Long haul travel plays havoc with my skin – especially when I have to be up at the crack of dawn to catch the flight and I am up late the night before packing. I have a routine which I follow which helps to reduce the impact of a nine hour flight.
I am a fan of Sisley skincare, especially their masks so always try to get samples prior to travelling. Of course you can decant masks into small pots… and I have done this before… but it requires time and organisation, both of which evaded me before this trip. In addition, I often find that I decant too little or waaaaay to much and I’m not overly keen on dipping my fingers repeatedly into a pot. I could use a spatula …if I remember to put it in the clear plastic bag…but samples are an easy way to carry the product. They are already decanted and you can focus on just using the sample by the end of the flight. I know from previous experience that I can get two or three applications from one sample and having the different masks with me means that I can decide which to use on the plane according to what my skin needs at the time.
Before I left the house for the airport, I cleansed and toned and then used the amazing Express Flower Gel Mask on my face and neck. I have the full size of this at home so I applied it in a thick layer, which was absorbed into my skin pretty quickly. Once on the flight, after take off, I apply a layer. I repeat this four hours into the flight and again at eight hours. If I know that I am being picked up at the airport and my final destination is not too far from the airport and or I am landing during the evening – I don’t remove the mask until I have reached my destination. However, for my trip to Jamaica, my accommodation is a two hour drive during the early afternoon sun, so I removed the mask and applied moisturiser and SPF prior to landing.
On the way back to Gatwick, I used the Tropical Resins mask, which is a clay mask but very creamy so it does not crack if you move your face. Do it before cabin crew come round with any food so that you don’t give them a shock when you let them know if you would prefer chicken or beef! Generally, people are not interested in what you are doing on a flight so a 10 minute clay mask treatment goes pretty much unnoticed. I normally carry some cotton wool pads in my hand luggage which I dampen before I apply the mask. Once the 10 minutes is up I can remove the mask without having to get up to dampen the cotton wool in the toilet. I then follow this will Bioderma (which I did remember to decant). I used the clay mask on the return flight because between the SPF and bug repellent (on my neck not my face) as well as the heat and humidity of the Caribbean, my face and neck were in need of something to draw out the impurities. After the clay mask I used the Black Rose Cream Mask in three applications for the rest of the flight and I didn’t take it off till I got home.
Do you have a long haul flight skincare routine? I’d love to hear which products you like to use.