When I go for a short 2-5 day trip, I always travel with a hand luggage only. It saves me time on checking in and collecting bag, but also saves me a lot of money. This saving allows me then to travel more often which is always a bonus.

Below I’m giving you my top 5 tips how I take all of my toiletries and makeup in an airport approved plastic zip bag that is allowed in the hand luggage.

1. Buy a set of small plastic containers.

I choose the ones that come in different sizes, the smaller the better. You are unlikely to need 100 ml of shampoo or face wash on a 2-3 day trip. I tend to count how many washes I’ll have and take only the same amount of portions of a hair conditioner or shower gel.

2. Use plastic pots with a little spatula.

For things like hair cream, I like using a little pot. Going to Dublin I knew I would only wash my hair twice and I put in a little pot two portions of my must have hair cream using a little spatula that came in a set.

3. Take hotel toiletries home.

Every time we stay in a hotel, if I like the toiletries provided, I’ll take them home. I save them for short trips when I only take a hand luggage. Going to Dublin we booked with Airbnb and our room did not come with toiletries so I packed a little set from when we stayed in 5* hotel in KL and they were the perfect size for our 2 days trip.

4. Keep sample products.

You can either keep them and take them with you or just reuse their bottle. That is how I packed my face serum, in a little tube from a sample product. Again, I measured the uses and only poured the amount needed.

5. Pack your dry staff and powders separately.

I only put liquids in my airport approved transparent bag. Things like powders, bronzes, rouges, lip balm and even mascara I pack in a separate bag and I don’t declare them as liquids. I’ve been travelling for many years worldwide and no airport security ever questioned my approach.