Face it: you can't pack all your hair products, skincare stuff and make-up, so what you do take has to work super-efficiently during those long flights, days spent in the pool or sea, treks around ancient ruins in the heat or the sudden onset of monsoon rains. To stay looking reasonably good when you travel requires products that have been tried and tested – and passed with full marks.
Philip Kingsley Swimcap
Developed for the first US Olympic synchronised swimming team, this comb-in product simultaneously protects your hair from the drying effects of the sun, salt water and chlorine, conditioning it and leaving it glossy and smooth when shampooed out. In extremis, it can also be used for a slicked-back - if rather sticky - evening look.
£16.10 (Dh94) for 150ml, free delivery (www.feelunique.com; 00 44 845 643 0119).
Face Atelier Ultra Foundation
A favourite among make-up artists preparing people for the pitiless scrutiny of HDTV, and designated "official foundation" for Madonna's Confessions tour, this deceptively lightweight foundation gives a smooth, almost airbrushed effect. Long-lasting and waterproof, it should see you emerge in good shape from everything from a long-haul flight to karaoke sessions in foreign nightclubs with no air-con.
£32 (Dh187) for 30ml, free delivery (www.cultbeauty.co.uk; 00 44 8456 529 521).
Blinc eyeliner
Scene: the South of France, the Hamptons or suchlike. You chat away, confident you're looking tolerably hot, then get to a mirror and realise the terrible truth. Your eyeliner has disappeared while your mascara has run down your cheeks. Cringe. The answer: smudge-proof, non-fade, water-resistant eyeliner that doesn't flake or run (and the equally excellent Blinc mascara that sells for the same price).
£12.95 (Dh75), free delivery (www.beautybay.com; 00 44 161 848 4480).