With the famous summer holiday fast approaching, shops are filling their shelves with bikinis, sun creams and things designed to take our money and replace our bathroom cabinet with travel non-essentials! Now, anyone who has ever been forced to pay Ryan Air’s over-weight charges knows it’s not practical to take your 500ml shampoo and matching conditioner on a 5 day trip, but are travel-minis really a must? What can we do (or learn to do) without?

We tell you what we’re taking on holiday this year….

1. The only travel mini, I’m sanctioning money being spent on this year is DKNY’s Be Delicious – but only because it comes in a rollerball, is small enough to get through security check in and even comes in it’s own plastic wallet – no tacky airport bags for me! And the best thing – I no longer have to lug table sized perfume in my wallet sized handbag!

2. Abandon your usual giant size, pound busting shampoo and shower gel and switch to empty bottles! No, I’m not suggesting you start saving water by skipping showers – just pour your normal product into empty travel sized bottles for a 2-in-1 – saving on space and money!

3. Revlon’s New Pedi-expert is like foot A & E!! A kit guaranteed to leave your toes holiday worthy; clip, smooth and file before you go away – but to avoid any holiday mishaps, take the nail file with you – ragged edges are not flip-flop worthy!!

4. You wouldn’t be going on holiday if you didn’t have to spend a little money on this skin-saving product – sun screen! This year I’m using Lancaster Sun Sport Express Mist, because it halves my application time with its absorption technology and resistance to sweat and water!

5. Even sunscreen doesn’t stop my cheeks from turning red on a hot day! Mind you, the cold tends to leave me looking like a beetroot too – but this summer I’ve discovered Dermalogical Kalme – a pocket sized tube that cools down red cheeks leaving me looking even skinned and not like a sun burnt tomato!

6. Lip balm is a must for any holiday bag – not only can the sun leave your lips dry – but all that excessive kissing from your sexy holiday romance is sure to leave you with stubble rash and friction burns.  Learn to avoid this by using Skin Shop’s Liquorice balm – not only does it smell mouth-watering, but it leaves my lips silky smooth too!

7. Frizzy hair is always going to be a problem in a humid climate – but if your hair is more curly fries than straight cut – use John Freida’s Frizz-Ease Secret Agent Flawless Finishing Crème to smooth out fly-aways and finish off strays. The best thing about this? It can be used all year round – making bad hair days a thing of the past!

Summer holidays are the best time to down-size your make up case – a healthy (sun-protected) tan, leaves your skin glowing and the darker colour covers up any unforgivable blemishes! But, going make-up-less is too futuristic for my liking, so products 8, 9 and 10 are the three things I know I can’t live without!

8. Your eyes are the window to your soul and eyeliner is every girl’s mantra. But, the problem with traditional eyeliner, is that a sweaty face often means black streaks and panda patches. So, switch to Guerlain’s liquid liner in Metal D’or – the gold will compliment your tan and make your eyes sparkle.

9. Highlighted cheekbones are the best way to accentuate your facial features – but a tan means swopping your usual blusher for a gold bronzer to deepen that tan!  This year I’m switching my Dior to Rimmel’s Sun Shimmer in a money saving move! The 3-in-1 bronzer contains sparkly particles that catch the light and brighten your face and the multi-tones is guaranteed to suit every skin type!

10. Sexy, sultry lips are the final thing on my list! Whilst winter is all about pinks and deep reds – summer’s time to lighten things up – and I don’t only mean the weight of your make up case. So switch that heavy lipstick to a light gloss and make it a coral shade that sets of your new tan! Try Mac’s To The Beach Tinted Lipglass in Easy Lounger!