cordelli

Toothpaste, though once that runs out I'm switching to the disposable brushes with the toothpaste in them, I have them in the office and love them.

Shaving soap, though I'm out of the travel size and using a travel size can of shaving gel until I run out of soap at home and will replace both.

That's it, the soap, shampoo, etc I use whatever the hotel has. I do have a ton of single size packets of shampoo, but never have needed to use them.

JT8D-217

I don't know that this counts as a great idea, but it works: make Hair Gel Jerky.
In that period of time post-war-on-water but pre-freedom-baggie, I packed my hair gel 'dry' buy taking a large square, say 12" x 12", of heavy mil plastic baggie and smearing a dozen or so very thin stripes of wet hair gel about 1/4" wide by 4" long. For each stripe, use an amount of gel equal to one application. Allow the gel to dry - 24 hours usually does it. You have now created Hair Gel Jerky.
Once dry, cover the gel side of the sheet with a similar sheet of plastic, fold up and pack.
To use, just peel one of the gel stripes off the sheet of plastic, wet both of your palms, and work the Hair Gel Jerky back into .... wait for it .... Hair Gel!

ScottC

Check out the products from LaFresh:

http://www.lafreshgroup.com/

They have almost anything you need, in a wipe. This means you don't have to put them through security (yeah, the TSA may think they need to inspect them, but I've traveled 100's of segments without removing them from my bag).

Their lineup includes styling gel:

http://lafreshgroup.com/la-fresh-on-...e1d03f624f1e83

EDIT: Their sample pack is on sale for just $5.99 and comes with all 16 wipes from their mens lineup:

http://lafreshgroup.com/la-fresh-on-...pler-pack.html

N965VJ

It’s a new thing and subject to change, but IIRC a closer inspection at the checkpoint would not be triggered unless you have more than 12 ounces of powder and/or they appear semi-organic on the x-ray screen.

tfar

Love the jerky idea! I will try that out. The stuff I use is on the liquid side, the consistency of cream more than wax or gel. So I am not sure if it will work but I'll try or shall we say "dry".

Scott, interesting product range from LaFresh. Have you used their gel? Do you know if it's really a towelette as they call it? The package says 7ml on it which would be more of a wet volume measure, if that's any indicator. Also the other products all specify that they are on a cloth substrate but not the shaving gel and the styling gel. That's why I'm asking.

Thanks to everyone,

Till

ScottC

I have not used the gel, but I have used their shaving gel, and that is indeed just liquid in the pouch, no towelette, so I'm guessing the same applies to their hair gel.

winnietp

I'm not a man, but I like traveling as liquid free as possible.

I have found that solid moisturizer bars are a good way to go (I've used Lush's, but if you search lotion bar, you'll get a few different kinds, including instructions on how to make them yourself). Since they contain wax, you can also use those as a pomade/wax for your hair? It's nice for one item to be multipurpose and the solid bar is good enough on my hair at least (but I understand that a woman's need for hair products are different than a man's)

So not "dry" moisturizer, but solid at least.

I also use shampoo bars for traveling. It functions as both shampoo and laundry detergent.

OffToOz

I second winnietp's recommendation of solid body butters by Lush. Can also be cut down to size to take a small amount. It won't go on as smoothly as a liquid of course, but that's the price you pay for trying to travel liquid free. You can find their varieties here: http://www.lushusa.com/shop/products/body/body-butters

The problem I've mostly come up against is finding a good hair conditioner. The hotel stuff just doesn't cut it sometimes. I found and ordered this product: http://wholesalesuppliesplus.com/Pro...ProductID=4833 which is a hair conditioner concentrate in solid form. Trying it at home, I was very pleased with it as a conditioner once it had been mixed up. For traveling, the biggest problem I've run into is that it really needs very hot (boiling preferred) water to be mixed well. Not every room has a microwave and most of the coffee makers look dodgy as far as cleanliness goes to start with.

The best thing about the conditioner concentrate is being able to take so little of it with me and being able to control the thickness of it with how much water is added.

I'm guessing the hair conditioner could also be used as a face moisturizer depending on how sensitive your skin is. I'd be too afraid of breakouts, but that's one of the things I deal with. Maybe I'll try it sometime when I know I won't be going out in public for a while.

wiredboy10003

Aveda has hair gel which comes like the little soap sheets which are very common. They usually keep it behind the counter so you have to ask for it. It's pricey, but it takes almost no space.

tcl

http://www.lush.ca/shop/products/bod...bars/after-830

How about this? A massage/after-shower moisture bar that looks like a candy bar.

Obviously works best after a hot shower

tfar

It might have even been in this thread but somebody recommended Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Soap Bar. It is solid and can serve for body, hair, shaving, laundry, household cleaning AND toothpaste, which differentiates it from Camp Suds which I would definitely not use as toothpaste.

So one Dr. Bronner's bar, one Lush bar as moisturizer would be all that's needed.

This leaves the hair gel question. I wonder how the Lush bar works as hair gel. I'm skeptical. Haven't tried the gel jerky yet. Hiding away a little bit of hair gel in a 1.25oz go-toob tube in a trouser pocket would be no problem, I guess. Same for just a little bit of shave oil. 0.5oz in a little vial will go a long way. But a good shaving soap is solid anyway, so this is not the main problem.

If you are fine with hotel products, then conditioner can serve as both shaving lubricant and hair gel.

Till

tcl

Many pomades and hair lotions are in fact moisturizers in varying degrees of thickness/tackiness. (Hair gel is another matter entirely) So a moisturizing bar could conceivably be used as hair lotion.

My SO found that Dr. Bronner's doesn't work well for shaving. Expect lots of razor burns He has coarse dark hair.

The Hair Gel Jerky sounds interesting. Just don't put them next to your fruit rollups - or do, depending on how paranoid your local TSA is.

ExitRowSeating

As an avid backpacker, I will admit that Dr. Bronner's can be used for toothpaste, but I urge anyone considering its use to start with an extremely small amount. It has a rather piquant flavor that takes some getting used to.

On the plus side, the packaging can make for hours of in-flight entertainmnet

winnietp

I just ordered the sampler of the La Fresh products (the deodorant wipes will save some room in the bag) and the styling gel is indeed just liquid in a pouch. Kinda disappointing. . .

tfar

Thanks for the warning on using Dr. B's as shaving substrate. I hate razor burn but I love shaving and all that is associated with it. As I said, finding a good hard shaving soap is not a problem. Many choices out there. It would just have been nice for the weight reduction. Then again, one could probably use the shaving some as body soap, too.

My hair products, what I call gel, are actually more cream like anyway. One is Bryl and the other one is a styling creme from American Crew. They sure look like lotion. I combine both of them in a go-toob because the combined effect gives me the desired mix of shine and shape. (Hm, Shine&Shape would be a really good name for such a product. I should copyright that. )

Eating my hair jerky. Yikes! What a malicious idea!

I wonder how easy to spread the lush stuff would be for hair use. That is an even more important point for hair use than for body use. I can spread out clumps on my body but in the hair it gets difficult.

If I find it locally I might get a bar just to give it a try. I saw the site is very elaborate. Some of it is funny and informative, some is just "marketing for hippies", if I may say so with a grin.

Interesting, please do let us know how they work for you. And thanks about the specification that the hair gel is indeed just liquid in a pouch.

Till