solution to this is to roll your silk item in your towel rather than folding it and lining other items on top.

Wrap delicate jewellery in tissue paper

Jewellery is a light and easy way to spruce up an outfit, allowing you to get away of repeating outfits as well as going straight from beach to bar whilst on your holidays, so I strongly recommend packing lots of jewellery with you. However if you’re taking lighter, more delicate chains and bracelets with you, then you’ll want to pack them properly so that you don’t find a ball of knotted chains when you are unpacking your suitcase the other end.  To avoid a cluster knot of  necklaces that looks like a mass of spaghetti, place jewellery in tissue paper and roll up.

wrapping jewellery will stop tangles 

Three to one ratio

I’m not gonna lie. I find packing light really hard. It’s like asking me to look into a crystal ball and know what I will need in a week’s time. I don’t know, so I like to pack things “just in case”. At the time of packing, I might not know what I will be doing every day, the weather or if I am having a “fat” day so wishing I hadn’t packed 100 crop tops.

However, I shouldn’t use that as an excise to over pack clothes. And as a general rule you can get away with wearing a pair of bottoms, especially jeans, at least a few times. As a general rule, you can probably pair three tops to one pair of bottoms. And to relax those “just in case” thoughts, unless you are going to a remote part of the rainforest, the likelihood is that you’ll be able to buy whatever it is you didn’t pack out there.

three tops to one pair of skorts 

Pack. Then re pack

I am sure I am not the only one here when I admit that I often only wear half of what I take on holiday. Taking a few spare outfits is a good idea (you might have an extra night out than you planned, or accidentally spill some of the local wine on your skirt that you planned on re-wearing). However, once you’ve decided what to pack, take another look at the pile and repack but only 75% of the original pile. Be ruthless. Be realistic. Work out what items work well with each other and are practical.

Cling film

Save the hassle of dealing with burst shampoo bottles by wrapping the nozzle and neck of the bottle in a bit of cling film under the lid.

Roll

One of the best ways to save space when packing is to roll, rather than fold your clothes. It will also help with saving creases.

Finally.

Ok this isn’t really a packing tip but a tip nonetheless. Ever been in the situation where you’ve gone to go through security at the airport only to find that you’ve accidentally left some liquid in the bottom of your bag. And god forbid, it is over 100ml. Noooo!!!!

Rather than chucking your expensive beauty product away, quickly pop into the airport Boots store to buy the small travel bottles and decent your product to save. Obviously make sure you have plenty of time until your flight, cos it probably isn’t worth missing a flight for a bottle of moisturiser even if it is Clinique.  

X x X