Phyl Clarkeon the difficult art of travelling light
Arriving at the airport, I felt I looked every inch the seasoned jet-set traveller, with my new Ralph Lauren weekender bag. I'm sure I caught some admiring glances, and heard faint murmurings of "glamorous traveller" as I passed by. Well, someone has to keep the flag flying in these days of track-suited, haversacked, cut-price travel types. Fellow beauty writers at a recent overnight press event had already voted my bag "most stylish", and that's no mean feat among the Orla Kielys and Marc Jacobs that were also present. We are a shallow lot.
So I was feeling very smug and pleased with myself, until the nice girl at check-in advised me that I would have to check the bag in and put it in the dark hold of the plane with all the riff-raff luggage. "It's either that, or we'll have to confiscate your beauty products," she said, pointing out the travel restrictions on liquids. "Well, you may as well cut off my right arm," I told her, so the little weekender was roughly whisked away.
My usual in-flight anxiety paled into insignificance, for once. Did my bag make it on to the right plane? What if the hold was dirty? And would the handlers unceremoniously drop it down a chute with the ordinary suitcases? The stress . . .
After retrieving it from the conveyer belt, I vowed that this would never happen again, so I am now about to share with you my tips for travelling light. I am basing these selections on a three-night trip, as after that, you are into suitcase territory.
At the departure gate you are presented with a clear, resealable 20cm x 20cm bag. Don't wait until then; have your plastic bag ready-packed. A lunch or freezer bag is perfectly adequate, provided it is the correct size. This will give you time to decide what you really need to take, and measure. Maximum capacity is one litre, with no single item more than 100ml. So you have to decant. The little plastic 35mm photographic film cases are great, because they are completely air and watertight but they are hard to get hold of in the digital age. Pillboxes from a pharmacist can also work well, but seal quality varies, so check before you buy. Those little pots that make-up counters give samples in are also perfect. Ditto mini mascaras which sometimes come with "gift with purchase" promotions. This is the time to use those sachet samples from magazines. On average, they hold enough for a couple of days. Estée Lauderads are good for moisturisers, and Cliniqueregularly has its great Super Balanced foundation as a sample in a suits-all colour. Fragrance, hair serums and tan wipes are other items to keep an eye out for, and Clarinsdoes a great line in sample tubes of its excellent moisturising range. Go for a two-in-one cheek and lip colour and one eye colour palette, with pencil liner.
Face wipes will save you bringing a liquid or cream cleanser, and you can also buy deodorant wipes to further save on your liquids total.
For three days, I can live with hotel shampoo and body lotion, so I don't bother with those, but the teeny tubes of toothpaste that hotels sometimes supply are perfect for travel. They go into the bag for next time. If you want to buy dedicated travel sets, Bootssell five screw top jars for just €3.20 and Bobbi Brownalso does a good set for €12.
With all this minimal packing, you should have room for a bit of glam, and the new YSLLip Twins (€30) are hard to beat for touching up your look in public. Four products in one - lip colour, brush, mirror and colour shine, all contained in a covetable container. With this little beauty you won't be caught off guard by the paparazzi.