How I Take Care of My Skin on Flights

It’s a bit depressing that Summer’s half over and I’m just now starting to feel the urge to blog about travel-related topics. I know a lot of people tend to travel in August, to maybe this will benefit you if that’s your plan! In my last post, I talked about the essential items to bring with that will make your life easier when you’re away from home, and today I want to go through the process of how I take care of my skin during flights and the products I like to use.

1. Chug tons of water the day of your flight (or the day before if you have a flight the following morning): This is pretty obvious, but so many people still do not properly hydrate themselves. Bring a water bottle with a built-in filter to save $, or buy a large bottle of water after your security check. This will come in handy for steps 5-7 below. Keep in mind that staying well-hydrated can reduce jet-leg and I’ve found that it helps me with motion-sickness too.

2. Wear little or no makeup during the flight: People have differing philosophies on this, but is what I prefer and would recommend. There’s just something highly unappealing about covering your face in product, and then sitting in an environment where the air is being recycled, increasing the risk of breakouts. Another part of my minimal makeup philosophy is that unless you’re famous, no one in the flight is going to notice you or care what you look like, so why not wait until you land and have a decent place to freshen up?

I have worn makeup into the airport many times, but then used makeup remover wipes such as these from e.l.f. to clean my face before takeoff. These wipes are highly affordable and can remove a ton of makeup. I carry this with me on long trips because I can use them before bed as well.

3. Moisturize your body: The skin on not only your face, but also your legs, arms, and neck will get dehydrated during the flight too, and one way to minimize the impact of this is to apply an unscented or subtle-scent lotion right away when you get situated. Keep re-applying if it’s a long flight.

4. Put on a sheet mask: I have so many of these from Asian brands and I’m glad Sephora started carrying their own stuff in stores. One of their best uses is when you need hydration and don’t have access to running water (just like with the makeup remover wipes I mentioned earlier). It can get a little weird if you’re traveling by yourself and all of a sudden the stranger next to you looks and sees a white sheet over your face — this is why I always make my fiancé be the buffer, lol.

A couple sheet masks I’ve used for a long time are from the My Beauty Diary line, and fortunately Amazon sells them and they come out to about $1 per piece at the time of this post. The Black Pearl and Aloe ones are my favorite. I leave the mask on for 20 minutes and then rub the excess essence/gel/whatever you want to call it in my neck and let it absorb for the duration of the flight.

5. Drink more water while in-flight: I try to make sure I’m still drinking enough water, but I struggle with this because depending on my seating arrangement, I hate getting up to use the bathroom (and let’s be honest, being in that tiny box is just not a pleasant experience).

6. Never use the bathroom water to wash your face: After reading this article about how many germs can reside in the tubing that pumps water into planes, I will only use this water to wash my hands (and then use a sanitary wipe as soon as I get back to my seat). If you need to wash your face or brush your teeth, rinse with the water from your water bottle.

7. Wipe face and and moisturize before landing: Use the water from your water bottle, and a napkin to wipe off your face, then apply moisturizer. This will create the “base” for when you want to apply some makeup products again. I like the Origins GinZing Moisturizer, or Mario Badescu Aloe Moisturizer if you prefer some SPF. In my opinion, these are light-weight, and since the previous sheet mask contained so much hydration, you are essentially just trying to lock that all in.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic (especially comments on makeup vs no makeup), and what you do to maintain healthy skin when you fly.  As always, thank you for reading, and happy travels!