Pack smarter for on the go. Eighteen small things that earn their space in a carry-on, with what each one is actually for and where it stops being useful.
The Earthling Co.
Volumizing Shampoo & Conditioner Bar Set
Two bars replace two bottles, and bars don't count against your liquids bag at all. That's the whole argument for them: the quart bag is the tightest real estate in a carry-on, and shampoo and conditioner are usually the two things hogging it. The catch is that a wet bar needs somewhere to dry, so pack a tin or a small mesh pouch or you'll find a soggy mess in your bag at the next hotel.
LOREDUSK
30 Pack Compressed Towel Tablets
Each tablet is the size of a coin until you add water, then it's a small towel. They're for the moments when you need a towel and there isn't one: a rental with no washcloths, a beach day, a spill on a bus. Don't expect a bath towel out of them, these come out washcloth-sized. If you want a real towel, the Serenorch compressed bath towels further down are the full-size version of the same idea.
Waenerec
6 Pack Toothbrush Covers
A toothbrush head loose in a toiletry bag touches everything else in that toiletry bag. These clip on, they vent so the bristles can dry, and six in a pack means you can hand one to whoever you're traveling with instead of buying a second set. They're plastic clips, so they'll crack eventually. They're cheap enough that replacing them isn't a decision.
ZLSSETEC
12 Pack TSA Travel Bottles for Toiletries
TSA-sized bottles that come with labels, so you stop guessing which unmarked bottle is conditioner. The squeezable ones are easier to get the last of the product out of than a rigid pump. Fill them about three quarters full, because cabin pressure pushes liquid out of a bottle filled to the top, and that's how a whole packing cube ends up smelling like face wash.
Basic Concepts
Spiral Hair Ties, 10 Pieces
These don't leave a dent in your hair after a long flight, which is the entire point of them. They hold better than they look like they will and they don't snap the way elastics do. If your hair is very fine they can slide, so double them.
TRANOMOS
Silicone Bottle Covers
You put these over the bottles you already own instead of decanting into new ones. If a cap works loose at altitude, the cover catches it and the leak stops there instead of in your clothes. They fit standard bottle shapes only, so measure before you count on one for an odd-shaped pump.
I Dew Care
Tap Secret Mattifying Dry Shampoo Powder
Powder, not aerosol, so it travels in a carry-on without a conversation and there's no pressurized can to worry about. The tap-on applicator means you can do your roots in an airport bathroom in about thirty seconds. On dark hair, use less than you think and blend it in. It's translucent, but it's still powder.
Serenorch
Compressed Bath Towels XL, 5 Pack
These are the full-size version of the towel tablets: 55 by 27.5 inches once you wet them, so an actual body towel and not a washcloth. Worth having for a rental or a guesthouse that doesn't supply towels, or for the beach when you'd rather not carry a sandy towel home in your bag. They're single-use, so pack the number of showers you're covering, not the number of days.
BAGSMART
TSA Approved Toiletry Bag, 2 Pack
A clear quart bag that doesn't look like a sandwich bag and doesn't split open at the third security checkpoint. Two in a pack means one for liquids that comes out at the belt and one for everything else. Whether you still have to take it out depends on the airport: newer scanners don't require it and plenty of airports don't have them yet, so pack it as though you'll be asked.
NOBS
Toothpaste Tablets, 1 Month
Tablets instead of a tube, so toothpaste stops counting against your liquids allowance. You chew one and then brush, and it foams up like paste. The texture takes a few days to get used to, so try them at home before you rely on them for a two-week trip.
FOMIN
Acidified Deodorant Wipes, 15 Count
Individually wrapped, so one lives in your day bag and you're not carrying a full stick of deodorant around a city in August. These are the fix for a long-haul landing when you're going straight from the plane to a check-in desk. Fifteen isn't a month's supply, so treat them as a top-up and not a replacement for your regular deodorant.
Olay
Hyaluronic Acid Cleansing Melts, 64 Count
Dry sheets that turn into cleanser when you add water, so your face wash weighs almost nothing and doesn't count as a liquid. Fragrance-free, which matters when cabin air and hotel heating are already drying you out. They need actual running water to activate, so they're not a substitute for a wipe when there's no sink.
Neutrogena
Beach Defense Sunscreen Stick SPF 50, 1.5 oz
A solid stick isn't a liquid, so it doesn't eat into your quart bag, and it can't leak. It goes on your face and shoulders without leaving your hands greasy for the next hour. Water-resistant up to 80 minutes is a real number and not a whole beach day, so reapply, and at 1.5 oz this covers face and shoulders rather than a full body. Bring a bottle too if you're headed somewhere sunny for a week.
Aveda
Shampowder Dry Shampoo, 2 oz
Non-aerosol dry shampoo powder, so there's no pressurized can and no liquid question at security. It absorbs oil and adds texture, and the lavender and ylang-ylang scent is strong. Some people love it and some people really don't. It's also the most expensive thing on this list by a distance, so if you want the function without the scent, the I Dew Care powder above does the same job for a lot less.
The Honest Company
Multi-Use Baby Wipes, 10 Count
Baby wipes are the most useful thing in a bag that has nothing to do with babies: hands before a street-food lunch, a wine spill on a white shirt, a train tray table you'd rather not touch. Ten in a flat pack fits in a pocket. They're 99% water and plant-based, which makes them gentle and also means they won't cut grease. This is not a cleaning wipe.
Neutrogena
Makeup Remover Wipes, 20 Singles
Individually wrapped is what makes these worth packing. An open pack dries out in a suitcase and these don't. One goes in your personal item for the overnight flight so you're not doing a skincare routine over an airplane sink. They're alcohol-free but they still leave a film, so rinse when you get to a sink.
Vaseline
Lip Therapy Cocoa Butter, 8-Pack
Cabin air is dry, and so is anywhere at altitude, and chapped lips are the small miserable thing nobody packs for. Eight tiny jars means one in every bag you own and you'll stop hunting for it. Jars mean fingers, so if that bothers you, buy the stick version instead.
LIVINGO
Nose Hair Scissors, Rounded Tip
Rounded-tip scissors handle nose hair, eyebrows, cuticles and a loose thread on a shirt, all from one small thing that lives in the toiletry bag permanently. In the US, scissors with blades under four inches are fine in a carry-on. Rules vary by country and by screener, though, so if these matter to you, a checked bag is the only place they're guaranteed to arrive.
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