As soon as you start thinking about or listing or practicing creative ways to pack your toiletries, it seems like the tips just start coming out of the woodwork. Everywhere I have gone, lately, I have heard or discovered new clever ways to pack my face creams. Love!

I was out to dinner with my parents and some friends earlier this week to celebrate a birthday. As we are all avid travelers, conversation eventually moved to this blog. “I love your packing tip from last week!” one friend exclaimed. “Of course, I read that the day after I came home from a trip, too late to do me any good.” Isn’t that the way it always works.

But she did have one excellent suggestion that I would like to share with all of you now. And as it involves one of my favorite places on earth, I am even more excited to share. If you go to Sephora and tell them you are interested in trying out a few new products, they will give you samples. Nordstrom, Sak’s, and a few other places will do this as well. This is good for many reasons: 1) You get to try out new products without paying for a full container; 2) You get travel sized products; 3) You often get reusable containers. Yes!! Win on all sides!! Also, when you purchase from Sephora.com, you typically get the chance to order sample-sizes of a few products as well for free. I am definitely not advocating going in and scamming Sephora or Nordstrom, but it’s a great way to try some new stuff before you shell out big bucks for a full size. And get travel toiletries to boot.