Five of the best: travel kits
Travel kit, £12.50, Caudalie (caudalie.com)
They say Take Caudalie’s iconic face and body care products with you wherever you go with these handy travel sizes. This set is ideal for travelling light and keeping your skin perfect for any occasion.
We say Caudalie’s travel set ticks all the boxes that your makeshift beauty regime requires while leaving your purse in a happy state. For £12.50 you get six mini products from the French brand’s plant-based range. The bestselling Moisturizing Sorbet, a facial moisturiser packed with antioxidants and suitable for sensitive skin, is the star of the pack. Other goodies include a vial of divine oil, a dry body oil for soothing sunburnt skin that you can also use for shaving and the pungent rose shower gel. The Micellar Cleansing Water acts as a two-in-one: the gentle formula takes make-up off in a swipe while delivering a refreshing deep-cleanse. Multi-tasking products like these are a must for any suitcase beauty bag.
Travel essentials trio, £28, Seascape (seascapeuk.com)
They say Containing a Refresh Hand & Nail Cream, a Peppermint Oil Lip Balm and our award-winning Soothe Sleep Oil, the Travel Essentials Trio is a perfect little gift for someone on the move.
We say Think of this trio of products not as your holiday beauty essentials, but a pack of luxurious top-ups. From the Jersey-based brand that collects its ingredients from local natural produce (such as milk for soap from Jersey cows), the pack contains a peppermint lip balm, lavender and lemon grass hand cream and sleep oil. The latter is our favourite. The award-winning Soothe Sleep Oil contains lavender harvested from Saint Brélade as well as orange and grapeseed oils and fills the room with its calming fragrance when rolled on your temples and under your nose. Use to drift you to sleep at bedtime or on a hammock under the sun.
Skincare Starter Kit, £20, Cowshed (cowshedonline.com)
They say A travel-sized kit formulated to leave your skin feeling brighter, smoother and deeply cleansed. Included are Cowshed’s essential skincare products as well as a 100 per cent cotton muslin cloth to add a touch of spa-level TLC to your beauty routine.
We say Cowshed’s long list of nos — no parabens, petrochemicals, sulphates, animal ingredients, artificial fragrance, colours or animal testing — are why its travel kit appeals. So what is in the moisturiser, cleanser, toner and lip balm? Well, the creamy cleanser is made with organic lavender oil to purify and balance, followed by the chamomile-based toner, which has a lovely cooling effect on hot skin. Our favourite after a long day lazing in the sun was the restorative, quinoa-enriched moisturiser. Finish with a coat of Lippy Cow Natural Lip Balm to nourish sun-chapped areas (it combines the heavenly scents of rose geranium and sweet-orange oil) and you’re ready to head back to the beach.
London, £50, Aesop (aesop.com)
They say A selection of unisex travel-sized products from the parsley-seed antioxidant skincare range, essential hair and body-care formulations and Aesop’s mouthwash, presented in an elegant black microfibre case.
We say Aesop’s lotions and potions don’t come cheap, so its London travel kit is the ideal holiday indulgence. It includes everything from its parsley-seed facial cleanser and geranium-leaf shower gel to the more mundane but no less essential mouthwash, shampoo and conditioner. All have a pleasingly herbal scent, but the Rind Concentrate Body Balm is a favourite for its soothing effect on sun-reddened skin and smell of freshly peeled oranges. If you’ve spent your holiday caked in sun cream — great for warding off UV rays but not so great for sensitive skin — then the herbal cleanser and antioxidant toner are the perfect remedy.
The Vacation Kit, £38, Net-a-Porter (net-a-porter.com)
They sayExpertly curated with jet-setters in mind, Net-a-Porter’s Vacation Kit comprises 11 products from our skin, hair and make-up edit.
We say There’s a category of traveller who turns left on British Airways flights — easy who? — and carries travel miniatures of their essential beauty products in LV-stamped luggage. How they can be so organised, before you ask, is because of Net-a-Porter’s time and space-saving Vacation Kit, a sleek black box filled with everything you need from Mio Skincare’s enzyme exfoliator to an Aurelia cleanser, Hourglass primer and Temptu bronzer. At £38 it’s a purse-friendly way to test products you’ve always been curious about, but stopped yourself from buying because of the dubious name or price. Nervous fliers should carry in their hand luggage This Works’s Sleep Plus Trouble Shooter, a relaxing spray for limbs, while the Soveral Midnight Oil is perfect if you’ve had too many sundowners and need skin to look fresh in the morning.
