Lush (okay, peoples, I know it's bourgeois and so forth) does a lovely line in solid shampoo bars, including one that I use that's a shampoo/conditioner combo that actually works (called Godiva; jasmine/honey type scent.) They also have solid body butters that would take the place of lotion.

On the other hand, I tend to take lots of my favorite bath stuff with me as I love a good soak after a long day's travel!

I bought travel size bottles at my local hiking/sporting goods store a few years ago. They are made for backpackers and I've used them for for many trips and they've never leaked.

when revfilling bottles with shapoos, conditionsers, creams and lotions, DH always places good plasic rope over the bottle top and the closes the lid over it. Works great. I take travel size toiletries. small everthing..

Tuscanlifeedit--did you mean plastic wrap (thin plastic film for wrapping food)? If so, that sounds like a good suggestion. Thanks for the idea! :-)

I travel frequently for business and toiletries are the one area I refuse to skimp on. I keep a travel kit with full sizes of face lotion, eye cream, etc. The best part is I never have to pack toiletries - just grab my travel bag. I really don't care about the weight. I'll wash underware out in the sink and wear the same shoes everyday before I go without "my essentials".

IO have heard of (though never tried) of storing some make up items in one of those pill containers with seperate compartments for day of th e week. If you cut off a chunk of lipstick, blush etc. it may work, seems like q-tips would be ok for aplication, i wouldnt use it for "runny" type items. I do use a pill container for all those little bits of things i may want, vitamines, asprin, allergy meds etc. Put one type in each day, do not mix the pills.

I don't like to keep cosmetics in storage that long, and I don't want to cut up my good lipsticks or blush, so I don't think I'd be scraping bits of them into little containers.
What I tend to do with cosmetics, is save the powders or lipsticks or foundations, etc that are nearing the end. I also save the 'gift with purchase' cosmetic sample sizes, even if I don't normally use those products. Those are good for samples of face lotions or mascaras.
I travel with those for longer trips, and throw them out before coming home.

Yikes, I can't imagine slicing up a lipstick! A couple tubes sure don't take up much room. Pack up small sample sizes of lotions, face creams, etc. into one "snack" or "sandwich" size ziplock. In another ziplock all the hair products. I take absolutely EVERYthing I normally use at home, but carrying full-size bottles just seems silly to me.

Plastic over the bottletop under the lid... great idea, Tuscan, thanks for sharing!!

..I travel a lot and often on a last minute basis so I literally keep a bag packed at all times. I have a cosmetic bag which is waterproof (though zip locks will do). When Lancome or Estee Lauder has a freebee with purchase I save the skin and eye creams for travel..if I run out of eye cream I just use extra face cream. I use those trow away facial towels to clean. I also found a nicely packaged set of 4 plastic bottles (empty) from Aveda and I pour shampoo, conditioner,another bit of hair goo (I think the pc word is "product"), and vita bath into the last. This saves a lot of $ as well as space as the minis are quite expensive on a per oz basis. I NEVER carry anything but minatures and I bring an absolute minimum of makeup- a foundation, a blush, 2 lipsticks 2 shades of eye shadow.

I can't bear to be without my usual arsenal of makeup, so I always pack what I normally use on a daily basis.
For face soap, I buy the Clean & Clear dissolving paper. It's a little palm sized flat plastic holder that has strips of thin paper inside. When you wet the paper in your hand, it turns into face soap - oil-free, non-comedegenic, hypoallergenic, expeledocious. Genius.

Has anyone ever tried facial cleanser (cloth: turn into soapy washcloth when wet) instead of body soap to save weight? I remember someone told me about doing this. It's exactly like what CheBird described

tiaw, yes I did the last few trips. i put a few clothes in small zip locks to carry them. it seemed like such a brilliant idea, but hardly ever used one. i won't bother with them again.

I haven't heard anyone mention perfume -is there a light weight and spill proof solution? I would hate to lug along the whole bottle and break it...

Today I had a migraine attack because someone with heavy perfume passed by my office. I ran and borrowed a small fan from a coworker to blow the smell away but it was to late. I can't tell what kind of perfume that'll do that to me. Some people with different kind of scent smell good to me from distant. But if I wear any I'll be dead. Anyway, to make the long story even longer, a friend bought me a local perfume from her country. I felt so obligated to use it but didn't want to pass out. Finally I found a spot. I put it on my ankle..... far away from my stupid too sensitive nose!

Try to use combination products, as others on this thread have suggested. I decant my own shampoo and conditioner to smaller bottles, and Dove makes a good combo that everyone in my family likes except me.

Take lotion that is scented with your perfume, and then don't take the perfume--which is usually in a very heavy decorative bottle. You can decant the lotion to a smaller plastic container, although it is a hassle. Or you can squirrel away those freebies you get in the fragrance giveaways and save the lotion for travel.

If you like bubble bath, the hotel shampoo will suffice.

mebe, I like traveling with my perfume, too. I bought an atomizer. Not the kind my grandma used to have. It's the size of a lipstick tube and squirts on kind of like an aerosol.

I saw something like what CheBird said at the Body Shop. In fact I bought one for spraying water on my face during the flight.

Thanks for the info. I never would have thought of an atomizer.I will check out the Body Shop and see what I can find.

I use glass atomizers I buy at Nordstrom's. They come with a small funnel you can use to pour the perfume. That is, if the perfume is in an open-top bottle. Most of them aren't. Then, I learned a tip from a fragrance seller. You can put the nozzle of the large perfume bottle up against the top of the atomizer, and spray it directly into the bottle. You do lose some in the transfer, but it works. I carry fragrance at home in this way, too. The atomizers are probably a quarter-ounce size. I've read that perfume/fragrance stored in a plastic bottle will change its scent, so you need to use a glass one.