Hand luggage beauty hacks
Want to go on holiday with just a carry-on case? Beauty editor Laura Mulley has ways to make sure you’ll still have all the beauty products you need
As you read this I’ll hopefully have dodged flight cancellations and mile-long airport queues and be lying by a pool in a sunny holiday hotspot, cocktail in one hand, novel in the other.
In a moment of spontaneity on a drizzly evening, my boyfriend and I decided to book a last-minute getaway (little did we know the sun was on its way to the UK!). We stumbled upon a good deal – until it came to paying for the flights. £20 extra to print a boarding pass? £30 to reserve a seat? £50 – each person, each way – to check in luggage? No thanks. So for the first time ever, we’re attempting a weeklong holiday taking hand luggage only.
I don’t find it hard to whittle down my holiday wardrobe (cut-off denim shorts are appropriate for every occasion, right?) but as a beauty editor, I’m not exaggerating when I say that usually half my case is filled with skincare, SPFS and summery new launches I want to try when I’m away.
Squeezing all my essentials into one plastic bag was going to be a challenge, so here’s my master plan that I’m hoping will work…
Do your research
If you’re staying in a hotel, find out what is stocked in the bathroom, if they’re replaced as often as you need, and if there’s a hairdryer – read reviews or email to ask. If you’re not too fussy about what brands you use, this will save you having to pack things like shower gel, shampoo and body lotion.
streamline your routine
Can I go a week without shaving my legs? Can I sleep without a pillow mist? Can I ditch my eye cream and instead use my serum all the way up to my eyeballs? These are all serious questions I asked myself, and the answer was: yes. Your skin isn’t going to fall apart if you forgo your 10-step skincare routine for a few days, and trust me when I say no one will notice if you haven’t contoured.
Also don’t pack any product that’s too precious or expensive, just in case it leaks, gets confiscated by security or has to remain behind in your hotel bathroom.
make solid swaps
Soaps, shampoos, conditioners, deodorants and even skincare can be found in solid bar form, saving valuable space in your plastic bag. Once a rather niche corner of the beauty world, now plenty of mainstream brands are creating waterless products. I’ll be packing one of the three new Kiehl’s Concentrated Cleansing Bars, £20.50, and Aussie Shampoo and Conditioner Bars, £9.99 each, (which smell just as good as the bottles) in with my dry items.
Lose liquids elsewhere in your beauty routine, too. Pack powder or stick make-up like bronzers, eyeshadows and concealers instead of cream ones. Choose an oil-absorbing sprinkle-on powder instead of an aerosol dry shampoo. You can even buy toothpaste tablets, which you crunch on then brush with as normal – try Brushd Toothpaste Tablets, from £4.99.
use miniatures
Sure, you can decant your favourite formulas into smaller bottles, but I never do this (too fiddly, too messy, too easy to forget what’s what). Instead, I stockpile any miniature beauty products from Christmas or birthday gift sets. Alternatively, if you’re signed up to a beauty subscription service like the OK! Beauty Box, you’ll usually get a mix of full and travel-size products – save anything under 100ml for holidays.
If you want something specific, lots of brands sell mini versions of their bestsellers, which are usually lining the queues for the tills. Although don’t expect brilliant value for money – the prices per ml of these are often hoiked up higher than inflation.
share your skincare
Don’t be precious about “men’s” and “women’s” products. On holiday my boyfriend and I share as many products as possible, so we will use the same cleanser, serum and moisturiser all week – all simple, hydrating and free from strong active ingredients. I’m not even above using Sure For Men antiperspirant (although I draw the line at using Lynx Africa as my holiday fragrance – thankfully Jo Malone’s colognes come in 30ml bottles).
give space to multi-taskers
Bronzer can be used as eyeshadow, tinted lip balm can be used on the cheeks, and oils like Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse Multipurpose Dry Oil, £12 for 30ml, can be applied to body, face and hair. Streamline three base products into one with Ultra Violette Daydream Screen SPF50 Tinted Veil, £38, and use it as your moisturiser, primer and coverage (however, don’t rely on this as your only SPF).
buy essentials at the airport
I will be buying a couple of bottles of my high-street faves once past security, plus a few generic essentials like toothpaste and spray-on deodorant, too. In total, I reckon we’ll need to spend about £30 at the airport – so all in all a vast saving on those £200+ luggage costs…