Beauty Tips for Long Haul Flights

Flying long haul means different things to different people. Four hours on a plane may be your limit, or perhaps (and if you are Australian) you might be used to up to 14 hours for one flight.

Flying to New York from Australia for example will see you clock up 20 hours flying time. Kind of insane, right?!

As I’ve done my fair share of overseas travel this year I thought perhaps I’d share what I use pre, during and post flight to keep my skin, hair and nails in shape.

Behold…

SKIN

Antioxidants. Let this be your mantra. I already use Cosmedix products and I particularly love their ‘Affirm’ serum. For my 14 hour flight I applied it twice- gotta be sure I’m keeping it well fed! Clarity helps to keep my skin clear as I often breakout after a really long flight but you can use what ever brand that suits your skin to help with breakouts. Another product I discovered at Sephora is EradiKate Acne Treatment which absolutely helped my post-flight break out in New York.

During the flight any sort of hydrating mist will assist your skin. There are plenty of products on the market, for this trip I tried Australian label Sukin’s ‘Hydrating Mist Toner’ which was light, hydrating with a botanical smell. I enjoyed it.

A beauty balm gets applied just before landing and like mists, there are plenty on the market these days. Clarins Beauty Flash Balm would have to be the all time classic though, a favourite with flight hostesses the world over.

If your skin gets really dry you can add something like Rosehip Oil to your regime, the one pictured is from NATIO. I like to dab it on just under my eyes for ultimate hydration.

NAILS, HAIR & BODY

I really believe in using the best organic hair care you can afford. I love, love, love Rahua and these travel sized shampoo and conditioner fit the 100ml or under rule for gels and liquids when flying internationally.

Hand sanitizer is fairly straight forward but a tip a hostie shared once was to put some under your nose to kill any bacteria in your nasal passages. I have no idea whether it works or not but if economy toilets are anything to go by you will want some of this on hand!

I popped this Kevin Murphy shampoo in as well for this trip and it doubled as a body wash. I figured if I can wash my hair with it, it’s good enough for my body for a quick shower at an airport.

CND Solar Oil (in the small bottle) will save your cuticles and nails from drying out, and you can use it all the time anyhow, not just when flying.

MAKEUP

You might not be a fan of wearing makeup while flying long haul and I don’t blame you- ten hours in with creased eye makeup or smudged foundation is never a good look.

Rather, try a brightly coloured lipstick. There’s a theory that wearing red lips draws peoples gaze to your pout, and I’ll try anything to get attention away from dark circles under my eyes when I step off a long haul flight!

I love bright pink myself, and here I have (L-R) Nutrimetics Hydra Brilliance in ‘Flamingo,’ Vera Moore in ‘Fuscia,’ Nutrimetics Hydra Brilliance in ‘Rasberry.’

Now it’s over to you, what are your beauty tips for flying long haul?