Inflight Skincare Essential And Routine

By the time you read this, I will either be well settled into my vacation routine of PJ wearing and stuffing my face with food from mom’s kitchen (or maybe I will be back from vacation).  Right now, I am on a flight heading to Nigeria and because I am flying through Dubai – it’s a 25 hour flight – 15 hours Dallas to Dubai; a hour and half lay over; then a eight hour flight to Nigeria (I know – “ouch”). I am getting ready to start my inflight skincare and beauty routine – so I thought I would do a post of what I do, why and some product I use.

When you have to fly more than 3 to 4 hours, the altitude and the air in the plane starts to takes its toll on the skin – for me that means very dry and itchy skin and it takes days (sometimes weeks to get my skin back to normal). Over the years, I have set up a inflight skincare routine to help me deal with the altitude and airplane air effects. I don’t do this on every flight I take – only when my flying time is eight hours or more – here goes.

• I sanitize my hands either with an anti-bacterial wipe or hand sanitizers. My skin is sensitive so I want to make sure I don’t have any germs that will affect my skin
• Apply a thick lip balm. My lips get very dry, very quickly on a regular basis – so I coat it with a thick layer of lip balm. I use the favorite Night balm (8 hour overnight recovery) by Bigelow. It’s a night lip balm, but it works amazingly to keep the lips well moisturized for up to eight hours at a time.
• Cuticle oil. You will be surprised how quickly your cuticles dry out that high up, so quick coats of cuticle oil will reduce/prevent any dryness. My cuticle oil of choice is the Sally Hansen vitamin e nail and cuticle oil.
• If I have worn makeup on the flight – I will usually take it off about four hours in or right after the first meal is served – that way, whenever I choose to take a nap, I don’t have to worry about sleeping in makeup. Once makeup is off, I apply moisturizer – choose a moisturizer that helps with hydration (even if you have a oily combo skin like me, this is the one time, you want to go for something with intense hydration). I use the Clinique moisture surge extended thirst relief.
• Don’t forget the eyes – make sure you also use an eye cream, the area around the eyes are very sensitive and for me when that area gets dry – it’s a very long day. I have several eye creams I like, but the best one I found is the Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair – Eyes. It is very pricey (which is why I suggest getting a sample). A little bit of this stuff goes a long way. I got a sample from Nordstrom two month ago and I still got a month supply to go [Tip. If you cannot afford a beauty/skincare item; ask for a sample from counter at your department store].  I will have a post soon about samples and how to get them.
• Moisturize some more. I apply a layer of moisturizer on my hands and legs – also a good idea to wear socks right after – keep the moisture locked in for longer. For this I use the Clinique dramatically different moisturizing lotion + for very dry-to-dry combination skin. Super hydrating and it also helps if you get itchy when you skin is dry.

If my travel time is more than eight hours – I also do the following:

• Use a cleanser after I take off my makeup, a cleanser gets what ever the makeup wipe does not get. I use a sample size of the purity made simple 3 in 1 cleanser – I like this one because it does not foam up and I can cleanse my face without going to the bathroom.
• Don’t forget to mask.  On this note, go with a face mask that is clear, you don’t want to freak out the other passenger with a mud mask or sheet mask. The fresh rose facemask is a good option, it goes on clear and it also hydrates and tones. 

Since my total flying time is twenty-five hours, I will probably repeat some of these steps once or twice. Now back to my routine and watching Shadow recruit.

- S.I.