My Vacation Short-List of Natural Hair Supplies

Shea Butter

As I prep for summer vacation on an island, I know I have to bring some items with me but don't want to carry everything in my arsenal.  So what's going to be in my suitcase for hair as I head to the Southern Caribbean?

• Shea Butter - I purchase my raw organic unrefined shea butter from Butters-n-Bars.com, but you can find perfectly good shea butter at your local BSS as well.  Expect to pay about $8-10 USD for a one-pound container. This stuff is multi-purpose, which makes it a great item to have on hand for sealing and styling hair, as well as for daily moisturizing for face and body.  Hubby loves to use it too.  Having this takes the place of carrying lotion.
• Aloe Vera Gel - My favorite brand is Fruit of the Earth, which you can get at most health food stores or online, but right now I'm trying Trader Joe's brand AVG.  I mix AVG with shea butter for face.  AVG is also nice for brushing down edges when wearing a puff.  Of course, it's also good for bug bites and cooling for sunburns.
• Curly Pudding - I just can't get enough of this stuff for twists lately.  Curls by Sisters Smith (which I've mentioned like a thousand times on this blog already) is still on heavy rotation.
• KimmayTube Leave-In - I heard Kimmay no longer has the video recipe up on YouTube, but if you do a search on Google for the leave-in, you'll find the easy recipe. 
• Conditioner - I'll be using Trader Joe's Nourish & Shine.  I mixed it into an almost-empty bottle of the jojoba oil so I wouldn't have to carry much, plus the oil gives a boost of shine and slip for detangling.
• Shampoo Bar - I'm bringing a Chagrin Valley Honey Beer shampoo bar, which is also a wonderful body soap.

I will also bring the basic styling tools along -- Denman brush, wide-tooth comb, some pretty scarves, Goody ouchless bands, and bobby pins.  It's going to be humid, so I'm not going to be a stickler about curl-definition.  Softness, easy styling, and easy cleaning after dips in the salty sea water will be more important.

I know it depends somewhat on where you're going, but what are your must-haves for hair while on vacation?