What’s In My Bag(s)? Kelsea Ballerini Edition
From her hair must-have to her summertime scent, here’s everything the singer is relying on between tours.
Kelsea Ballerini is enjoying her self-proclaimed “slow girl summer.” The Patterns singer wrapped up her arena tour in April. Ahead of her upcoming Australia shows in December, the 31-year-old is now taking a much-needed break after a “good, solid crash-out.”
“Finishing a tour is really a dopamine dump. No one talks about that part. But when you get to the top of whatever mountain you're climbing, you have to come down the other side,” Ballerini tells Elite Daily. “You have to allow your nervous system to relax into that. A good, solid crash-out is always on the schedule. Then resting, and then slowly getting back into my real life."
For Ballerini, that transition can be easier said than done. “It’s beautiful but also difficult to go from a sprint to rest,” she says. “It's something that I want to get better at. The biggest goal for my life is to have a real balance. I’m really just chilling. It’s been fun to just go on hot girl walks in matching sets, take myself on little lunch dates, and bring my dog to Starbucks to get a Pup Cup.”
Part of this slowing down means reinvesting in her self-care and hair care routines. This summer, Ballerini partnered with Pantene for a country diner-inspired campaign to introduce their latest damage repair collection — including shampoos, conditioners, oils, sprays, and leave-in treatments.
For Ballerini, one product in particular saved her hair on the road (but more on that later). Below are all of the essentials you can find in her bags, both at home and on tour.
A Nourishing Hair Oil For Recovery
Ballerini’s a fan of Pantene’s Damage Repair Collection, specifically the Miracle Rescue Regenerative Hair Oil. “On tour, I would literally soak my hair in this oil, braid it back, put my wig on, do the show, take my wig off, and then I would sleep in this overnight,” she says. “It saved my hair on the road.”
According to the singer, her strands were in desperate need of some TLC. “In my early 20s, when I was first starting my artist career, I wanted to be done up all the time,” she explains. “I was never casual. I put my body and my hair through so much.”
But these days, Ballerini thinks “less is more.” When it comes to hair care, she’s channeling the trendy clean girl aesthetic, opting for slick backs and air drying whenever she can. “Maybe it's just part of growing up and not caring so much about looking so perfect all the time,” she says.
Trendy Skin Care Tools That Actually Work
Red light therapy is a popular go-to for targeting inflammation, reducing signs of aging, and improving skin tone and texture. At home, Ballerini relies on the Shark Beauty red light mask. “That’s industrial-sized. It would need its own suitcase, so I keep that at home,” she says.
On the road, Ballerini opts instead for travel-friendly alternatives, like gua sha and the TheraFace Depuffing Wand. “Facial tools are my newest discovery — any kind of lymphatic drainage movement,” she explains.
While she only gua shas a couple of times a week, she uses the heating and cooling wand every morning. “The wand is a newer part of my regiment. It helps when I’m traveling and my skin is freaking out. If you hold tension in your jaw, which I do, it helps relieve and drain it.
But there are some trending self-care tools she’s not as sold on. “I don't do overnight eye masks. I feel like it’s going to make me claustrophobic,” she says. “I also tried mouth tape — can't do it. I'm like, ‘What if you have to scream?’ I don't like it.”
Simple Day-To-Day Essentials
When she’s on tour, Ballerini keeps a Hannah Montana-style makeup bag with her. “It's kind of like a whole alter ego. My makeup bag on tour is a full kit. It has four different pouches for glitter.” (According to Ballerini, you can summarize her touring essentials as “glitter and fishnet tights.”)
Her stage makeup is more intense than her everyday preferences. “Everything’s just more,” she says. She simplifies things when she’s off the road. “I want sunscreen and a little color on my cheeks,” she says. For years, she’s been a big fan of Skin Pharm’s SPF. CoverGirl’s TruBlend creamy contour and blush formulas are other staples.
Ballerini also relies on CoverGirl’s Lash Blast Supercloud mascara. “I just started curling my lashes. I've never curled lashes ever. I do it every day now — even without mascara,” she says.
A Scent For Every Occasion
For the summer season, Ballerini updated her go-to scent, switching it up from what she wore on tour. For performances, Ballerini prefers a bold fragrance from PHLUR with notes of mandarin, pink pepper, jasmine blossom, and coconut milk.
But during the summer, Ballerini switched to Botanica’s East Coast, which she found at a shop in Charleston. “It just smells like summertime,” she says. The beachy scent smells like florals, sea salt, sea kelp, amber, and light musk.
“When I smell my tour scent, I feel like I'm working,” Ballerini says. “This summer perfume is a reminder that I’m not.”
