Jack & Hill: A Beauty Blog - make-up, cosmetics, perfume, and the substance of style

How to smuggle beauty products onto flights

  Jack & Hill 
  Originally uploaded by dynamist.

I'm back in London, and incredibly jet-lagged, wishing I was sitting outside Marmalade with Hillary (as pictured), watching the freaks and the beauties go by. I have a houseguest arriving in an hour or so, too. So until I can post some juicier stuff from our visits with some LA-based beauty companies, let me just say this:

These restrictions on beauty products are for the BIRDS. The rules are more strict for flights to the UK, and you know what? All three people I asked (two TSA officials and one duty free salesperson) about the guidelines on lipbalm gave me different answers from one another. The first TSA employee told me it was not allowed at all. The duty free shop person told me it was absolutely allowed. The second TSA employee, at the gate, told me balm was allowed as long as it was a solid stick and not at all liquid.

Two tricks I used:

1) I scraped a dime-sized cutting off a stick of Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Lip Protectant (in a sheer berry colour) and wrapped it in a tissue. This was not detected, and I had more than enough for the whole flight.

2) I had a little sample packet (about the size of a large postage stamp) of Kenzoki Crème de Nuit Blanche - a product I really, really like. I took a file folder which has a little slot for a business card, stuck a business card in the slot, and then tucked the sample packet behind the business card.

I've also been told that any cream or balm you desperately need can be smeared onto a card which you then fold and use as a bookmark.

The point is, lots of things are getting through this supposedly rigorous screening process. All they're doing is wasting our time and trying to appear to be doing something useful. Which they aren't. Honestly, I'd love someone from the TSA to tell me exactly how many potential terrorists they've caught since implementing these restrictions, and how many terrorist plots have been foiled due to this whole palaver. I suspect you could make quite a large omelette out of that big, fat goose egg.

Tarte 24/7 Lip Sheers: Quickie Review

Upon arriving at home this morning from Heathrow airport, fresh off a plane from San Francisco, I applied some Tarte 24/7 Lip Sheer within moments of walking through my front door. Thanks to scumbag terrorists, I'd just been on a nine hour flight with no lip balm, and the situation was perilous. (At SFO's duty free shop, I'd massaged some Chanel Hydra Serum into my face and Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Plump Perfect Moisture Cream under my eyes before boarding my flight. This is not something I'd normally do, but desperate times do indeed call for desperate measures. For what it's worth, the Chanel serum gave me a nearly imperceptible red rash.)

I like the way the Tarte 24/7 Lip Sheer feels - smooth and (briefly) tingly, but not messy or irritating. It has an SPF of 15, too, so protects as well as moisturises. Even better, the Champagne Brunch shade is absolutely perfect. I was thinking, "Wow, it's the 'your lips, only better' thing," to myself, then looked at the box and saw that those are the words Tarte uses to describe that shade, too. Snap. I'm pale, but I suspect this shade would look the hotness with bronzed summer skin, warm and glittery gold shadow, and coral stained cheeks.

Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream: Eh

I spent yesterday at ValueClick's Commission Junction University event, where I presented to CJ's publishers on how they and advertisers can monetise blogs, podcasts, and RSS feeds. At left, the super cute Tina Judic, CJ's operations director, who told me to go to Fordham White for my next cut and let stylist Jason work his magic. Will do!

Other tips I picked up from various beauties at the conference:

1) Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Lip Protectant Stick is a worthy balm.

2) Unlike Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream, which is just plain greasy (this has also been my experience). Another product for the 'whistle that only dogs hear' category, methinks. (In Paula Begoun's words, it is an ordinary emollient moisturizer for dry skin that contains mostly Vaseline (over 55%), lanolin, mineral oil, fragrance, salicylic acid, plant oil, and vitamin E. The teeny amount of salicylic acid here is ineffective as an exfoliant.)

3) My gorgeous friend Susie K is still very much in love with Decleor products. She cannot speak highly enough of their various creams and lotions, and is also a fan of the Decleor massages you can get.

4) The 20% discount offer for Jack & Hill readers at Lookfantastic.com struck everyone as quite an exceptional deal. I totally agree, and suggest that you hurry to take advantage of the savings before the bargain expires at the end of July.