Can you take hairspray on a plane?

Hairspray on flights in and from Japan

On a domestic flight only the quantity limits apply. On an international flight the liquid rule comes on top.

Domestic flights in Japan

The 100ml liquid limit does not apply.

International flights from Japan

Each container 100ml or less, all of them inside one transparent re-sealable bag of 1 litre or less, one bag per person.

What a flammable label and a missing cap mean for hairspray

Hairspray may fly with flammable propellant because the lists file it as a toiletry, a concession that other spray cans do not get.

Flammable gas is accepted in a toiletry spray

The list of restricted items from Japan's transport ministry places hairspray under cosmetics, a class it heads as non-radioactive items including flammable liquids and high-pressure gas (spray cans). Spray cans outside the cosmetics and medicines classes are accepted only when they use no flammable or toxic gas. Australia's CASA draws the same line, giving hairspray as an example of an aerosol containing flammable gas in a toiletry article.

The cap rule is written for gas-filled cans

Japan's condition applies to a spray filled with gas: the valve has to be protected by a cap, or by another suitable method that keeps it from being pressed, so the contents cannot leak by accident. The TSA words it as caps or other suitable means over the button or nozzle, and Australia's Home Affairs asks for a fitted cap or locking device.

Narita's answer on hair spray in a suitcase

Narita Airport's FAQ takes the case of a passenger who does not want to carry a gas type hair spray on board. Its answer: a hair spray in a container with a capacity of not more than 0.5 kg or 0.5 l is permitted in checked baggage. Another answer on the same page calls a high-pressure gas spray a dangerous good.

Europe's safety agency names hair sprays first

EASA opens its dangerous goods page for passengers with hair sprays, listed ahead of lithium batteries, perfume and matches as goods that seem harmless but may be very dangerous when transported by air. Its instruction is to read the dangerous goods information provided by the airline before the flight.

Hairspray: the rule country by country

The carry-on answer for hairspray is the same in all 7 other places we checked. The limits themselves are not identical, so read the row for the country you fly from.

Each row comes from that authority's own page. Airlines can be stricter, and the screening officer has the final say.

If security in Japan will not let hairspray through

What to do

Move hairspray to the bag you check in before you reach security, within the checked-baggage limits above. Narita Airport states that anything given up at the checkpoint is discarded and cannot be returned.

Buying hairspray in Japan

Where to buy

Drugstores.

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