Beauty tips for trips

Photo / Hawke's Bay Today

Let's face it, planes, trains and cars wreak havoc on your skin. Winds and cold breezes leave the face dry and parched, sun adds wrinkles, humidity leads to breakouts. How do you travel and keep looking gorgeous? Besides hiding behind oversized sunglasses, we decided to ask a pro, one of Hollywood's most sought-after dermatologists, Dr Jessica Wu, for advice on how to stay chic on the go and arrive at your destination on top of your glam game.

What should you do during a long flight?

Drink lots of water, and avoid alcohol, caffeine and asparagus, because they are diuretics.

Should you wear make-up or creams on your face?

Try not to apply makeup for a plane ride and as soon as you get in your seat, apply a moisturising cream. Two good ingredients in moisturisers are hyaluronic acid and glycerin; they don't irritate and they hydrate without making skin oily.

Is there a way to avoid arriving with red puffy eyes?

Don't eat in-flight peanuts, pretzels or chips - no salt. And keep eye-cream samples with you. You can even ask the flight attendant for a cup of ice to keep your eye cream chilled and right before you land, put cold eye cream under your eyes. Look for eye cream with anti-inflammatory ingredients (such as coffeeberry, licorice, or soy). The coldness of the cream will help with puffiness. If you forget to bring your eye cream, or accidentally checked it in, ask your flight attendant for green tea bags, and put them on ice. Green tea is also anti-inflammatory.

Dirty skin is a huge issue during travel; is there a solution?

Air on aeroplanes is recirculated. That's all the more reason to protect your skin and use a barrier, so always use a moisturiser. Pre-moistened wipes or microdermabrasion wipes are also good.

What else do you recommend for combating dry plane air?

Mist your face with mineral water. Buy a water spritzer; they are great. Some of them have high concentration of selenium - it helps keep moisture in your skin.

How many products should we pack for the road?

All you need is a cleanser, plus morning and night creams. In the morning, think about protecting the skin, so pick a moisturiser that does triple duty. Pick one that has SPF and antioxidants to shield your skin from pollution, sun, smog, all those things we expose our skin to.

At night, think about repairing your skin. Creams with salicylic acid are good, especially if you have issues with breakouts or acne. If it's fine lines you are concerned about, then look for over-the-counter products with retinol. It breaks down into Retin-A, which helps build collagen while you sleep.

What if we are heading to the tropics and are worried about sun damage?

One of my favourite ingredients is niacin, one of the B vitamins. It helps reduce pigmentation and sun damage. The trick is to find products that do double duty, so you don't have to put three products on in the morning and then three at night.

So, the key is simplicity?

Exactly! Think, protect in the morning - and repair at night. That's a simple way to streamline your routine, especially if you travel. It's hard to carry the entire contents of your bathroom cabinet with you in your make-up bag, you can't. It's already a lot between the blush and the foundation and the powder without having to carry all your liquids as well. So if you can pare it down to two essential ingredients ... you are way ahead of the game.

- NZPA