“What?! Is that even possible?” is something I can imagine some of you murmur as you read the title of this blog post.

For the first time in my life, and barring one-night overstays, I packed a small suitcase that weighed 10kg to fly to the USA for three weeks. I also brought my laptop and a “handbag” (a big Rootote).

Why would I, a woman who adores her beauty products, do such an insane thing?

Businessmen and women do it as they traverse the planet and you would love this bit from the latest George Clooney (he is one heckuva hot “mature” dude) movie, Up In The Air — the average time you spend waiting for luggage is 35 minutes. That’s a long time and he travels over 200 days in a year so he would lose up to a week if he waited for check-in baggage.

But okay, I’m not some corporate warrior bashing through airports all the time. In fact, I’m a trailing partner who is meeting her corporate warrior just so we can hang out.

So therein lies the dilemma: should I make him wait at the turnstile with me and then struggle with a huge suitcase while we fly in and out of various US cities?

No, I said to myself. I don’t want to waste my time doing that. Plus, I don’t really need that many clothes because we always do our laundry on the road, be it at a hotel or a sublet or a laundromat.

I know beauty blogs are about using products in abundance, but hear me out, do you really need all that much at the end of the day? I’m not suggesting hardship either. With some savvy planning, I discovered a beauty junkie can in fact travel light and still have her fave products.

Inside my Ziplock bag of goodies: contact lens solution, two pairs of disposable contact lens plus one pair in a case, The Body Shop Coconut Body Butter, Aqua Lily Body Lotion, Olive Glossing Shampoo And Conditioner, MAC toner, Lancome mascara and mini Juicy Tube, L’Oreal True Match liquid foundation, Pantene Clinicare Frizz Defense hair serum, Trilogy organic rose hip oil, Fancl Cream DX and four packets of cleansing oil, miniature vials of Dior’s Hypnotic Poison, Donna Karen Cashmere Mist, and Lolita Lempicka perfumes.

It’s also a good idea to explore using non-liquid products to ease up on space in the 20cmx20cm Ziplock bag allowance you are given for carry-on hand luggage.

For one, I’ve always wanted to try Fancl’s excellent facial washing powder. I found the scrubby thing a bit too harsh for daily use but the powder by itself, foams up beautifully and cleans well.

Another item I can’t do without in dry weather is hand lotion. But there are solid hand moisturizers out there like L’Occitane’s Shea Butter. It comes in a tiny disc-like container and a little goes a long way. I doubt I would finish one of these babies by the end of the trip.

I also wanted to get a solid perfume so I wouldn’t have to add more liquids to my stash but I don’t quite like the solid perfumes on offer in Japan. L’Occitane, Gwen Stefani’s Harajuku Lovers’ series, Marc Jacobs’ Daisy all have solid perfume versions of their liquid perfume but I’m not too sold on how some solids work — some have long lasting powder but don’t smell that great to me or their liquid version is fantastic but the solid one is weak in sillage. I guess I could put this on my wishlist as I shop at Sephora (it is, to me, the beauty mecca in America).

I got this Jill Stuart cosmetic bag as a freebie in a Japanese fashion magazine and the size is quite perfect for me this time.

By the way, I only brought one shade of lipstick. It’s hard to believe this but I could use the same lipstick shade for days on end and not get sick of it. I suppose if I like a certain colour, I’ve no problems wearing it often and that goes with eye shadows as well. I only brought two “looks” (essentially one small palette of blue and purple) and they should match my clothes fine.

I’m not for being too strict and frugal but I think for a long haul journey, I think it pays to really think about what you need and use. Go for quality and not quantity was what I discovered in packing for this trip. And if you forgot something or need something outside of your regular regime, you can always buy it.

And also, this makes more space for new beauty products to be had in foreign lands! As you can see, I already have plans to check-in my luggage on my return to Tokyo…

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