Mile High Beauty
I made it to Miami! All the packing I did this week got me thinking... I LOOOVE traveling. Love it! But there are two things about traveling that kind of suck... 1. Packing/UN-packing and 2. Your skin going cray from getting all dried out on a long-haul flight... WELLLLL, fly from Australia to LA a few times and you'll figure out the second problem pretty quick. (Jury's still out on how to make packing/un-packing less annoying). Here is what I do on my long flights so that I walk off looking dewy, fresh, and hydrated!!
PRE-FLIGHT
I break from my habit of taking 5 second showers and take a good, long shower where I focus on exfoliating. Use a body scrub to buff your bod to perfection. I love Frank because it's all natural and claims to improve cellulite ;) I'm not the DIY type but this could probs be easily recreated at home. Don't neglect your face either. Use your favorite physical exfoliator and get to work.
Once you're out, lather up! I use Eminence Organics Coconut Firming Body lotion (smells like coconut HEAVEN) mixed with a few drops of Beautycounter's Body Oil.
AT THE AIRPORT
At the gate, buy a keg-sized water bottle - biggest they got. Sometimes I get two. This is your new best friend and the reason you made sure to get that aisle seat... I don't drink any alcohol on planes, but I get if you "need to". Just balance it all out with tonsss of water! My other tip is sort of weird... compression socks. I don't really know what to say except that you will not BELIEVE what a difference they make. You avoid any and all discomfort and weird feet-swelling. (Swelling and bloating is the enemy). Not to mention, every plane I get on these days cranks up the AC to the level of an arctic tundra so they'll keep your toes nice and warm. Literally any time someone tells me they are flying for 5+ hours, the first thing out of my mouth is, "Do you have compression socks?". Put them on at the gate before you get on the plane.
ON THE PLANE
I like to wipe down my seat and armrests to discourage any gross germies from getting near my face. I also spray Dr. Bronner's Lavender hand sanitizer on my hands regularly throughout the flight... smells amaze + keeps you clean. Apparently airplane bathroom sinks are NOT to be trusted!
GET CLEAN
If I wore makeup, the first thing I'll do is take it off with micellar water. I'll follow that with a quick swipe of Witch Hazel to make sure my little pores are clean.
SPRITZ IT UP
Facial sprays are everything! I love them so much, I have multiple and keep them all over the place - In the car, in my bag, bathroom, etc. I never want to be more than an arm's length away! Mario Badescu is the best for any redness, Pocket Bunny wins packaging :) and has the best "sprayer" (like it actually mists, not sprays, so you never have awkwardly huge drops of water on your face), La Roche Posay is best for cooling. All of them are super hydrating!
SERUM
It's SO important to hydrate immediately after taking your makeup off + spritzing. The air in the plane is super dry and will absorb any moisture it can find. So if you spritz and let it just sit on your skin, it's comin for ya. Best thing to do is spritz + follow with a serum. I like Mario Badescu's Vitamin C serum for the face because it's both hydrating + brightening. For the eyes, I bring my trusty roller-ball! I give my eyes a nice little massage and pat the serum in.
IN-FLIGHT MASKING
Time to lock in all that great hydration with a mask and sit back. I love Laneige Water Sleep Mask and Andalou Naturals 1000 Roses Mask. (You can get Laneige at Target + Andalou at Whole Foods/ Mother's/ Sprouts!). Both are clear and go on like a thick moisturizer so you won't look like a psycho. They're packaged kind of bulky though, so not totally ideal for the plane. I recently got the Multimasking set from Glamglow (I'm OBSESSED and it's a limited edition so get on it!!) and the baby Thirstymud is perfect to stuff in your carry-on. I put on a thick layer then fall asleep/read a book/watch a movie... The point is, I leave it on for the majority of the flight.
BEAUTY BALM
I love a good skin salve or beauty balm. They're great multitasking little babies to have in your arsenal at all times but ESPECIALLY when you think you might run into some serious dry spots. I make sure my lips are covered, sometimes dab around my eyes, rub on my cuticles, etc. My two faves are Glossier's Balm Dot Com and the Australian cult fave Lucas Papaw.
PREPARE FOR LANDING
You usually get like an hour warning before you land. At that point, I'll wipe off or rub in any excess mask I have on, pop on my eyepads and just chill like that for a bit. When I take them off ~15 minutes later, I'll use my rollerball again to wake 'em up and then finish with eye cream. Mario Badescu's Olive Eye Cream is the MOST hydrating, dream of an eye cream I've ever found.
HAIR
Given the crazy high number of things I do to my skin, how LITTLE I do to may hair is quite shocking. I just come prepared with a baby brush and dry shampoo. I can't live without dry shampoo, so I will say I'm not that picky, but Living Proof's has to be one of the best out there.
FINISHING TOUCHES
If makeup is necessary upon landing, I'll do the essentials: Brows, Mascara, foundation, highlighter. The Iope Air Cushion is the only makeup I've allowed on my face for about 2 years now. Obsessed doesn't even begin to cover it. Among the the 1000 reasons I love it is that it's super travel friendly! The Honest magic beauty balm is also amaze for travel because you can use it for everything! I highlight my cheekbones, pat it on my lips + eyelids, and rub it on any other dry spots.
Overkill? Maybe. But what else are you going to do with 10+ hours? Might as well get to work looking good!
