My skin is as moody as a preteen, and a commercial airplane's environment of recycled air and altitude is one of its least favorite settings. With the holiday travel season upon us, I've compiled the perfect carry-on care package to keep everything in check.

1. Weleda Skin Food. A thick and heavy cream created from all-natural ingredients and essential oils. This shit must have been personally formulated by God. I like this mostly for hands but occasionally slather it over elbows and ankles. Although the smell is slightly reminiscent of face-planting into fresh soil and earth, the deep comfort it delivers for dry spots is definitely worth it.
2. Jurlique Mousiturizing Hand Sanitizer. Doesn't it always seem to be the case that the person you're sitting next to on this six hour flight has a nasty snot cold and can't stop sneezing? Gross.
3. Josie Maran Argan Color Stick. It has been always been my luck that I fly at ungodly hours, and we all know that everyone (but ESPECIALLY ME) looks like a dead person at 5 am. Double-duty tints like this one bring some (faux) color back to my cheeks and lips, while also delivering a little moisture with its added argan oil. 
4. Moroccan Oil. Dry cabin air=frizzy strands. A few drops of this on split ends keep brittle grossness at bay. Plus it smells awesome when you later fall asleep in a mess of your own hair. 
5. Clinique All About Eyes De-Puffing Massage Serum. Waking up in the middle of the night and then proceeding to take sporadic naps wreaks havoc on under-eye bags. This roller-ball cools and pushes fluid out, helping you look less like you've spent the past hour crying through the in-flight movie. 
6. Aesop Rosehip Seed Lip Cream. If you're anything like me, you hate peeing miles above ground. Like, where does that ish go? Will my intestines get sucked out of my butt? So I don't drink water, and when I don't drink water, my lips get chapped as fuck. This lip cream is really luxurious; it's packed with fancy oils and vitamins and sinks right into the barren dessert that is my mouth.
7. YSL Touche Eclat. This undereye concealer is cult for a reason. What dark circles?
8. Clean & Clear Oil Absorbing Sheets. While my cheeks get dry, my T-zone has a party at McDonald's where it swims around in the fry-maker. These sheets absorb all the nasty oil (sometimes I have to use two though, foul) without disturbing any make-up.

Happy Thanksgiving travels, y'all!

A Lesson I've Learned the Hard Way:

My life will never fit into a carry-on.

Jean jacket and tops by Madewell // Black skinnies by J Brand // Denim by 7 for all mankind // Boots by Frye // Sneaks by Superga // Sunnies by Warby Parker // Bag by MBMJ

No matter how hard I try to make this a reality, an entire closet, a bathroom's worth of toiletries, and no less than 12 pairs of shoes WILL NEVER cram into 45 linear inches. 

My first lesson in extensive packing was a semester abroad in London. I joyfully purchased two extra-large suitcases to fill to the brim with every grandma sweater I owned. I took comfort in knowing I would have my whole wardrobe with me in a strange country, relishing in the idea of having a million different outfits to impress British boys with. This satisfaction, however, was replaced with deep, deep regret up arriving at Heathrow. Lugging literally my own body weight's worth in valises through a major international airport and then through the Chube was nothing short of a nightmare (you can ask just my best friend who experienced this with me; she's still scarred.) But to be fair, although it was terrible for me, it was much worse for the poor ol' chap who stood behind me on the ascending escalator and became the receiving end of toppled luggage.    

Once we began traveling from one Euro City to another, I was determined to fit everything I needed in one backpack. This was college and I really wanted to fit the struggling young backpacker archetype to a T, you know? So I started writing down outfits for each day, trying to bring the most versatile pieces to re-wear with one another, and rolling everything.  

Tomorrow I fly out to San Francisco and I am proud to say I will be able to squeeze 10 outfits, 4 pairs of shoes, 2 bags, socks, undies, and pjs into the overhead compartment.