Let’s talk about tiny toiletries.
Who doesn’t love baby-sized vials of creams and miniature bottles of shampoo? Tiny toiletries are mesmerizing in the same way doll-house furniture is. Look how cute this tiny container of moisturizer is! Look at the baby toner! Tiny toiletries are super practical when it comes to travel for obvious reasons.
Like you, I have a box in my bathroom cabinet where I keep my collection of tiny toiletries. When it comes time to pack for a trip, I get the box out, and begin to make my selections.
Let’s see, I will need some shampoo, maybe a moisturizer? Hmmm, toner…that looks good. Might as well pack this cleanser.
So it goes until I have stocked my travel bag with everything I think I will need. However, once at my destination, jumbled from traveling and longing for the familiarity of home, I open my toiletry bag, ready to begin my routines, only to discover I am not sure what products I packed or how they perform, and I am left fussing with an odd assortment of creams and cleansers.
It’s not the worst thing in the world, but recently I realized what I needed on a trip is not simply tiny toiletries. I need travel-sized versions of the products I already use. The problem for me comes when I confuse trial sizes for travel sizes. Let me explain.
From the outside, trial and travel toiletries look the same. Both are small.
But, when it comes to travel, the difference is not small.
Travel sizes are miniature versions of my regular rotation of products. They are the exact product I use at home, just in a smaller package.
Trial sizes are unknown products that might sound interesting, but I have no idea if I like them or not or whether or not they work well.
Travel provides enough variables and unknowns. The last thing I want while away from home is to spin the wheel and try new products for the first time. Fingers crossed this moisturizer doesn’t make me break out! Here’s hoping my hair likes this new conditioner! No thank you.
I now have two boxes in my bathroom cabinet. I have a box full of travel sized toiletries, and I have a box full of trial sized toiletries. When it is time to pack, I pull solely from the travel box knowing and trusting each product. When I want to try something new or experiment with a product, I pull from the trial box and do so in the comfort of my home when the stakes are low.
Like I said, this is such a small shift, perhaps even obvious, but for me, it has provided a framework that helps me tremendously when I travel!
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