5 Tips To Creating The Perfect Natural Hair Travel Kit

Traveling with your natural hair is only as complicated as you want it to be. Of course, if you are ill-prepared, your hair can be a source of frustration during your trip.

But put your worried mind to rest, sis. That’s not going to happen because you will be prepared for this trip and every trip afterward. Whether it’s a two-day family visit or a two-month vacation, the preparation for being natural on the road is all essentially the same; relatively simple and easy!

Below are 5 tips to creating the perfect natural hair travel kit.

Grab The Essentials

Every hair routine is built on the basics: hydration, moisturizer, sealant, and protection. When traveling, that is all you need to cover. Simpler is always better when you want to keep a light load and still be able to properly care for your hair.

A satin or silk wrap/bonnet, an effective moisturizer, and a tried and true favorite sealant of yours should all be in your bag. If you plan on being away from home for over two weeks, throw in travel size bottles of shampoo and conditioner.

My natural hair go-to travel products consist of: tea tree oil*, coconut oil*, Jane Carter Solution Curl Defining Cream, Redken Clean Spice 2-In-1 Conditioning Shampoo, a spray bottle for water, and my go-to black bonnet.

If you don’t feel like gathering a set of products, your best bet is to purchase a pre-made travel or “all in one” kit with everything you need inside like DevaCurl Trial and Travel Kit or Shea Moisture Coconut* and Hibiscus* Curl and Shine Kit.

Leak-Proof Everything!

Traveling with liquids and creams of any kind can be such a big deal! I can’t tell you how many times I opened my luggage and found my whole tube of lotion squeezed out onto my clothing. It can be messy, inconvenient, and sometimes costly.

To avoid a situation like that with your hair products, leak-proof everything! Drop each product into one big, plastic storage bag or put them in their own individual plastic storage bags. For extra protection, you can splurge a little bit and vacuum pack everything!

I personally think the best option is placing all products in their own plastic storage bags, and then storing all of them together in a durable travel/cosmetic bag that’ll fit inside my luggage.

Back Up Products

Having zero products with you to do your hair because your luggage was lost at baggage claim or you simply forgot to pack them is a natural nightmare. This is where your backups come into play!

You know those little samples of hair products that they have for free or sometimes sell for $1 or $2 at beauty stores? Stock up on a bunch of those and stick them in your purse or carry-on bag. In the event you can’t get to the good stuff, these will really come in handy.

At the very least, have a backup spritz bottle full of water and leave-in conditioner* so you can hydrate and touch up your hair. My go-to backup mixture is always water, aloe vera juice*, and a few pumps of Cantu Smoothing Leave-In Conditioning Lotion.

All-In-One Bottles

Getting together a bunch of products can be a bit more time consuming and tedious than we have the energy for. To make everything easier and a lot more simple, create your own mixes! Instead of taking 5 or 6 different oils, simply mix together oils that’ll give you all the benefits you were going for.

For example, you want oils that will cleanse the scalp, keep your hair smelling fresh, and properly seal it. You could combine tea tree oil*, avocado oil*, and jojoba oil* in an applicator bottle* instead of bringing each product separately.

Similarly, you could buy products that have two-in-one properties. One great example is a 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner where it cleanses and conditions your hair at the same time.

Not only will this make packing simple, but it’ll cut down on time and luggage weight. It’s a pretty big win-win!

Accessory Pouch

Ponytail holders, bobby pins*, headbands, hair clips, rubber bands–take them all and throw them into a pouch! Having scattered hair accessories all throughout your bags is completely avoidable and absolutely unnecessary.

You don’t need to perfectly organize everything inside the bag, you just need to make it easily accessible and available to you when you need to pin your hair up or put it in a ponytail. This would be perfect for storing in your purse or in your carry-on with all your back up products!

If you absolutely need everything to be separated and organized, purchase a multi-compartment pencil case or cosmetic bag. You can find these anywhere for under $5. Problem solved! Comment below and share your favorite travel tips, we would love to hear them.