If you were excited about the planned relaxation of airport security around liquids in your hand luggage, it’s time to step away from those bumper sunscreen bottles and return to your airport-approved sandwich bags. UK airports have been granted an extension to the longstanding 100ml limit on liquids flyers can carry in their hand luggage after supply chain issues delayed the installation of new scanners, meaning this summer’s holidaymakers must abide by the old rules.
As someone who has to fly regularly with large-fill beauty samples, checking in luggage is a necessary inconvenience, but still I enjoy the challenge of squeezing my essentials into the polythene bag.
I never wear makeup on a long flight, but I pack a few bits to smarten up for touchdown. I take either solid scent (Jo Malone, Diptyque and Glossier all make them) or a Travalo atomiser (£9.99), which can be filled quickly and easily from almost any full sized perfume bottle featuring a standard spray. It’s a genius invention.
I also carry a skin hydrating mist because dry cabin air makes my face itch. E.l.f.’s excellent Holy Hydration mist (£8), is already well under your liquid limit, or you could decant any existing favourite into Muji’s 15ml spray bottle (£3.95). I use these containers a lot for things like hand sanitiser – you pay a little more than you would for high street value packs, but I find Muji’s don’t leak and there’s always the right size available for each product.
Sunscreen is non-negotiable for arrival, but bottles are rarely small enough for the bag of doom, so I suggest a compact and solid SPF like La Roche Posay’s Anthelios XL SPF 50+ stick (£13), which is also great for swiping across small, wriggling children.
I combine SPF with a skin tint, replacing any foundation. I particularly love Ilia’s Super Serum Skin Tint SPF30 (£48), which provides protection and good coverage in a shade for everyone. Lip balm is obligatory and helpfully tiny, then I add colour for landing with a multipurpose stick, such as Nudestix Nudies Matte Lux (£30), which works as well on cheeks and eyes as on lips.
Sheer willpower and the knowledge that restrictions must end by June 2025 are stopping me from buying the gone-viral Cadence containers. These are aesthetically appealing, leak-proof pods that can be filled with toiletries and medication and then labelled neatly with interchangeable lids and joined magnetically in honeycomb formation to fit your carry-on exactly.
They’re an organisation fiend’s fantasy and the price is obscene. I apologise in advance for making you look them up.
