It's that time of year again.....

Erica<3

So I'm going away next saturday to Italy for about a month, and i have zilch idea of what things to bring with me in terms of beauty stuff...

Obviously stuff like imodium, motillium, panadol, anti histamine etc is essential, but apart from that and razors and shampoo I can't actually seem to make a proper list of stuff.


HELP!!!!

rugbug86

Suncream is a must.

With airline restrictions etc, if you're not too fussy, wait and buy your shampoo/conditioner/shower gel when you're there. Can work out much cheaper.

1) Clothes - you know yourself what you'll need

2) Toiletries/medications - as you said, motilium, immodium, paracetamol, anti-histamines, get a script from your GP for thrush capsules, maybe some canesten cream - wet swimsuits + hot weather... and don't forget contraception!

3) Other - ipod, ipod charger, phone charger, adapter, books, puzzle books, magazines, guide book...

Erica<3

rugbug86 wrote: »

2) Toiletries/medications - as you said, motilium, immodium, paracetamol, anti-histamines, get a script from your GP for thrush capsules, maybe some canesten cream - wet swimsuits + hot weather... and don't forget contraception!


thrush cream is a good one actually, COMPLETELY forgot about that, thank you.

magneticimpulse

Theres a Boots in Dublin Airport Duty Free section in The Loop, so you can stock up on a lot of holiday stuff there. (to avoid bringing it through security)

Cystitis sachets if your having sex...as heat and sex equals burning up inside and urge to go to toilet all the time and inflated belly...so definitely good to have.

Toilet paper, tampons and hand anti bacteria gel. Toilets are very bad standard on the continent and never have soap or tissues in them. If you ever need tampons, towels etc they are tiny doll size ones and its very expensive if you do find Tampax (€10 for 20) so you better bring some.

Face cloth, to carry in a small backpack (to wipe sweat, dry hands).

Wet wipes are also good....but then the hand anti bacteria gel is good.

Anti Mosquito body spray, citronella and the room plug-in anti mosquito things.

Dont really bother with hair straigthners as in the heat and humid weather it will be fuzzy and dry anyway... also not much make up to bring as it will just melt off. I find NARS Sheer Matte is good (I live in South of France). All the MAC stuff lasts. Prob waterproof eye makeup...Smashbox have even waterproof eyeshadow...as it will be dripping off you.

Pocket camera like Canon Ixus/Powershot

Bring a small backpack for walking around as lots of pick pockets in Italy (or anywhere, but tourists are targets). Even better bring the fold away backpacks from "Go Travel" range.

A waterproof body waist bag to go under your clothes to hold passport and money. Think hot sweaty day...you going to need to keep the money and passport dry...get the ones they sell for surfing. The usual "Go Travel" brand sells them. Prob get it in boots too.

European adapters, again "Go Travel" do a handy 2 plug one, which can connect 2 appliciances.

Travel Kettle (but not essential, depends how much you like tea, as you prob just get small espresso coffees everywhere...if you like coffee, ask for Latte or Cappacino as otherwise they just give you Espresso Shot)

If asking for Meat (steak etc), ask for it well done as normally Medium on continent is like an Irish Raw level and Continent Well Done is like Irish Medium.

sam34

plasters for cuts/blisters from flipflops/sandals - nightmare if you're without them!

Neyite

Suncream is usually cheaper abroad. buy it when you get there.

vaseline is a necessity - rub on inside of shoe straps to prevent blisters.

i colour coordinate a capsule wardrobe so i dont have loads of outfits to bring.

dont pack much makeup - you wont wear it.

get travel sized toiletries, or decant into smaller bottles.

caseyann

What part?

No socks

ztoical

Does everyone seriously bring that much stuff with them when they travel? Passport, change of clothes and some local currency does me.

Blobby George

Condoms

metrovelvet

Italy is not the Congo. You dont have to bring half a chemist with you.

magneticimpulse

Haha you be surprised

What I mentioned is stuff i cant live without on the continent and I live here

Erica<3

metrovelvet wrote: »

Italy is not the Congo. You dont have to bring half a chemist with you.

Magneticimpulse is right, you'd be surprised, I live in Italy part time so i have my own house, but this time i'm not going for months, and i'm travelling more so i'm trying to minimalise everything.

And the imodium, motillium and anti histamine is essential, the medications there are different so you just have to be careful with what you're taking i.e better to take your own.

Plus no one likes to be on a day trip, and caught short

Neyite

forgot to say, if you use nurofen plus, they dont sell it in italy

ztoical

Erica<3 wrote: »

Magneticimpulse is right, you'd be surprised, I live in Italy part time so i have my own house, but this time i'm not going for months, and i'm travelling more so i'm trying to minimalise everything.

And the imodium, motillium and anti histamine is essential, the medications there are different so you just have to be careful with what you're taking i.e better to take your own.

Surely if you live there part time you know what's there and not so why do you need help making a list?

Seriously not getting the masses amount of stuff people bring away with them....it's like when Irish people first started going overseas on holidays and you find people packing corn flakes and the like to bring with them.

metrovelvet

metrovelvet wrote: »

Italy is not the Congo. You dont have to bring half a chemist with you.

I was wondering if I was the only one thinking that? Immodium? A travel kettle? Thrush cream? I didn't bring half this stuff when I actually was going to third world countries. You don't need to take shampoo and conditioner. They sell that in Italy. Same with suncream, and most of the stuff mentioned here. I'm starting to understand how so many people have massive suitcases for a 2 week holiday now!

princess-lala

Italy do sell things!

Actually my brother is just home from Italy with his wife and she got LOADS of stuff there to actually bring home cause it was cheaper there!

annainez

Haha I usually only bring carry on luggage if going for less than two weeks... bringing your whole bathroom is crazy! And I'm a 17 year old girl you'd expect me to be bringing a load of make up and everything mais non! Just bring the essentials!

deiseash

Why the thrush cream?? Never knew that it was a holiday essential!!

magneticimpulse

Living on the continent, I had to tell people to bring over lemsip, bonjela canestan thrush cream and cytitis sachets. They dont have Boots etc and you cant get stuff in the Supermarket like Tescos. You've to go to the Pharmacy for everything and do you really want to waste your holiday going to Pharmacy. Not to mention that they normally close for lunch between mid day and 2 pm. They are also closed on Sunday. Also you have the language barrier to deal with and explain what thrush is...as most dont speak English. Or explain that you have a period??? Usually holiday resorts are out of the middle of no where, unless your going to a city centre. Seriously have you ever seen the size of the Tampons made by "o.b."?? they are like a 1 cm long...You dont want to be caught out with the ****s etc. Going to another country, even European, means different hygine standards...whether people wash their hands etc..many dont wear gloves when preparing food and handle coins at tills etc when they are also perparing food. The water is different, add heat, insects and lots of walking around, drinking and clubbing....seriously you can get very ill compared to just being back home. Ive just spent a week with friends and there was someone ill or injured at any one time.


Seriously all this stuff fits into a tiny soap box.

I usually bring a small soap box which i got in Boots and put 1 sachet of each thing in the box. Usually all the medicine and blasters fits. Had friends visiting last week and the amount of times they asked for blasters, anti histimine, savon cream. One friend got funny heat rash on his foot and cuts from flip flops and it went green. Other friend fell in nightclub and got nasty cut.

Thrush spreads more quickly in humid temperatures. All my female friends get thrush in hot humid climates more so then back home. Had a really bad dose of it in Thailand. Also you can get very bad Athlete's foot walking around in flip flops all the time and if they get damp via puddles or by the pool. So Canestan cream works for that as well.

The Corinthian

Erica<3 wrote: »

Magneticimpulse is right, you'd be surprised, I live in Italy part time so i have my own house, but this time i'm not going for months, and i'm travelling more so i'm trying to minimalise everything.

And the imodium, motillium and anti histamine is essential, the medications there are different so you just have to be careful with what you're taking i.e better to take your own.

Plus no one likes to be on a day trip, and caught short

If you're there for 12 hours or a day perhaps, and if you cannot speak Italian, I could understand, however Metro is right on this one. Go into any pharmacy in Italy and chances are you'll see exactly the same pharmaceutical brands as you do in Ireland - this is an inevitable consequence of the EU open market. The only thing you might note of difference is that many of these products may be cheaper than in Ireland.

However, unless you feel you will need Imodium, Motillium or anti histamine before you get a chance to get to a pharmacy in Italy, you're frankly exaggerating.

magneticimpulse wrote: »

They dont have Boots etc and you cant get stuff in the Supermarket like Tescos.

Actually you can get many if not most of those things in supermarkets there.

Going to another country, even European, means different hygine standards...whether people wash their hands etc..

My experience of hygiene levels, especially with restaurants, is that they are a lot better in Italy than Ireland.

The water is different, add heat, insects and lots of walking around, drinking and clubbing....seriously you can get very ill compared to just being back home. Ive just spent a week with friends and there was someone ill or injured at any one time.

I think that has more to do with drinking the local Grappa than the local water, by the sounds of things.

rugbug86

deiseash wrote:

Why the thrush cream?? Never knew that it was a holiday essential!!

Wet swimsuit + hot weather + increase in sugar intake (alcohol, fizzy drinks, ice cream) = excellent conditions for yeast growth

ztoical

magneticimpulse wrote: »

Going to another country, even European, means different hygine standards...whether people wash their hands etc..many dont wear gloves when preparing food and handle coins at tills etc when they are also perparing food. The water is different, add heat, insects and lots of walking around, drinking and clubbing....seriously you can get very ill compared to just being back home. Ive just spent a week with friends and there was someone ill or injured at any one time.

As someone who travels alot I have to say I've never [touch wood] fallen ill while overseas. I've drunk the water, eaten the food, put up with bugs and never had any issues. The standard of hygine in most of Europe is a hell of alot better the what I've seen around Ireland. Go to somewhere like Japan and you'll really see what it means to be clean and you'll never be happy with the standards in Ireland again. Seriously bringing half the pharmacy with you is just paranoia.

metrovelvet

Seriously, wouldnt you be better off learning a couple of phrases in Italian instead of loading yourself down with all that stuff that you probably wont need? Are you going to be in a rural end of nowhere with no car?

Xiney

there's also the fact that you might just LIKE the stuff you're used to.

When I visit north america I stock up on the meds that I'm used to and can't buy here in Ireland.

Malari

Surely this list depends on what you use day to day at home, in terms of make-up, etc?

I mean, I know that I can get tummy problems sometimes even here, so I like to have immodium and motilium with me. I get hayfever so I bring anti-histamine. It's handy, I can take something the second I feel symptoms coming on. I wouldn't dream of bringing thrush cream as I've never in my life had thrush! But I know I can get it in any pharmacy in Europe.

It's a difficult thing to do to virtually pack someone else's toiletries bag for them. I don't think my boyfriend, mother or best friend would even get that right!

Piste

I get overly paranoid when travelling. I brought a first aid kit which had a hypothermia blanket on holidays with me last year, it was ~35 degrees most days :pac:

jackiebaron

magneticimpulse wrote: »

Living on the continent, I had to tell people to bring over lemsip, bonjela canestan thrush cream and cytitis sachets. They dont have Boots etc and you cant get stuff in the Supermarket like Tescos. You've to go to the Pharmacy for everything and do you really want to waste your holiday going to Pharmacy. Not to mention that they normally close for lunch between mid day and 2 pm. They are also closed on Sunday. Also you have the language barrier to deal with and explain what thrush is...as most dont speak English. Or explain that you have a period??? Usually holiday resorts are out of the middle of no where, unless your going to a city centre. Seriously have you ever seen the size of the Tampons made by "o.b."?? they are like a 1 cm long...You dont want to be caught out with the ****s etc. Going to another country, even European, means different hygine standards...whether people wash their hands etc..many dont wear gloves when preparing food and handle coins at tills etc when they are also perparing food. The water is different, add heat, insects and lots of walking around, drinking and clubbing....seriously you can get very ill compared to just being back home. Ive just spent a week with friends and there was someone ill or injured at any one time.


Seriously all this stuff fits into a tiny soap box.

I usually bring a small soap box which i got in Boots and put 1 sachet of each thing in the box. Usually all the medicine and blasters fits. Had friends visiting last week and the amount of times they asked for blasters, anti histimine, savon cream. One friend got funny heat rash on his foot and cuts from flip flops and it went green. Other friend fell in nightclub and got nasty cut.

Thrush spreads more quickly in humid temperatures. All my female friends get thrush in hot humid climates more so then back home. Had a really bad dose of it in Thailand. Also you can get very bad Athlete's foot walking around in flip flops all the time and if they get damp via puddles or by the pool. So Canestan cream works for that as well.

Here's what I would recommend:

Tampons
Painkillers (for hangovers and periods)
Multivitamins
Something for diarhoea
Baby oil / moisturiser / sunblock
Mosquito repellant / sting soothing cream

That's pretty much all the nasty or uncomfortable scenarios covered.
After that you just need the stuff you would bring anywhere for a holiday:

Toothbrush, hairbrush, toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner, towels a bit of lippy and other warpaint and condoms if Giovanni or Giuseppe are too stupid to have any.


Anything else is not necessary or can wait until you go to the shops and if you get anything more serious than the trots, sunburn, diarhoea or the like, then you're not going to need a chemist. You're going to need the consulate, a doctor or a priest.

Ciao bella!

magneticimpulse

The Corinthian wrote: »

If you're there for 12 hours or a day perhaps, and if you cannot speak Italian, I could understand, however Metro is right on this one. Go into any pharmacy in Italy and chances are you'll see exactly the same pharmaceutical brands as you do in Ireland - this is an inevitable consequence of the EU open market. The only thing you might note of difference is that many of these products may be cheaper than in Ireland.

However, unless you feel you will need Imodium, Motillium or anti histamine before you get a chance to get to a pharmacy in Italy, you're frankly exaggerating.

Actually you can get many if not most of those things in supermarkets there.

My experience of hygiene levels, especially with restaurants, is that they are a lot better in Italy than Ireland.

I think that has more to do with drinking the local Grappa than the local water, by the sounds of things.

Well sorry my experience is that is was not better and i couldnt get any medical stuff in supermarket

I got a stomach bug (sh*t and vomit every 5 mins) in Netherlands from the milk, unexpectly got early period in Holland and had to buy the silly OB Tampons...which needed to use 10 of them at a time as they so tiny. I was too sick to leave the hotel.

I got extreme heat rash in Italy and needed anti histimine and was camping, so pharmacy would have been miles away. I also got my period there unexpected and again same thing with tampons. Toilets were a hole in the ground and I kept dripping pee on my shorts and underpants everytime I tried to aim for the toilet. Sorry I wasnt drinking any alcohol so it had nothing to do with that. Had to bring toilet paper and soap in handbag (and still do this in france) as they never have any. Come on a hole in the ground????

My brother fell and cracked open his jaw and blood everywhere, so it was handy to have bandages and another time he got servere sun burn and ended up in hospital. So yes accidents do happen abroad and more so as your in surroundings and temperature your not used to.

Got thrush too and I never get thrush and ex boyfriend got athletes foot which started to smell really bad.

Seriously you can fit 1 blister pack of each thing into a soap box and its not huge. I have it all the time as my little 1st aid box.

Fine you dont have to bring this stuff. Its what I bring and I managed to go backpacking for 2 months around South East Asia with a 20L backpack and still managed to carry a little 1ST aid box.

No they dont speak English in Pharmacy...Even in France they dont know what a "Period" is. Its called Regles or something like that. And they dont have the products on the shelve. You have to ask, as they usually only have beauty products on shelf and the rest is in draws and behind in the back.

ztoical

magneticimpulse wrote: »

unexpectly got early period in Holland and had to buy the silly OB Tampons...which needed to use 10 of them at a time as they so tiny.

Ger yourself a mooncup, never have to worry about unexpected periods overseas again

magneticimpulse

ztoical wrote: »

Ger yourself a mooncup, never have to worry about unexpected periods overseas again

Whats that?

ztoical

magneticimpulse wrote: »

Whats that?

Mooncup