ESTIMATED VALUE IS £52.23 IN REALITY IT’S £156.69
It is not just the safety of your passport, iPad, camera, smart phone or Kindle, that you need to worry about when packing for your holidays but your toiletry bag too.
As the contents of the average wash bag is worth £156.69, however 82% of Britons are clueless to the actual value of their essential toiletry bag.
When quizzed, the average adult estimated their wash bag with contents to be worth £52.23. In reality the bag of essentials is actually worth nearly three times more at £156.69. These findings have been revealed in a new holiday report out today.
The research which surveyed 3,000 British adults was undertaken by Travelodge in response to the hotel chain seeing a rise in the number of toiletry bags being left behind in its 521 hotels.
In the last 12 months, Travelodge hotel staff has spent hundreds of hours uniting 10,000 wash bags with their owners. In one case a customer paid over a £100 for a courier to pick up her toiletry bag, which she had left behind in a London Travelodge hotel. (The designer wash bag had nearly £1,000 worth of toiletry items).
Over half of adults surveyed (52%) stated they have two toiletry bags on the go at the same time. One bag they will be use whilst travelling and the other bag they use daily at home, at the gym or at work.
A third of women surveyed stated their toiletry bag is the most important item they pack when travelling away from home. A fifth of women polled admitted they purchase more expensive toiletry items when they are going on holiday as it feels like a special treat.
The study also explored the beauty regimes and habits of British men and women.
Key research findings revealed that image-conscious Britons are spending over £14 billion* on toiletry products each year - and it's not just women who are the culprits. Half the men questioned as part of the research, stated they have ditched soap and water in favour of a more sophisticated daily beauty regime - which includes cleansing, toning and using anti-aging skin care products such as face serum, eye cream and moisturiser. One in four male respondents even admitted to splashing out on premium brands usually used by women.
One in five women think nothing of spending £50 on anti-ageing creams and own 10 different bottles of expensive perfume.
Shakila Ahmed, Travelodge Spokeswoman said: “I think the main reason to why so many Britons are clueless to the actual value of their toiletry bag is due to the fact that most adults purchase their toiletry essentials on ad-hoc basics. It’s very rarely that you would go out and purchase all items in one go therefore you don’t really know the exact total cost as you have brought the items singularly.”
Further findings from the study revealed the rise of the metrosexual - as men are now spending more time getting ready to go out than women. On average men spend 81 minutes a day on personal grooming, including cleansing, toning and moisturising, shaving, styling hair and choosing clothes. In contrast, women have their beauty regime down to a fine art and get hair, clothes and make-up done in just 75 minutes. Listed below is a breakdown on timings:
· On an average morning men spend 23 minutes in the shower, compared to 22 minutes for women.
· Men then take 18 minutes on their shaving regime, compared to 14 minutes for women despite them having to trim legs, armpits and bikini line.
· Men take a minute longer - 10 minutes - on cleansing, toning and moisturising.
· Choosing an outfit is also a timely operation for blokes who want to look their best - taking 13 minutes compared to 10 minutes for women.
· In addition, hair and make up takes a further 22 minutes, compared to a woman's 17 minutes, and men spend another couple of minutes checking and touching up their appearance
Listed below are the top ten toiletry items that men regularly borrow from their partners without asking for permission beforehand:
1. Moisturiser
2. Hand cream
3. Hair conditioner
4. Perfume
5. Body butter
6. Anti aging serum
7. Night Cream
8. Face mask
9. Eye cream
10. Black spot nose strip
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Notes to editors:
The research was conducted in June 2013 with a sample of 3,000 British adults aged 18 upwards
The £14.1 billion has been calculated via the following equation:
On average Britons spend around £25 on toiletries per month 25 x 12 = 300
300 x UK adult population (46,930,337), source: National Bureau of Statistics
= 14 079 101 100