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Sure, travelling to another country can be exciting, relaxing, and all that other fun stuff. What is NOT fun is the long, longggg flights where you’ll essentially be strapped down in an uncomfortable, hard seat as you slowly feel your precious skin deteriorating hour by longgg hour.

Very often, we even return home to breakouts, dry skin, and cracked lips. It’s as though the universe doesn’t want us to be happy!

Thankfully, these can all be avoided if you have armed yourself with travel skincare essentials. Yes, they may not always be the regular products that you use, but they are what you need – both in-flight, and post-flight – to guard yourselves against the dreaded post-flight irritated, dehydrated skin.

In-flight routine

1. Remember to use a sunscreen

sofina jenne uv emusion

Just because you’re cooped up in an enclosed space doesn’t mean that you don’t need to protect yourself from harmful UV rays! In fact, the contrary is true: you’re exposed to even more UV rays when you’re on the plane, so all the more reason we need to protect ourselves from them!

Try: SOFINA Jenne UV Protection Emulsion SPF50+ PA++++, which not only protects you from harmful UVA and UVB sunrays, but also helps in preventing your skin from drying out because of its moisturising properties, fades out dark spots, and brightens the skin tone so you’ll be leaving the plane ride looking refreshed and a-glowin’.

Retails for S$26 on Shopee.

2. Prone to acne? Use a pimple patch for fast healing!

medicube red clear patch

For the acne-prone gals and guys out there – we’ve got you! Flight conditions, as we all know, is immensely bad for us as the high altitude majorly dehydrates our skin. What happens, then, is that your skin overcompensates, and produces more oil.

…Which is bad news if you’re prone to acne! What you want to do is to protect your pimples from these dehydrating conditions so that they can properly heal, of course.

Try: Medicube Red Clear Spot Patch, a small translucent, barely-noticeable film you can put over your pimples. It infuses niacinamide and salicylic acid for a faster recovery as well as hyaluronic acid that calms, soothes, and moisturises the skin.

Retails for S$18 (66 patches) at Guardian stores islandwide and Shopee.

3. Apply a mask!

In Flight Skin Routine Innisfree Its Real Squeeze Mask

As mentioned earlier, high altitude equals to dehydrated, dull-looking skin. So to rectify that, simply use your favourite mask. Scared of the stares you’ll get in-flight?

Just tell yourself you’ll be the one with glowing, moisturised skin at the end of the flight while they get to suffer with dehydrated, flaky skin just because they wanted to save face. Who’s laughing now?

Try: Innisfree It’s real squeeze mask, which each has a mask that provides for different skin conditions from brightening, to acne-prone, to moisturising.

Retails for S$2 per mask and S$24 for a pack of 12, available at all Innisfree outlets and Shopee.

4. Lip balm to keep your lips healthy

In Flight Skin Routine Burts Bees Beeswax Lip Balm

A must-have for a flight – after all, nobody likes leaving the plane only to find your favourite lippies apply coarse and uneven on the lips!

Try: Burt’s Bees Beeswax Lip Balm, a cult favourite, and for a good reason, often cited by beauty junkies as a holy grail lip balm that instantly heals cracking, flaky lips to healthy, moisturised lips. It comes in seven different exciting flavours, for those who can’t stand the thought of simply using a flavourless lip balm!

Retails for S$10 at Sephora

5. Get a good night’s sleep

In Flight Skin Routine Eye Mask And Neck Support

Wanna know a rather well-hidden, cost-free secret to good skin? Lots of sleep. Do yourself a favour and get yourself an eye mask, or one of those neck-support pillows, for a good night’s sleep, uncomfortable it may be – you’ll thank yourself in the morning, when it’s time to get off the plane.

Eye masks and neck-support pillows can be bought at Daiso, Miniso, and nearly almost anywhere you can think of.

6. Cleansing wipes

bifesta micellar cleansing sheets

Oh yes. Another absolute must-have essential to carry on a long-haul flight. Because who really wants to wash their face with the plane lavatory’s tap. (Who knows how clean the water is, anyway?) Besides, even if it is super clean, given how little water the tap produces per press, it’s not exactly the ideal place for washing your face.

Try: Japanese beauty brand Bifesta has launched its renewed Bifesta Micellar Cleansing Sheets to help you remove makeup effortlessly and cleanse your skin thoroughly while providing additional skin-caring benefits.

The Bifesta Micellar Cleansing Sheets Moist contains Adsorbent Amino Acids to hydrate dry areas and enhance the skin’s moisture retention to reveal brighter, clearer, and smoother skin.

Retails for S$14.50 per pack online at Watsons, Guardian, Shopee, and Lazada.

Post-flight routine

7. Wipe away all that grime and nasty dead skin cells

pyunkang yul low ph cleansing water

Skin gunky, dull, and imbalanced after a long flight of not being able to properly cleanse your face?

Try: Pyunkang Yul Low pH Cleansing Water, which works as a makeup remover, first cleanser, and gentle exfoliator. It clarifies and cleanses without irritating the skin or disturbing its delicate moisture barrier.

Using naturally-derived ingredients like bitter root extract, tea tree extract, and vitamin C-rich mung bean extract, this multipurpose solution removes oily impurities, sunscreen and makeup from pores while restoring hydration with hyaluronic acid and cell-strengthening ceramides.

Fruit-based AHAs remove dead skin cells while witch hazel extract helps clarify pores and aids in smoother, softer-looking skin. Barberry root and green tea extracts calm irritation and boost hydration – just what your skin needs after a long flight.

It retails for S$18.08 on Shopee.

8. Use a facial mist for refreshed skin

In Flight Skin Routine Mario Badescu Facial Spray With Aloe Herbs And Rosewater

To keep your face looking fresh and hydrated throughout the day – especially if you’re going in the winter – is so, so important if you don’t want dry and dull-looking skin – even for the oilier folks.

Try: Mario Badescu Facial Spray with Aloe, Herbs, and RoseWater, another cult favourite raved about by many, who absolutely swear by this spray for that tell-tale, enviable glow-from-within.

P.S. Can also be used on your hair to keep hair looking luscious and shiny!

Retails for S$12 at Sephora.

9. Relax after a long flight with aromatherapy oils

hush essential oil

Hey, caring for your physical and emotional well-being is important too! Feeling stressed or sickly after a long flight? We’ve got your back.

Try: Evoke uplifting feelings of clarity and relaxation, as well as alleviate anxiety and stress with Hush’s selection of essential oil blends and roll-on options. Use these in your oil burner, bathtub, or on your skin to feel a ton better.

Retails for S$24 at Hush