My Vegan Skincare & Beauty Travel Essentials

*This post is in conjunction with Boots UK but all thoughts are my own.

Maintaining flawless skin while travelling doesn’t have to be complicated!

For the last 5 years I’ve been making a conscious effort to swap all my beauty and skincare products to ensure they are vegan. It’s shocking how many popular and commonly used brands still use animal products, or test on animals, and if there’s one thing we can do to help this, it’s to vote with our wallets!

Luckily nowadays with so many people going vegan, there are tonnes of great brands and products to choose from on the market, and Boots even has vegan skincare and vegan makeup sections of their website for you to browse through too.

As someone who loves to travel a lot, it’s also important that my skincare and makeup routine is simple and stripped back, but still gives me all the essential care my skin needs.

So below is a list of my ultimate vegan skincare and beauty essentials for when you’re on the go, including how each of them fits into my routine.

Interestingly enough, just because a product is marked as ‘vegan’ (ie. meaning it doesn’t include animal products and by-products like milk, egg, beeswax, honey etc.), doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s cruelty free! It’s important to keep this in mind when choosing your products – which is what I’ve been careful of when creating this edit:

For combatting dryness & staying hydrated (especially on the plane!)

• Tinted ‘Glow Yeah’ Lip Oil from Florence by Mills
  Staying properly hydrated feels harder when you’re travelling, and air conditioning on planes or in hotels always dry my skin and lips out. This lip oil is super nourishing, leaving your lips feeling plump and silky smooth, and doesn’t contain beeswax either.
• Botanics Simply Calm & Soothing Hand Cream with Hemp Oil
  Obviously we want to stay safe and germ free during our travels, but the constant hand sanitising definitely ends up making my hands feeling rough and dry. A moisturising hand cream like this is an absolute must, and even better if it includes a calming essential oil blend!

For late nights & jet lag

• The Ordinary Caffeine Solution
  I hate the way a bad night’s sleep affects my skin, but a few drops of this formula from The Ordinary is the perfect combatant for tired looking eyes and sunken skin.
• The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA 
  I find my skin gets oilier when I’m tired or travelling, so choosing a light face moisturiser is imperative. I use this moisturiser from The Ordinary as my everyday cream before putting makeup on, and love how it just sinks into the skin so easily.

For fighting inevitable breakouts

• The Ordinary Niacinamide + Zinc serum
  Does anyone else find they break out more after travelling? I absolutely swear by this product from The Ordinary for keeping my spots at bay! I’ve been using this for a few years now, dropping it onto red areas that feel like they’re about to become proper spots, and leaving it overnight. It seriously reduces redness, and usually prevents the spot from coming out at all!
• The Ordinary Squalene Cleanser
  Differences in air quality and hours wearing makeup means a good cleanse at the end of the day to get everything off is so important. I remember the days when I thought a rub with a cleansing wipe was enough, but ideally you want something more thorough to really get rid of the dirt! I love this cleanser by The Ordinary as it’s super light (not too oily) and makes my skin feel squeaky clean afterwards.

For staying bronzed and photo-ready

• e.l.f Booster Drops Sun-Kissed
  If you’re heading off for a holiday in the sun, of course we want to look glowing and bronzed! Add a few of the e.l.f drops to your foundation or CC/BB cream to get that tanned effect before you’ve even got on a sun lounger.
• KVD Translucent Setting Powder
  Let’s face it, you’ll probably want to take lots of photos while you’re travelling! Shiny skin can be a pain in pics, especially when hot weather is involved, so I love keeping a translucent powder (like this one from KVD) with me to tone down the shine to a nice glow.

I love how much choice we have now with different products. Yes, it’s important we take care of our skin (and look great while we’re travelling!), but why should it be at the expense of sustainability?

Today there’s simply no need, thanks to the wonderful range of affordable brands working hard to create great products that make us feel good and that really work!

Check out the vegan skincare and makeup ranges on Boots.com to see their carefully selected products.