Collage: Mikiyo Ricamora/Allure Philippines; Source images: Grant Babia and Kim Santos.
The real skill in packing beauty products isn’t fitting everything in your bag. It’s deciding what to leave out. Ask any frequent flyer, and they’ll tell you the real enemy isn’t a lack of luggage space—it’s the temptation to bring “just in case” products that never leave your pouch.
Enter Viajecito co-founder Pia Garcia-Morera, who’s built an entire system around that exact practice. With a homegrown brand made to weather the realities of the Philippine climate under her belt, she’s also developed a system for packing her beauty essentials.
Read on to know more about how Pia Garcia-Morera packs her beauty essentials.
Tip #1: Less is more
Her first rule: keep the list short—the less, the better. “What I usually do is get my face wash, night cream, a day serum, SPF, and a retinol [serum],” said Pia Garcia-Morera. Once you have all those essentials out of the way, you’ll have more breathing room to think about what to pack next.
Even so, Pia Garcia-Morera admitted that she’s an overpacker. “I’m going away for three days, and I pack for twenty days just in case, and I end up bringing such a bulky bag,” she shared.
Tip #2: Make a list
A packing list isn’t just for remembering what to bring—it’s for remembering what you’ve already packed. Skip it, and you risk buying duplicates once you’re at your destination—especially if you’re the type of person who loves shopping from the moment you land.
Tip #3: Separate your products properly
This is where things get a little more meticulous. Pia Garcia-Morera organizes her things into three bags: one for makeup, one for skin care, and one for everything else. Within those three bags, she further separates the products using color-coded containers, bags, and pouches. It’s a small habit that makes a big difference when you’re unpacking in a hurry.
“When you pack something, go through it again and delete two things,” she said, a practice that helps ensure that everything in her suitcase is something she actually reaches for—not extras.
Whenever she has to “delete” items from her luggage, it usually comes down to makeup—specifically eyeshadow.
Tip #4: Pack beauty products in leak-proof containers
Pia Garcia-Morera avoids packing anything delicate, like glass. She gravitates toward squeezable bottles, and if a rigid bottle makes it into the bag, she usually tapes around it to prevent leaks.
Ultimately, Pia Garcia-Morera’s system isn’t about packing less just because—it’s packing with intention. Between keeping her essentials to a minimum, organizing them into three bags, and “deleting” items before she zips up her suitcase, she has a system that can turn overpacking from a habit into the occasional mishap.
So, the next time you’re staring down at your half-packed suitcase, take a page from her book—edit first, then pack.
Viajecito co-founder Pia Garcia-Morera keeps her core travel skincare to five items: face wash, night cream, day serum, SPF, and retinol serum. She admits to overpacking beyond that, but treats these five as non-negotiable.
Pia Garcia-Morera packs normally, then reviews her bag again and removes two items before zipping her suitcase. This “delete” step usually applies to makeup, especially eyeshadow, more than core skincare essentials.
Separate products into three bags—makeup, skincare, and everything else—then sort further within each using color-coded containers and pouches. This makes items easy to find when unpacking in a hurry.
Choose squeezable bottles over rigid or glass containers whenever possible. If a rigid bottle must be packed, wrap tape around the cap and seams to seal it and reduce leak risk in transit.
Her travel lineup includes Pantene shampoo and conditioner, Dr. Teal’s body washes, La Roche-Posay for SPF, Malin+Goetz lip balm, and CeraVe moisturizer—a mix of accessible and dermatologist-favored formulas.
Gelene Peñalosa is a Beauty Writer at Allure Philippines. With a background in lifestyle journalism, she covers emerging beauty trends, industry developments, and the cultural conversations influencing how consumers engage with beauty today. Before joining Allure Philippines, she wrote for The Beat Asia and INQUIRER.net, covering lifestyle, entertainment, and culture.
