Best beauty products to take on a plane

How to survive the humiliations of the transparent airport plastic bag – almost as revealing as a traditional strip-search

Putting your cosmetics in a clear plastic bag in preparation for a flight

Air travel has always been a thoroughly enervating activity: the queues, the searches, the invasion of personal space, and the small men with large guns. Now that every international airport is in the grip of an ongoing terror alert, a further humiliation has become standard: the transparent plastic bag.

That sachet of dog-eared tubes and pill packs can reveal almost as much about a person as an old-fashioned strip search. I don’t know why the Government is bothering with biometric ID cards: everything you could want to know can be gleaned from that little sack of necessaries.

It’s fine if you’re a young slip of a thing, off on your gap year with nothing more than a thong and a bit of lip balm in your bag, but those of us whose gap years are ancient history (actually, I’m not even sure they existed in my day) require rather more. In my case, there are contact lenses, spectacles, four types of vital pills, assorted vitamins and minerals – and I haven’t even begun with the lotions and potions.

Yet submit we must; so now it’s just a question of getting as much as is physically possible through in the smallest available format. First up is Philip Kingsley’s Jet Set Body and Shine,). Time and again I try out other brands, but I come back to Kingsley’s Body Building because it works. This pack consists of two 75ml bottles (the limit for liquids in the air is 100ml), plus three sachets of Elasticizer, Kingsley’s miracle moisturizing hair treatment, ideal for hot, dry climates.

If the sun is where you’re heading, Clarins Sun Wrinkle Control Eye Contour Care is brilliant. This tiny (20ml) but effective tube of mineral sunscreen glides on beautifully, and because it contains no chemical sunscreens it won’t make your eyes water. Along with the face equivalent, Clarins UV Plus SPF 40 it’s the perfect thing to have to hand as you step off the plane.

In terms of moisturizers, fans of Dr Sebagh will know that he includes a “handbag size” with every pot of cream. Personally, I prefer a tube or a pump: less mess, more hygiene. Something as aromatic as it is effective is a joy mid-air, and Urban Retreat’s Facial Elixir 30ml, is pretty much a one-stop shop for happy, hydrated skin. Packed with essential oils, it smells heavenly, and a little goes a long way.

If you like your smells, Linden Leaves Deluxe Travel Set is a dream, packed with flower-infused Gulliver-sized goodies, including a sage hand cream, a neroli-scented face cream and Goldmist, a facial spritz shot through with flakes of gold – just the thing to keep you glowing through those long nights in steerage.