How to Travel Light as a Curly Girl

All curly girls know that travelling light can be a nightmare - just ten liquids in your hand luggage just does not cut it! So how do I manage it? Let me tell you...

Last week, I went to Venice for three nights, and because I'm poor and Ryanair makes travelling an actual possibility for students, I ended up with only hand luggage... and the standard ten 100ml liquids. Impossible? Not really. Difficult? Yes. Here's how I managed...

1. Choose your liquids

With only ten liquids, you have to prioritise! To do this, I skipped on the toothpaste and shower gel, and bought them when I arrived instead, giving me two extra liquids! I also doubled up on some products - instead of taking both my conditioner and my styling cream, I chose just the cream. Whilst this isn't ideal, for just three nights my hair was not going to miss the conditioner! Since the styling cream I use, Cantu Moisturising Curl Activator Cream, helps to add moisture anyway, I decided to use it as both a conditioner and a styling cream!

2. Protect your curls

If you're going away for only a few days, you probably don't want to spend half your morning washing and drying your curls - so protect them while you sleep! To do this, I took my satin pillowcase, and a satin bonnet would work perfectly too! I also packed satin scrunchies, so I could tie my hair back while eating cheesy pasta without getting kinks!

3. Prepare for frizz

Without being able to do your full routine, you hair will likely frizz. By the third day, I had rebellious wisps of hair floating around my face, but I was prepared with bobby pins! I took a lot with me, knowing that this was likely to happen!

4. Travel smart

Buying small 100ml bottles to decant your products into is not a revolutionary tip - but make sure to watch out for the bottle type! You can buy spray bottles, squeezy bottles, and bottles with wide openings, so try to get the type that suits your product the best! Another good idea is to wrap your bottle in cling film during the flight, to stop any leakages!

5. Use your friends

If you're lucky enough to be going away with someone else who doesn't need as many liquids - use their allowance too! Thankfully, I had my boyfriend with me, who needed just a few liquids, so he carried my makeup whilst I carried my hair products! Perfect!

6. Practice makes perfect

If you still haven't perfected your morning curly refresh, don't worry about it! It can take ages to find the perfect products to help you get out of the routine of washing your hair everyday! However, you'll probably want to refresh whilst on holiday, so my tip here is to practice before you go! If you're going away for four days, try not to wash for four days so you know exactly how to control your curls whilst you're away!

For me, my perfect refresh routine is spraying my hair with a little water (or running wet hands through if you don't have a spray bottle!), and running Cantu Define and Shine Custard through my curls, especially my wispy baby hairs at the front!

My perfect first day curls!

My volumous second day curls (and my equally hairy boyf)

... and my frizzy, but controlled third day curls!

So there you have it - how I keep my curls (almost) perfect while travelling light and saving time!

Happy holidays,

Leah x

PS. Funny story - I got stopped at customs and the security staff had to search inside my hair, because it's clearly big enough to smuggle extra product in!