Tips For Making Air Travel Easier On Your Complexion

When I was a young girl, I loved flying on airplanes. In the summer, my parents would pick a stewardess for me like picking your beloved on eHarmony dot com, and then they would ship me off to various relatives. Although I thought I was the one getting the vacation, Mom and Dad were probably getting a well-planned vacation, too (smoochie, smoochie).

I would sit up front with the stewardess (the name "stewardess" even dates me) with the airline's flight wings attached to my Sunday best. Oh, those were the days. Now flying has become such a challenge. As a result of long check-in lines, cancelled flights, vacationing on the tarmac, the orange warning from Homeland Security that your safety and blood pressure has now been heightened, the once youthful dew on my face has been replaced by anxiety and dry skin.

According to Chanel's research lab, (the World Congress of Dermatology in Paris, the Epidermal and Sensory Research and Investigation Centre), in-flight humidity was only 8 percent on average (20 percent is considered comfortable). As a result, moisture in women's cheeks dropped by 20 percent and in their foreheads by 15 percent. (And here I thought all along that my cheek and forehead droop was a result of anti-gravitational pull.)

"Extreme temperature fluctuations and those tiny fans blowing on you can dry skin out," says Doris J. Day, MD, assistant clinical professor of dermatology at New York University Medical Center. "And both the environmental and psychological stress of flying cause the release of hormones, so skin may be oilier in places that are usually oily and drier in places that are dry."

To counteract the in-flight condition wreaking havoc on your skin, try these tips:

• Caudalie Beauty Elixir ($18 at Sephora) contains rosemary and essential oils, plus a minty scent that gives your mood a lift.
• Kinerase Hydrating Antioxidant Mist ($35 from Sephora) protects and rejuvenates skin.
• For mid-flight dry and grimy skin, try Dove Essential Nutrients Clarifying Toner ($9.44 from Med Shop Express). A lightweight choice with vitamin E as well as fatty acids that occur naturally in skin and keep it from drying out.
• For oily skin, try Clarins alcohol free toning lotion ($19 from Fragrance.net), which has a clean, fresh scent and is made with witch hazel plus gentle aloe and chamomile extract.
• My fave travel companion is Neutrogena Hydrating Facial Cloth Mask ($8.99 from Fragrancenet.com). Blanket a cloth over your face for 15 minutes. This freaks The Hubster out because my primary purpose is to keep all those germs from seven seats in front of me and seven seats behind me from reaching the cilia in my nose.

You may not make it to your destination on time, but when you arrive, your skin will look REALLY GOOD!

Safe traveling...

Images: Sephora

Sources: Prevention