I usually travel with just a hand luggage as it is cheaper and you do not need to wait for it after landing. Although it seems that it is no longer the case with Ryanair. It is specified that one should not exceed carrying 10 bottles, each containing not more than 100ml of liquid. This totals to a litre. If you are found carrying a litre bottle of water, the bottle gets confiscated.
I have no idea why this rule exists and I doubt that this limit is set for safety reasons. If a terrorist wants to carry a liquid one can easily carry it into 100ml bottles and then add it up to a bigger bottle which one might buy from the duty-free shop. I think that it’s more made so that people get to buy drinks from the airport shops after security control.
However, discussing why this limit is set is not the scope of this post. In this post, I want to share some tips on how to avoid exceeding this limit. For most men, this might be easy. However, for most women, it isn’t. Deodorant, perfume, sun cream, foundation, primer, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, shower gel and at least 3 skin care products are some of the liquid or cream products that I can remember using in my daily life. As you can see I already exceeded the limit of 10 bottles. So here are 4 ways how I can reduce them.
1. Samples
If you have samples of some of the products you use daily it would be great. Although we had a checked in luggage, for my last holiday I carried samples. Samples might not help much with the 100ml per bottle limit as some airports consider each sample (sachet or not) as a bottle, but they save space in your luggage.
2. Travel-sized products
Some companies offer their products in bottles of less than 100ml. In Germany, you find a section in drug stores with travel-sized products. However, if your favourite brand does not offer this size of bottles, you can find refillable travel sized bottles. However, they do not solve the problem when you need over 10 liquid or cream beauty products to carry.
3. Mineral makeup
For my last holiday, I did not use this trick as I had sample sized dd cream. However, usually, I replace my liquid foundation and primer with mineral ones. Specifically, I travel Lily Lolo’s mineral foundation and finishing powder in my hand luggage. So 2 liquid items from my daily beauty products out of 12 are converted to non-liquid.
4. Soap bars
I use soap bars even when I am not travelling. For me, soap bars are an environmentally friendly option. Usually, I use the soap and shampoo that the hotel offers even if it is not cruelty-free. However, I have decided to stop this as I felt that it was not right. So for my last holiday, I carried a hair and body bar. If you would like to know which brands offer soap bars, check my list of vegan soap bar brands. This again replaced 2 more liquid products, which in total I would have only 8 liquid products.
These are the tricks I use now. However, it is always great to reduce more liquids. So if you have tips which I have not mentioned please do share.