The 5 best airport beauty buys.

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I know I’m not the only girl who gets a little hot under the collar at the thought of spending a few hours perusing the duty-free cosmetics aisle during a stopover.

In fact, it may or may not be true that I deliberately extended my stopover once because I knew I was going to be in a shopping Mecca airport. (It was worth it.)

The trick with duty-free shopping is to do your research before you leave, so you know whether or not you're actually getting a good bargain. Do some searching online before you leave for the airport and just get a rough idea of the recommended retail prices of any products you might be interested in, because not everything is a fantastic buy.

Here’s EXACTLY what makeup to pack for the holidays.

If you have some sweet travel plans coming up and have the ability to sample the delights that duty free shopping has to offer, I've done some research for you to get the most out of your time.

1. Limited edition colours

Often duty free shopping gives you access to products and colours which may not be available in your home country. MAC for example often offer certain pigments, sets and lip colours via duty free which never reach the shores of Australia.

Shopping duty free is the perfect time to check out limited edition colours and add them to your collection. All of the makeup counters will let you try on colours just like in store to make sure they suit you.

Duty Free is also a great place to check for sold out shades from back home, which often happens with MAC Collections.

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2. Palettes

Palettes are a fab way of getting a whole bunch of new makeup that works well together in one neat, cute little package. They can however be quite pricey so picking up a palette while shopping at duty free is going to save you quite a few pennies. I'd highly recommend Benefit cosmetics for great palettes.

3. Exclusive travel packs

Makeup brands often release exclusive packs specifically for "travel retail". Most of the time you'll find that your favourite mascara is available much cheaper in a duo pack (like YSL Faux Cils or Christian Dior "Diorshow" Mascara) and sometimes you'll find a nice combination of products with a heavy discount (check out Benefit's They're Real Push up liner and They're Real Mascara at duty free in exclusive packs).

If you're a fan of Clinique's Chubby sticks, you'll be happy to know that duty free shopping offers duo and trio packs of best selling colours in both the chubby stick for lips and chubby sticks for eyes.

4. Perfume

Duty-free shopping is the perfect time to stock up on your favourite perfume.

Here are some of our favourite fragrances for you to add to the shopping list

5. Skincare packs

If you're looking to overhaul your skin care routine, Duty Free is a great time to look into something new.

Companies often put together sample packs containing cleaner, toner and moisturiser at a good price which enables you to try the products and fall in love with them. You'll just need to go back next time to purchase the full sized.

What makeup do you stock up on when you're at the airport?