Have product, will travel

You probably know the drill. When traveling by air, any liquid, gel or aerosol must be 3 ounces or less and all of them must be corralled in a single, clear quart-sized bag. Annoying? Sure. Unavoidable, too. Check out these products that make that sock-footed shuffle through security a little easier to bear.

LUSH SOLID SHAMPOO BAR

Available at www. lush.com, $9

People go gaga over Lush's all-natural handmade products, although you might not know it because they don't have a Minnesota store yet. (I'm hopeful.) The eco-conscious company's solid shampoo bars produce a surprisingly rich foam in no time and produce, on average, more than 50 shampoos. They smell great, too. Travel tins available for another $4.50, or come free with the purchase of two shampoo bars.

Ø ASSORTED WIPES BY LA FRESH

Available at www.lafreshbeauty.com, most run $4 for a package of 6

Pre-packaged wipes are a great carry-on option. La Fresh understood this so well that they created a slew of them (12, to be exact), including makeup remover, deodorant, lotion and lens cleaner. My vote for most unique: the dental finger mitt, a textured wipe that slips on like a finger puppet and tastes minty fresh. All these products are particularly great for freshening on the road, regardless of your carry-on situation.

º FILL-ABLES TRAVEL KIT BY AVEDA

Available at select Aveda salons throughout Minnesota, $16

Beware: There are some lousy little fillable bottles on the market. You're safe with Aveda's. This nicely priced kit comes with four sturdy snap-open bottles, one spray pump, a 1-ounce jar with teeny plastic spatula and a sheet of attachable labels.

º TRAVEL BOTTLES KIT BY PITOTUBES

Available at www.pitotubes.com, $52

The sleek plastic bottles in this set dispense your products handily with a pump, although patience is required when using thicker products, which have a tendency to hold air pockets. The kit comes with six bottles, two each of three different sizes, with a sheet of labels (helpful, since naked toiletries really do look quite similar), and a nice metallic-mesh bag.

ø VARIOUS DENTAL PRODUCTS BY TRAVELON

Available at stores including the AAA Minneapolis Travel Store in St. Louis Park and select AAA locations across Minnesota, from $5

Travelon took the dental hygiene conundrum and ran with it. The tooth gel and mouthwash are both ingenious little science experiments. Plop a tablet into water, where it effervesces into your desired product. The tooth gel needs a little help, though. Crush it with the bottom of your toothbrush. The compact plastic container comes with 25 tablets and a handy little detachable cup. Another option: Travelon's toothpaste powder, which, I must note, remains very much a powder.

ONE-STOP TRAVEL-SIZED SHOP AT MINIMUS.BIZ

Available at www.minimus.biz, prices vary

Even before the TSA regulations hit, Minimus.biz set out to be the Internet's biggest and best clearinghouse for travel-sized products. All of their more than 1,000 products weigh 3 ounces or less, and they'll even pack your order ready to go in a quart-sized baggie, if you so specify.

Berit Thorkelson tests travel goodies and writes the travel-product website www.trustypony.com from her home in St. Paul.