The best travel-size beauty products under 100ml to take on your holiday flight

Why you’re only allowed 100ml of liquids in your hand luggage

Of course everyone likes to travel light, leaving unnecessaries at home so we’re able to relax and feel free when we’re on holiday. But there’s another, darker reason why you can only take 100ml and under liquids through airport security. Back in 2006, members of terror group Al Qaeda plotted an attack on multiple trans-Atlantic flights from Heathrow, London. This group - 10 were eventually convicted of terror crimes - weren’t going to use guns, knives or shoe bombs. No, they opted for carrying a selection of liquids on board that, when mixed, could prove explosive. Ever since the attempt was - thankfully - foiled by the Metropolitan Police, security measures at airports have beefed up. At first, no liquids apart from baby food was allowed onto flights, then soon, the rules relaxed, just a bit, so that passengers could take up to 1 litre on board with them.

The rules on travel-sized beauty products, in case you’ve never been rudely reminded at the security gates:

• containers must hold no more than 100ml
• containers must be in a single, transparent, resealable plastic bag, which holds no more than a litre and measures approximately 20cm x 20cm
• contents must fit comfortably inside the bag so it can be sealed
• the bag must not be knotted or tied at the top
• you’re limited to 1 plastic bag per person
• you must show the bag at the airport security point

As for what constitutes a liquid? Well, it’s everything from water to honey, lip gloss to toothpaste, contact lens solution to mascara - yes, even when the mascara’s gone all cakey and chunky!

When will UK airport security scrap the 100ml liquids rule for travel-sized beauty products?

The good news is that the UK has actually scrapped the ban, provided that airports can provide the CT scanners necessary to assess the liquids far better. These 3D scanners, which work by taking loads more images of whatever’s in your bag, will allow for people to travel with up to two litres in their bags, no need to separate everything into a separate bag. Early adopters of the CT scans include London’s City Airport, where it takes about three minutes to get through security as it is, and passengers are said to be delighted. It’s expected that all airports in the UK will upgrade their scanners by 2024. However, anyone who’s waited around for any major travel developments in the past decade - Crossrail to be finished, that budget airline to actually treat passengers like humans at some point soon, people to be nice and quiet for the duration of your 8am flight southwards, train prices to match those in mainland Europe - would understandably expect a delay in this transition.

So the bad news is that all the faff and fuss of the 100ml rule is here to stay for at least one summer season. And we all face having some of our favourite beauty products confiscated while we watch grown adults sipping on baby food to prove it’s not acetone peroxide. So to help you out we’ve compiled a list of our travel-sized beauty products. They’re all under 100ml as well as bar soaps, shampoos and the rest that entirely defy the liquid rule because they’re solid!