Ladies, do you find it hard to pack light for travel because of all your hair styling stuff? You have the hair dryer, the hot rollers, the hair curler and the hair straightener. On top of those bulky things, there are products like the hair spray, the volumizing mousse and the anti-frizz spray.

I’m not always put together, but I like to look presentable, even when I’m traveling on a budget. And some variety when it comes to hairstyle would be nice.

Over time, I’ve learned some tricks to minimize my hair styling tools. Now they can all fit inside the small zipper compartment in my carry-on bag.

Here are all my travel hair styling tools

1. Cut-up sock
2. Hair ties
3. Hair pins
4. Elastic headband
5. Velcro roller

I don’t bring a hair dryer because there’s often one at my travel accommodation. And if there isn’t, it’s not a big deal. I can simply let my hair air-dry until it’s just damp and style it.

With the tools I have, i can do updos and I can curl my hair. My hair is straight when left to its own devices, so I pretty much can make my hair do anything with my travel hair styling kit. (Except for, you know, afros or dreadlocks.)

How I style my hair when I travel

Basically, I put my hair through this cycle:

1. Wash. Shampoo. Rinse.
2. Updo: I put my hair up in a style that looks like a normal updo, except it also works undercover as a curler.
3. Down: I let my hair down when it’s curled.
4. Camouflage: Any style to hide my greasy hair.
5. Repeat from #1.

I wash my hair every two or three days, so that’s how long I take to go through the cycle. It’s up to you how to pace it.

#1. Wash. Shampoo Rinse.

This one is pretty self-explanatory, I hope. ;)

#2. Updo

I’ve tried a few no-heat curling methods and my all-time favorite is the sock bun. I love how comfortable it is to wear to sleep if I wear it high on my head. It’s also really easy, once you get the hang of it.

This is the tutorial I used to learn the sock bun:

My other go-to updo is this twisty style. I use an elastic headband, but I’ve seen girls do this with a scarf as well. (Check out this post on The Gloss to see what it looks like and for more ideas on how to tie a scarf in your hair.)

She makes it really messy because she sleeps with her hair like that, but it can look pretty good if you take some time to do it nicely. I think the key to avoid looking crazy is to not leave the headband on your forehead. I have bangs (that I don’t curl), so I pull the top of the headband back to where my bangs start.

#3. Down

Not much to say about this. I simply let my hair down and, voilà, effortless curls.

Sometimes my hair is too big and unruly at the beginning, so I either style it into a ponytail or a half-up half-down ‘do, then only let all my hair down later.

I have stick-straight Asian hair that would almost certainly lose its curl the next day (sigh), but yours may retain the curl longer.

#4. Camouflage

If I haven’t had a chance to wash my hair, I start with some dry shampoo (or corn starch, in a pinch). If that’s not enough to get rid of the grease, I French braid my hair and top it with a hat. Some people also like using a bandana to cover dirty hair, but I don’t think I can pull that off.

#5. Repeat.

Well, that’s all, folks!

Oh, the velcro roller? Almost forgot about that. I use it for my bangs. :)

Images: 1. Modified from image by m01229 (CC BY-2.0 License); 2. Modified from images by Kevin Dooley (CC BY 2.0 License) and John Spade (CC BY 2.0 License).