Keeping your skin healthy before, during, and after a flight

Here’s how to look and feel good on your next flight, even without makeup. From pre-flight prep to in-flight must-dos and post-flight recovery, here’s what to do.

It’s no secret that travel can wreck havoc on our skin. After all, we’ve been told countless times how drying airplane air is. But how bad is it really?

An aesthetic doctor at IDS Clinic, Dr Vivian Yong, told me that the humidity in the recirculated cabin is less than 20 percent, compared with 40 to 60 percent on land. The relative humidity decreases with altitude, and at the typical cruising altitude of 35,000 ft and 41,000 ft, the relative humidity is less than 1 percent. Anything below 30 percent is considered too dry for comfort.