Many a skin-care-loving, jet-setting traveler has their TSA 3-1-1 game locked down and prepared to face the hectic holiday travel season. Each of their 3.4-ounce liquid, gel and aerosol skin care products is carefully packed in a clear 1-quart zip-top bag and ready for their carry-on bag.
However, with newer skin care products on the market like balms, jellies and sticks, it can be confusing to tell whether or not these products fall under the TSA 3-1-1 liquid rule for checked luggage. Your favorite cleansing balm can hold its shape, so would that mean it’s considered a solid? But cleansing balms can also be spread, so would it be considered a liquid?
And what about other items like sheet masks or powdered forms of skin care? If you have to wait hours to board your delayed flight, can you at least create a little slice of tranquility among the holiday travel chaos with a sheet mask? Or are some of these products at risk of being thrown into the trash at security?
To find out which products are allowed in your carry-on luggage and which you should pack in your checked luggage for holiday travels, HuffPost spoke to Eri Jenkins, a 17-year veteran of the Transportation Security Administration and Uniformed Advisor for TSA Security Operations.
The 411 on TSA’s 3-1-1
If you plan on packing your skin care lotions and potions in your carry-on luggage for your holiday flights, ensure they meet the TSA 3-1-1 rule, with each product packed in a travel-sized container of 3.4 ounces (100 ml) or less. Your products should then fit inside a single 1-quart bag.
While the rules around the carry-on status of your favorite liquid serums and gel night creams are relatively straightforward, some other products might leave travelers scratching their heads as to whether or not the 3-1-1 rule applies.
Cleansing Balms and Jellies
As a good rule of thumb, Jenkins recommends that if you can spread, rub or spray the skin care item, it should adhere to the TSA 3-1-1 rule if you want to pack it into your carry-on luggage.
So if you plan on wowing your family and friends with your favorite cleansing balm at the next big holiday gathering, ensure the container is either under 3.4 ounces or pack it in your checked luggage.
Powdered Skin Care
Powdered forms of skin care are another relatively new addition to the market. Skin care fanatics can find everything from cleansers to serums to even sunscreens in powdered form.
If you like your skin care like you like your donuts (powdered), you’re in luck! The TSA allows travelers to bring up to 12 ounces of powder-like substances in their carry-on luggage. Anything larger might require extra screening.
Jenkins notes that powdered forms of skin care should remain in their pre-mixed, powdered form to comply with the 12-ounce limit for powder-like substances.
Sheet Masks
In case you need a little extra pampering in the boarding area while your flight has been delayed for the third time, according to Jenkins, individually packaged sheet masks are (fortunately) allowed in carry-on luggage.
Baby and makeup wipes also receive the OK from TSA for your carry-on luggage.
Don’t Make These Carry-On Skin Care Mistakes
Opened or unopened, ALL containers must be 3.4 ounces or less.
If you frequently travel through international airports, you may have seen a fellow traveler waltz through security with full-sized skin care products purchased from duty-free.
While these sealed and unopened liquids (skin care and otherwise) from duty-free are allowed through TSA checkpoints under special conditions, don’t assume you can bring your full-sized products from home through the security checkpoint simply because they are unopened.
“The biggest misconception I see with passengers coming through the checkpoint is that an item can be any size as long as it’s not opened, and that’s not true,” Jenkins said. “So even if you have a 12-ounce bottle of lotion that’s still closed and has the manufacturer seal on it, it still will not be able to come through your carry-on bag.”
The TSA goes by container size, not the amount in the container.
Jenkins says another mistake she sees is passengers using a container that is larger than 3.4 ounces to store their skin care products, even when the contents are less than 3.4 ounces. If you pack your skin care in a larger container, you might run the risk of the item not making it past the TSA security checkpoint.
“We go by container size,” Jenkins said.
Even if you only have one ounce of the viral (and very pricey) SK-II essence left in the 11-ounce packaging you snagged from Costco, play it safe and either pack it in your checked luggage or leave it at home for you to enjoy when you return after the holidays.
Give yourself plenty of extra time at the airport.
In the recent past, it was the norm to arrive at the airport two hours before your flight’s departure. But nowadays, you may need to arrive even earlier— particularly during the busy holiday travel season.
Carter Langston, the press secretary for the TSA, cautions that travelers may need to plan to get to the airport even earlier, particularly if they need to return rental vehicles or check baggage during airport “rush hours.”
“Rush hours tend to be early in the morning between 4 a.m. and 7 a.m. and in the afternoon between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.,” Langston said.
While arriving early to the airport will allow you to rest a little easier during your holiday travels, Jenkins says budging this extra time will also make the security checkpoint process easier for yourself and TSA officers.
“Travelers should also remember that anytime that they’re coming through the checkpoint, anything that will be in your accessible property could be subjected to additional screening,” Jenkins said.
Just in case a TSA officer needs to make an additional screening at the security checkpoint, Jenkins recommends making everything easier for both yourself and the officer by removing your 1-quart bag of products from your carry-on luggage before sending it through the X-ray machine.
“If [the skin care product] does have to go through additional screening, by it being outside of the bag, it’s easier for the officer to locate it,” Jenkins said.
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