Best Travel Makeup Kits & Palettes

Packing is tedious, but when you also have to go through your entire makeup collection and pick out just a few of your favorites to bring on your trip, it gets even more difficult.

That is why the makeup kits we have found in this review are going to save you hours of pain and make your next trip a pleasure to pack for!

I have found some real gems for you – makeup that fits in one sleek package, and will effortlessly fit into your bag. Or alternatively – makeup minis (travel-sized versions) of favorite products, that are killer at saving space in your bag.

So, get ready to plan your next trip, without dreading the packing, because your makeup worries are over!

Quick Notes on this Review

I’ve divided the makeup kits into three sections:

FACE KITS

Foundation is probably the least travel-friendly item you’ll have to bring on your trip. Yes it’s bulky and there’s always the risk that it will spill all over your makeup bag, but it’s also the one item that is definitely going to be different from one person to another.

So, we won’t check out any travel-sized foundations in this section, but we will take a look at some other key products for a stunning makeup look.

EYE KITS

It’s obviously not worth it to carry around eyeshadow singles in your makeup bag, since you need at least three shades for a decent look – and that’s not including the base and the crease colors. Tip time: you can do your crease with bronzers if you forgot to pack the shade you usually use.

My favorite product ever for this is NYX Powder Blush in Taupe – it’s great for both contouring and your crease because of its ashy tone, and the packaging is kind of travel-friendly. Now, you might think that the more eyeshadows in a palette the better. 48 eyeshadows for just $30 – sounds amazing, right? Wrong.

It’s not amazing for travel because a palette that holds so many eyeshadows is going to be large and bulky. You won’t be able to pack it in your makeup bag, and you’ll have to put it in your suitcase.

And if you’re flying and checking that suitcase, you can pretty much expect the powders to break and turn into loose eyeshadow. Just imagine the horror. No, a good eyeshadow palette won’t have fifty different colors.

Rather, it will have two or three different color combinations, that will allow you to do a few different looks with one single palette. You could do a nude eye for the day and a smokey eye in the evening. That’s the type of eyeshadow palette that we’ll be looking at in this section.

LIP KITS

And not the Kylie kind. But seriously, the hardest decision I have to make when packing my travel makeup bag is which lipsticks to take with me and which to leave at home. And even though they are arguably the most travel-friendly items, when you start packing dozens of them in your makeup bag, you start to have some space issues. So, how do you fix that?

You could always be a responsible adult and decide to bring just two or three colors – you need a nude, a red and bright pink. But if you are one of those people who can’t just decide on three lipsticks because they have to suit your mood, I got you. I have a few suggestions on how you could bring dozens of different lip colors on your trip, without having to put them in a separate suitcase. :>

I’ll include some sets, palettes, and mini versions of each product. And, to help you choose, I’ll show you my favorites in each of the sections.