Gadling’s Valentine’s day giveaway – day 3 – his and hers Travelon toiletry bags

by Scott Carmichael on

Welcome back to day 3 of the Gadling Valentine’s day giveaway.

Today, you can enter for your chance to win his and hers Travelon toiletry bags and an assortment of Travelon toiletry sheets (which got 2 thumbs up in our review)

For a chance to win, all you need to do is answer the following question:

How many different checkpoint friendly bags does Travelon offer? (Hint: Check www.travelonbags.com).

Remember to enter our previous 2 giveaways here and here.

  • To enter, simply leave a comment below answering the question posted above.
  • The comment must be left before Friday February 20th 2009 at 5:00 PM Eastern Time.
  • You may enter only once.
  • One Prize Winner will be randomly selected to receive two Travelon Toiletry bags and 6 Travel toiletry sheet packs.
  • Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older.
  • The total value of the prize is approximately $100.
  • Click here for the complete official rules of this giveaway.

Product review – La Fresh one day stay travel packets

by Scott Carmichael on

Today’s product review will take a brief look at the La Fresh “one day stay” travel kit.

The one day stay kit is a small plastic pouch that holds 6 different single use wipes. La Fresh has a version for women, and one for men. The wipes are biodegradable and come in a large variety of cosmetic and personal care products.

The female version comes with the following towelettes:

  • Makeup remover
  • Deodorant
  • Anti-bacterial wipe
  • Hydrating lotion wipe
  • Mini-mitt dental cleaning wipe
  • Eye and lip makeup remover

The male version comes with the following towelettes:

  • Shaving gel
  • Deodorant
  • Anti-bacterial wipe
  • Show shine wipe
  • Mini-mitt dental cleaning wipe
  • Lens cleaning wipe

Naturally, these wipes won’t replace your conventional toiletries, but they are perfect for emergencies, or if the airline loses your luggage and you start to smell a little too funky.

Since the wipes only hold a small amount of liquid, you won’t have any issues with the TSA, no matter how many wipes you are carrying.

On a previous trip, I put the single use male version of their wipes to the test, and was impressed. The wipes unfold to a decent size and they all smell quite pleasant, without being too overpowering. The deodorant wipe is not the same as your regular deodorant stick, as it is used to wipe your entire body down in a (successful) attempt at making you smell fresher. The Minty-mitt dental wipe is a small “finger glove” with a rough texture, soaked in a minty liquid and while it isn’t the same as a good brushing, it certainly gave me that “just brushed” feeling. The shaving gel pouch holds just enough gel for a decent lathering.

The one day stay pouches with all 6 wipes cost $4.99 each. LaFresh also has a version with 30 single use wipes which is great for refilling the one stay pouch. Other products in the LaFresh lineup include female hygiene wipes, sunscreen wipes and even nail polish remover wipes. Most products are sold in packs of 6 or 48.

The LaFresh one day stay travel packets are very convenient, and are priced just right. They are not the kind of product I see myself using every trip, but I like the idea of carrying an emergency set of toiletries, without the hassle of having to deal with travel size bottles and the possibility of leaks.

Product review – Travelon travel toiletry sheets

by Scott Carmichael on

In today’s product review, I’m going to review the Travelon travel toiletry sheets.

The product consists of an assortment of dry travel toiletries in small plastic containers. Each container holds 50 sheets. Travelon has 6 different sheets; Hand soap, laundry soap, shampoo, conditioner, shaving cream and body wash.

Since the sheets are dry, you can carry them on board without worrying about the TSA. To activate a sheet, you simply wet it, and rub a little.

I put the sheets through the only test possible; by actually using them.

Hand soap – the container recommends using 1-2 sheets, but I found that one sheet is more than enough for a decent lather. The sheet dissolves in a matter of seconds and has a pleasant, but fairly neutral smell. It certainly doesn’t smell as bad as the cheap generic soap in most public bathrooms. After a good scrubbing, my hands did feel noticeably softer than before washing.

Laundry Soap – the only way to test this, is on something stained. Thankfully with a young child in the house it isn’t too hard to find something filthy. The package recommends 1-4 sheets depending on the number of items.

In a sink filled with water I added 2 sheets and after about a minute of rubbing, the shirt appeared clean. It’s hard to tell whether the water did most of the cleaning, or the sheets. There is very little foaming from the sheets, but once I had let the shirt air dry, it did smell like it had been freshly laundered. The laundry soap sheets are fairly sticky, so you need to be careful to only remove the number of sheets you need, it’s pretty easy to grab 6 or 7 by mistake. The sticky sheets also took much longer to dissolve, with little pieces of green gel sticking to the sink, so you really do need to rub the sheet quite a bit to dissolve it.

Shampoo/conditioner – In the name of science, I even tried these sheets. The package recommends 1-6 sheets of shampoo and 1-4 sheets of conditioner. If you have a head full of hair, you’ll be leaning towards the maximum number. The sheets didn’t foam up as much as regular shampoo, but it did leave my hair feeling cleaner. Like with the laundry soap, you need to rub hard to dissolve the sheet, and I highly recommend keeping the soap out of your hair till it has all dissolved.

Shaving cream – The package recommends 1-4 sheets, but I found that 3 is about the bare minimum for a decent shave. It lathers up lightly and smells like most generic shaving cream products.

Body wash – The package recommends 1-8 sheets which clearly depends on how dirty you are. Of all the sheets I tested, I’d say that this one smells the nicest, but it’s also the stickiest. Once the sheet gets wet you really need to rub hard to dissolve it completely or you’ll be covered in green gunk.

Each Travel toiletry sheet package contains 50 sheets and costs $5.95 (MSRP). The packages weigh .6 ounces, for a total of just 3.2 ounces for all 6. Being able to carry 6 different toiletry products at just 3.2 ounces is fantastic for light travelers. The sheets are certainly not a product I’d use to replace “real” toiletries, but they are perfectly usable for those occasions where you don’t have access to anything else, or just need a quick cleaning or a shave on the plane.

Because the sheets are sensitive to water, I’d highly recommend carrying them in a sealed bag or other watertight container, once they get wet, you have to use them right away and I doubt water directly in the package would do them much good.

You can purchase the Travelon travel toiletry sheets from most major online travel product stores, including Magelllans (sold per 2 for $9.85), and Irv’s luggage (sold for $4.95)

In conclusion, I’m pretty impressed with most of the sheets. They clearly get “the job” done without adding too much weight to your luggage. At $5.95 each, they are not too expensive, especially considering you get up to 50 uses out of each package. I highly recommend them for anyone who has ever arrived at their destination feeling in desperate need of a shave or quick wash. A bottle of water and a couple of sheets are all you need to feel fresh again.

Dental Mitts and Travel Wipes

by Iva Skoch on

The recent NY Times article about packing toiletries in your bags was interesting. In addition to laying out the ever-changing rules and hazards about carrying liquids onto planes, it noted some new products in the area of traveling personal hygiene. I mean, come on, we’ve all been hoarding hotel shampoos because of their convenient–and “legal”–travelsize. There are alternatives now.

La Fresh out of California has a line of travel wipes called Travel Lite on the Go. They’ve got everything from nail polish removing wipes to dental finder mitts.

Travelon, a bag maker, has branched out into Alka-Seltzer-like dried, tablet toothpastes, mouthwashes, and shaving “creams.” Just add water.

And, if you want travel sizes for just about anything, try minimus.biz. (Soy sauce, anyone?)

No more having to worry about baggies and surly security agents.

But, a little more dangerous is their pitch for refillable bottles called Pitotubes that you’re supposed to pack in checked bags, without fear of leaking. But these things look so slick, they resemble something carried by the villain in a James Bond movie.

Toiletries Meet Pitotubes

by Adrienne Wilson on

Packing toiletries always becomes a major production. I have yet to master a way to shrink down the amount of shampoos, lotions, and travel-sized shaving cream I toss in my bags and then there’s the reoccurring nightmare of everything exploding while some 35,000 ft in the air. I’ve managed to soothe myself and my worries by wrapping the goods twice in recycled Target bags, but who am I kidding? If the lotion, baby oil or body wash is going to leak, it’s going to leak.

Leave it to the folks at CoolHunting to find some sort of travel gear/invention to help someone like myself out. They’ve discovered Pitotubes, the creation of a former flight attendant who too often heard the tale of ruined goods from explosive bathroom items. The tubes can are said to withstand the most brutal luggage handling and changing pressures. They are elegant, leak-free, refillable travel bottles made from high quality PETG recyclable plastic. A set of six bottles with labels costs about $50 and for that price I think I’m willing to chance my double-wrapping Target bag method a little longer, though my luck may be running out.

Pitotubes can be purchased at Flight 001.