My guide to on-the-go glamour

This is how I keep my travel beauty bag light, hard-working – and airport-friendly

I’m aware the following sentence might make me sound like a brat, but I do my most enjoyable and efficacious beautification in a hotel bathroom. Most enjoyable because of the pleasure I derive from knowing I’m not the person who is going to have to squeegee the shower screen or double-wash the flannels. And efficacious because this is the only scenario in which I’ll have a spare hour to indulge in a hair mask or oil my cuticles.

In fact, it’s the only time I indulge in an ‘everything shower’ (trademark: Gwyneth Paltrow). Think shampoo, scrub, shave, mask, cleanse, oil, body brush – because at a hotel, I’m not going to have to pay extra for hot water and it is unlikely to turn cold mid-shampoo. To maximise your trip, good prep is vital, so here are some ideas for your holiday packing list…

Consider capsules

Space-saving and leak-limiting, capsules are your top travel buddy. Stash them in little Muji Acrylic Stacking Pots (€4.40 for five, muji.eu) – make sure you label them. Elizabeth Arden Vitamin C Ceramide Capsules Radiance Renewal Serum (€48 for 60, beautybuys.com) are perfect for skin compromised by sun and flying. Eve Lom Cleansing Oil Capsules

(€65 for 50, marksandspencer.com) are genius. Leighton Denny Nail Rebirth Intensive Nail Repair Capsules (€24 for 20, marksand spencer.com) deliver the exact amount needed for ten nails. Rehab Dose 1.0 Hair Oil Capsules (€31.95 for 30, rehabyourhair.com) make even the most sun-fried hair look shiny and healthy. And if you don’t want to have your favourite fragrance bottle confiscated by airport security, check out Marc Jacobs Daisy

Drops Eau So Fresh Capsules (€31.80 for 30, mulliganspharmacy.com).

Pack powders

I love an exfoliating face powder and on holiday they are a godsend. Easy to travel with, they also provide next-level exfoliation to reveal a fresh face – just add water. Combination skins will love Kiehl’s Rare Earth Deep Pore-Minimizing & Polishing Powder Cleanser (€38, kiehls.ie), while for fragile complexions, Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant Exfoliator (from €19, dermalogica.ie) is a gentle but hard-working product that comes in a handy travel size.

Use a flannel

Flannels are an unsung beauty hero (just ask Kate Middleton). I use them to supercharge my cleansing (they are the original exfoliator) on my face and body. And if I’ve overdone it in the sun, I douse one in cold water to take the heat out of reddened skin.

Max out on minis

I have a love, bordering on obsession, for minis. Jini Sanassy, head of PR at Space NK, is equally enamoured.

‘They are great for travel, but also an affordable way to try something new,’ she says. Her favourites are Tatcha

The Dewy Skin Cream (€28 for 10ml, spacenk.com) and JVN Complete Hydration Set (including 60ml shampoo, 60ml conditioner, 30ml air dry cream and 30ml mask, €18 spacenk.com), which works miracles on dehydrated hair. I pack Percy & Reed Volumising Dry Shampoo (€10.26 for 50ml, feelunique.com, Hourglass Unlocked Instant Extensions Mascara Travel Size (€17, brownthomas.com) and Moroccanoil Treatment (€15.85 for 25ml, millies.ie). I also stock up on Perfumer H tester bottles whenever I see them in department stores.

@lifesrosie

‘It’s extremely annoying to women of my generation to have beauty products sold on a 15-yearold face’ Helen Mirren