Queer Eye’s Antoni Porowski Has the Smartest Traveling Hack So You Don’t Get Stuck in Security

As a chef and tastemaker celebrated for elevating the everyday, Antoni Porowski brings the same thoughtful eye to gifting. That’s exactly why Snapdragon, the brand powering some of 2025’s hottest tech gifts, tapped him to curate a few special finds for the season.

Everything from the Oakley Meta Vanguard Glasses to the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen), both of which feature Snapdragon processors, made his list of things he’s gifting family in Canada this year (in addition to a home-cooked meal prepared by him, of course). But the other thing he loves to gift and travel with? Candles — and you know what? Same, Antoni, same. 

That’s why I couldn’t get enough of his smart, time-saving travel hack, which I’m totally going to steal on my next flight later this week. Porowski likes to travel with hand luggage/carry-ons to streamline travel time, and he always makes sure to take any candles he has packed in them out of the bags before going through the airport security scanners. 

“Take the candle out of the bag and leave it so that they know [what it is], and it’ll actually save you about 10 minutes of them going through your things at TSA,” Porowski told me. This way, the TSA agents can easily see what — and where — your candles are, so they’ll skip having to search through your bags because of them. 

You may still have your bag searched for something else or at random, of course. But it won’t be because of the candle. And if you want to pick a candle up while traveling for yourself to bring home, you can use this trick then, too.

Porowski shares one thing to keep in mind for choosing candle scents: He loves an unscented or an organic smelling candle, at least if you’re going to be burning one in the kitchen while cooking. For that purpose, he’s been loving Loewe’s Tomato Leaves. 

Outside of the kitchen or dining room, he’s all about Diptyque, and he’ll be burning the brand’s iconic Feu De Bois all holiday long. “It’s like a burnt ashy, wood fireplace,” Porowski says. “There’s something old world and cozy about it.” And he snagged a small Diptyque Sapin, or Pine Tree scented candle, this year for traveling, too. The votive size is currently sold out online but might still be in stores.