Meet the new in-flight skincare range developed with flight attendants and frequent flyers in mind, promising to take good skin to new heights.
No matter if you’re travelling short- or long-haul, air travel has a bad rap for wreaking havoc on complexions.
The low humidity onboard has spurred trend of
The negative impacts cruising at altitude have on skin are far reaching, with the dry cabin conditions and drop in humidity said to accelerate transepidermal water loss, cause free radical damage to skin (which can lead to premature ageing), or increase sun exposure and the risk of melanoma.
At sea level, humidity sits around 80%. In an aircraft, however, humidity can drop to 20%, which can cause skin to lose a large proportion of its moisture, further exacerbating skin conditions like eczema, rosacea or psoriasis.
“Everything your skin doesn’t like is heightened in a cabin. It’s aggravated a lot more easily,” says Cam Downey, co-founder of Aircrew Skincare.
Cam and his mum, Deborah, a flight attendant of nine years and former beauty clinic owner, sought to develop Aircrew Skincare and its debut In-Flight Moisturiser, which was specifically formulated for flight attendants to help counter the dry cabin air.
The three-year journey to launch saw Deborah recruit a leading cosmetic laboratory in South Korea, who flexed the right credentials to formulate a product to suit the specific needs of flight attendants – a moisturiser that offered high-performance hydration but is easily layered under makeup.
“It’s not your everyday moisturiser that you’d wear on the ground. It’s specifically formulated for really harsh, dry conditions – that’s where it really comes into its own,” Cam says.
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Advertise with NZME.Deborah’s pivot from specialised beauty therapy to flight attending came after her children left home, allowing her the opportunity to fulfil her childhood dream.
Over time, Deborah noticed the products she once loved on the ground performed differently at 40,000ft. Deborah’s fruitless search to find a product to suit the unique needs of flight attendants inspired her to create her own.
“The key thing we found is that a lot of products and ingredients that work really well at sea level perform differently in low humidity, and they can actually dry your skin out even more on a plane,” Cam says.
Hyaluronic acid (HA) is one such ingredient, which acts like a water magnet by attracting and binding to water molecules – it pulls moisture from the air into the surface layers of the skin to leave it hydrated and plump.
Think of HA as a machine that moves water molecules from a more moist area to a less moist one.
At sea level, where humidity is high, water molecules are easily drawn from the moist air to dry skin, but Cam says the inverse is true when you’re on a plane.
“In the cabin, your skin has a higher moisture content than the air, meaning hyaluronic acid binds to the water in your skin and is evaporated out into the air,” he says.
“A lot of crew and people who fly often think that water gel creams are going to keep their skin hydrated while they fly, but over time, it actually dries your skin out and it leaves you worse off than if you’d used nothing.”
Aircrew Skincare has launched with a single product, the In-Flight Moisturiser, $60, which functions like a barrier cream to lock in moisture from takeoff to landing but applies like a lightweight silky primer on skin.
Texture was top priority for the duo, who were hyper-aware that most airlines require flight attendants to wear makeup during their routes.
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Advertise with NZME.“It couldn’t be a thick, gluggy or rich night-cream type of moisturiser because makeup would slide off,” Cam adds.
The feedback from the 100 flight attendants who have tested the product so far has been impressive, with many sharing how rare it is to uncover a product that keeps their skin hydrated during a flight but isn’t so thick that their makeup splits when applied on top.
Flight attendants and frequent flyers aside, Cam adds that you don’t need your passport to use the In-Flight Moisturiser – it’s suitable to offer skin an extra bit of support when exposed to dry, harsh environments (including air-conditioned offices).
“An airplane cabin is drier than the Sahara Desert – the idea being that if it works in there, it works in any kind of harsh environment,” Cam says.
The formula is free from active ingredients and common irritants, rendering it suitable for all skin types, including sensitive skin.
“There’s no parabens, fragrance or essential oils. We really restricted ourselves on what ingredients we wanted to use – they had to be commonly found ingredients that would be safe on all skin types,” Cam says.
Instead, the formula highlights a blend of glycerin, panthenol, squalane and ceramides to provide long-lasting hydration and support the skin’s barrier function.
It wouldn’t be an in-flight skincare brand without going global, and Cam says discussions are already under way with a popular international retailer to share Aircrew with the rest of the world.
Aircrew Skincare is available at Upgrade To Sleeping Class, a store inside Auckland Airport’s International Terminal, or see Aircrewskincare.com.
5 tips to care for skin while flying
- Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. We’ve already touched on how transepidermal water loss hits its peak when you’re jet-setting your way around the world, but drinking plenty of water can help you sidestep dehydration. Not to mention the pressure in the cabin can lead to bloating or puffiness, so switch carbonated drinks for the still spring water to help combat this.
- If you must touch your face, make sure your hands are clean. Cabins can be a breeding ground for germs, so toting a travel-sized bottle of hand sanitiser is a must.
- Wear sunscreen. UV rays are intensified on a plane due to the thinner atmosphere at high altitudes, and the proximity to the ozone layer. In fact, a 2015 study revealed that pilots and cabin crew have twice the incidence of melanoma as the general population.
- Avoid washing your face in the bathroom sink. Washing your face not only can strip skin of its moisture levels but, in some cases, the water may contain certain strains of bacteria, as found by a 2019 study of domestic and international flights out of the US.
- Remove your makeup when you arrive at your destination. Give skin a break post-flight with a cosseting cleanse and layering lightweight hydrators to help replenish its moisture levels. Luxuriate in a long, hot shower and load up on the moisturiser, body lotion and lip balm to lock in hydration.
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