I’ve spent this week getting over jetlag, and recovering from an eight-hour redeye in your 30s comes with the added gift of having to recover not just sleep, but a disrupted skincare routine.
Airplanes suck for skincare. The recycled air; the dry, blasting tiny fans; the dehydration and airplane with food that has no fresh produce in it sucking nutrients out of my skin; the lack of sleep not —it all adds up to my skin feeling and looking lacklustre. So here’s what I’m using to repair my skin, avoid blemishes, and get some bounce back:
Vital Baby Hygiene Aquaint Cleansing Water 50ml
This is a bit of an odd one, but when I get off the plane or into a taxi en route home, it’s the first thing I reach for. It’s hypochlorous acid spray—small enough to fit in a carry-on cosmetics case, but effective enough to warrant its place there. It’s what parents use when changing diapers on baby’s bums to disinfect, killing germs that might have landed on your face without drying out pores. I use it to lower my chances of breakouts and blemishes post-trip!
La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5+ Soothing Balm
I won’t lie, when I first got this I did not understand the hype. La Roche Posay is a well-known French skincare brand, and I’d had success with them before (I love their blue moisturiser) but this product felt like thick sunscreen, and I was worried about clogged pores. When you put it on, be prepared for white streaks; I really had to work it into the skin for it to absorb, and even then I still went to bed with a sticky face. But I woke up glowing, and after a couple of nights, I felt like my skin was really nourished and hydrated.
I’ve tried maybe 100 lip balms in my life; my lips run dry in winter and summer, and growing up in Ottawa meant that you got chapped lips if you weren’t careful. Last year I went to Paris and got a custom-engraved lip balm in a leather case, embossed with my initials. Do I use it? No. Because nothing compares with the OG: Vaseline lip balm. My fave is the vanilla scent; the advertising says it’s limited-edition but I’ve seen it two summers in a row, so hopefully they keep bringing it back. Put it on at night, thank me in the morning!
Boots Vitamin C Hyaluronic Acid Serum
Earlier this week I posted about my struggles with jetlag, and how a morning routine helps let my body know that it’s time to get up—and skincare is definitely part of this. I heard that vitamin C is best applied in the morning, and so last year I tried this Boots-label one and I’ve hit pan on it 5 or 6 times, and even bought a second one for travelling. Vitamin C helps my skin glow, and the hyaluronic acid hydrates and plumps like no-ones business – not to mention, the tangerine-citrus smell definitely wakes me up!
Clinique Dramatically Different Hydrating Jelly Moisturizer
I use this in the morning as well; I’ve heard that hyaluronic acid absorbs better if you use it in tandem with a moisturiser, and this one from Clinique compliments the Vitamin C serum nicely. It’s lightweight, easy to use, fragrance-free, and has a “Clean Shield” promise that its formula will help rebuff pollutants (is this possible or probable? I have no way of knowing. But I like how it feels!).
The INKEY List Glycolic Acid Exfoliating Body Stick
This is marketed as an exfoliator, and I can’t really speak to that (I have other exfoliation rituals; I’m not saying it doesn’t work, I’m just saying I’m unsure). Maybe I imagine it, but after a long flight of fluctuating temperatures, running to catch my flight, and cold sweats under the air conditioning fan, I feel sticky and sweaty, and, well, smelly. What I love this stick for is an ultra-deoderant; it kills all underarm smells when applied. Before I got this stick, I’d put a little liquid glycolic acid on a cotton pad and dab it under my arms right before a shower, but sometimes it was a bit strong (it can sting) but this stick is a really great balance of skincare and germ-killing, it makes me feel a lot cleaner.
If you have any skincare you swear by for skin repair post-flight, let me know in the comments below. Happy travels!
No Small Wander 