Living in the UK I tend to favour long weekend breaks around Europe with good old budget airlines like EasyJet and Ryanair, and over the years I’ve got better at condensing my packing (not that my boyfriend would agree, but we’ll skim over his opinion for now 😀 )
So, only once have I checked my bag in on a budget airline (and yes, we were that couple unpacking at the desk and putting on layers of clothing so we were under the weight limit), and this means that every other time I have taken a small suitcase as carry on free of charge- no painful £50 charge for me *smug grin*. Initially, this was more stressful than it needed to be and you eventually learn that for a weekend away you don’t need both straighteners and curling tongs, neither do you need 6 dresses and four pairs of shoes *sigh*.
But what about packing your liquids- after all the limit (for most airlines) is ten 100ml containers for hand luggage. Now this doesn’t worry my boyfriend in the slightest I think he probably has about 6 liquids, if that, but me? Realistically I could end up with about 15 if I went really crazy.
So how do I go about organising my ‘Liquid Essentials’?
1) Go through your daily routine
- For example; you wake up and brush your teeth, shower, exfoliate and wash/condition your hair. When that is done some of you might even have a more complicated morning routine that includes lots of lotions and potions. Then, you put your make up on (I tend to place everything in my go to make up routine out on the bed, then separate into liquids and non liquids). You might then blow dry your hair and use heat protectant spray and other styling liquids. Then you use body lotion and hand cream. At the end of you day you would then use a make up remover and other moisturisers. Then, you need to get specific to your destination- will you need suncream and after sun? Are you attending a special occassion that you’ll need extra hair and make up bits for than your usual daily routine?
Eeek- seems a lot now you’ve really thought about it doesn’t it? 😮
2) Don’t panic!
- So, you have never noticed how many liquids you use in a day before have you? But there is hope- go through your day again, what can you cut out?
3) Find alternatives
Doesn’t sound so simple, but here are some shortcuts I’ve taken:
- Buy some cheap plastic travel bottles and dispense some of your liquids that are over 100ml into these.
- Mix your moisturiser with your primer and dispense into an empty travel sized container.
- I once took The Body Shop’s Beautifying Oil in my carry on so I had some form of body moisturiser as well as an oil that kept stray hairs in place.
- Take a small handbag sized body lotion that you can take around with you and use as a hand lotion- and it’s a bonus if it contains SPF and is suitable for facial use too! I like this one from The Body Shop 🙂
- I’ve never taken my make up remover with me- I know a lot of people disagree with face wipes but it really does make reducing your liquids a lot easier.
- If you’re not sure what counts as a liquid- ask! I’ve tweeted Ryanair and Easyjet about what counts as a liquid- and for the record lipsticks are NOT a liquid (woohoo!). Make sure you check though, because pastes etc count as a liquid.
- You don’t need your day, night and eye moisturiser- pick one (providing you don’t have sensitive eyes like me, if so just make sure you take a frangrance free moisturiser with you).
- Those of you big on eyeliner, look away now- I’ve gone without eyeliner and instead took my liquid friendly eye shadow palletes with me- a damp angled brush can do exactly the same when dipped into a black eyeshadow!
- Are you and a friend etc sharing Shampoo/Conditioner/Toothpaste/Body Wash? Have they got room in their liquid bag? Great!! (Note, this may work better with your boyfriend than your bestie 😛 )
- Buy a few cheap powder products (I like Collection for good, but cheap, make up products)- if you use cream/liquid blush, highlight and contour you might want to rethink this, or at least check that creams are allowed through with your airline/airport.
- Convince myself I don’t need make up setting spray to make my make up look more ‘dewy’ (#girlproblems)
- Take a good exfoliating mit and buy a shower gel that has gentle exfoliation beads etc- shower gel and exfoliation in one for the whole body! (just make sure it isn’t too abrasive for the face!
- You can always buy travel minis at the airport then throw away before you fly back, and the same goes for perfume samples! (I hate throwing products away though!)
So what makes my cut?
- Foundation
- Primer & Moisturiser (mixed, and doubles as eye cream)
- Mascara
- Concealer (some might be okay to miss this one and use foundation instead..)
- Handcream
- Deodorant (liquid roll on)
- Perfume
- Shampoo
- Conditioner
- Toothpaste
- Showergel *give to your very lovely travelling companion*
- Suncream *give to your very lovely travelling companion*
How do you pack when your travelling with hand luggage? Is there anything you can’t go without? Let me know in the comments, because it is always a struggle, I’ve just marginally improved with a few years experience! 😀
x-Katie-x
