Coconut oil- the travel essential

This time last year I wrote about how you can create lots of beauty products using hotel amenities to help you out if you are caught short when travelling. Pretty much every little sachet has an alternative use as a face or body treat. The 10 top tips are detailed here.
I would like to add a small pot of organic virgin coconut oil as the travel 'must have'. Coconut oil is solid at room temperature but of course if you are travelling in the tropics it will be liquid so a container with a tight seal is essential.
What can coconut oil do for you....

• Body Moisturiser- a small amount applied after showering is the perfect all over body mosituriser especially if you have been out in the sun. You don't need to use too much as it can feel quite greasy. Adding a small amout to a hotel Moisturiser plumps up that product and makes it more hydrating
• Face Moisturiser- maybe you forgot yours so a a small dab applied to the face and rubbed in will be a perfect replacement. If you don't want a greasy face gently apply a tissue to the face to  remove any excess
• Facial cleanser- soften in your hands first and rub liberally over the face and remove with a warm facecloth or tissue to remove make up.
• Hair conditioner- massage into your dry hair and leave for a few minutes and shampoo out.
• Mix with sugar to make a body or foot scrub
• Make an emergency toothpaste with a little salt and coconut oil. For a more permanent option there are some great ideas Here

So next time you are travelling and space is at a premium then pop in some coconut oil! 

Holiday Health planning- how much is too much??

I was chatting with family recently about an up and coming holiday I am going on with my teenager and I

was telling them of all the health related products I was packing- and they laughed at me for going over the top. It got me thinking- how much is too much?? Especially if space is limited. As a nurse I don't want to be caught short and waste my precious holiday time hunting down products, in a country where I may not speak the language. Last year I wrote about how to adapt hotel amenities to make emergency skin and beauty products- this is still a stable habit for me I must confess!

My next trip is purely for relaxation to an island resort -I don't have any particular medical conditions ,neither does my son apart from hayfever and occasional asthma.
So this is what I packed

• Home made Insect repellent - recipes here If you can't take your own then I recommend Goodbye Sandfly products. However * if you are going to an area where Dengue fever, malaria and other insect borne disease are then please follow the travel advisories as supplied by the government. if you are in Singapore or Malaysia I recommend this brand from Organic Basic.
•  An all purpose healing gel with organic teatree oil and lavandin oil and fragonia oil which has antiseptic properties, will help with any itching and minor cuts and bites. if you would like to make your own then this gel base is the perfect place to start!
• Sun block factors 30-100 water resistant including a sports spray water resistant for the teenager
• Bottle of mixed teatree and lavandin oil to dap on any spots
• After sun spray
• Paracetamol
• Anti diarrhoea and Anti nausea tabs
• Asthma meds + hayfever tabs
• Bandaids
• Nasal decongestant
• Indigestion tablets
• Hand sanitiser + mini sanitiser wipes ( made with lavandin hydrosol, teatree, fragonia) and sealed in a sterile sachet)

So is that an over kill? On previous (longer) trips I have also take a full course of anti biotics and an antiviral cream (cold sores) and various other things like blister plasters.

So what about holiday skincare- do you use as many products as home or do you tend to go more au naturale? Apart from sunblock which is a holiday must I tend to go very low key preferring lip glosses over lipsticks, maybe a primer with a touch of light powder foundation highlighter.I try and use products that have more than one function. A travel essential for my is a toner spritzer  which is great to refresh on the plane and rehydrate your kin or spritz on your hands. I usually decant into a small 50 l spray bottle and carry on board.
This blog has some other great travel tips for those in the business who do a lot of it!
And at the end of the day - a holiday is for realxing and what can be getter for the skin (and the mind and the body) than relaxation!

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7 Top Tips for you

This has been posted on another blog- some great information here!