5 Steps To Keep Skin Healthy When You Travel

 Travel can bring out the wanderlust in everyone. Exploring new locations and breaking free from your routine is exciting. 

However, travel can be hard on our skin. You may have noticed dry skin or acne breakouts during your previous trips. 

This could be due to many factors, including stress from traveling, changes in climates and time zones, the dry environment in airplanes, forgetting to drink water, and consuming more indulgent foods and drinks.

 All of this will affect your skin — especially if you don’t have your trusted skincare products. 

Following these five essential steps if you want to know how to keep your skin hydrated and healthy while traveling.

How to Keep Skin Hydrated and Healthy While Traveling 

1. Keep Skin Hydrated While En Route to Your Destination 

You may find yourself riding a combination of airplanes, trains, and automobiles to reach your destination. Your skin will be exposed to different humidity levels — which can wreak havoc on your skin. 

In particular, airplane cabins use a combination of outside and recirculated air devoid of moisture. The combination of low air pressure and low humidity can also dry you out. 

According to a study, an 8-hour flight at 0% humidity can lead to a 100 ml water loss. With humidity levels in airplanes only around 6 to 10%, your skin can quickly become dehydrated. 

So, how to keep skin hydrated on a plane? The first thing is to ensure that you’re already hydrated even stepping into the cabin. 

As part of your pre-flight routine, cleanse and moisturize your skin properly. Use heavy creams that can hydrate and help seal in moisture. Avoid wearing heavy makeup, as the dry cabin air may clog your pores and cause acne or irritation. 

Then, during the flight, reapply your moisturizer as needed. You can also bring a travel-friendly face mist as a more convenient option to rehydrate your skin. Consider bringing eye drops and lip balm, too, as your eyes and lips can be the first areas to experience dryness. 

Once you reach your destination, cleanse your face to remove bacteria and germs you may have picked up along the way. This is to reduce the risk of acne breakouts and irritation. Follow up your post-flight routine with moisturizer to keep the skin hydrated.

 

2. Drink Lots of Water 

This cannot be said enough. Make sure to drink lots of fluids when traveling. It’s one of the best ways to keep skin hydrated and healthy. 

On planes or trains, water is not always readily available in large quantities. You can bring an empty water bottle, and once you get through security, you can fill it with water. This way, you’ll have your water supply. During long-haul travel, avoid alcohol, caffeine, and salty foods, as they can increase your risk of dehydration. 

Dehydration can cause dry, itchy, and rough skin. It can feel uncomfortable and may take away from enjoying your vacation. 

So even as you reach your destination, keep your water intake up. It’s easy to forget if you’re busy exploring tourist destinations. Consider setting alerts on your phone to remind yourself. You can also increase your intake of water-rich foods such as watermelon, apples, tomatoes, and cucumbers.

 

3. Practice Mindfulness to Reduce Stress 

Vacations are all about having fun and letting loose. But traveling can be very stressful too, and you must ensure everything is packed and schedules are coordinated. Not to mention having to wade through hordes of people in airports or terminals. 

All of these can cause stress, which then raises cortisol levels and causes inflammation. You may end up breaking out, developing a rash, or other symptoms of skin inflammation. 

Before that happens, you can practice simple mindfulness techniques such as deep breathing, mindfully listening to music, or having a quick affirmation session. You can do these activities anywhere and anytime to relieve stress. 

Reducing stress is also one of the ways to keep your skin healthy while traveling.

 

4. Get Enough Sleep 

We all want to get the most out of a vacation, so we try to fit as much into our travel itinerary. However, make sure you’re not compromising when it comes to sleep. 

While we’re sleeping, this is the time when the skin repairs itself from UV-induced oxidative stress. Your skin also regenerates skin cells and produces new collagen during this time. Collagen adds moisture and makes skin plumper and more elastic. 

Meanwhile, lack of sleep can cause moisture loss and lower pH levels, making skin look dull and less youthful. If you’re experiencing jet lag, you may consider taking melatonin or other supplements that promote deep sleep.

So to have healthy skin while traveling, get as much sleep as possible. It’s called beauty sleep for a reason!

5. Stick to Your Skincare Routine 

We’ve saved the best tip for last. If you want to keep your skin healthy while traveling, stick to your current skincare routine. 

Your skin will already be dealing with a lot of changes while you’re traveling. Using hotel products may be more convenient, but you won’t know how your skin will react. These products are also likely to contain harsh preservatives and fragrances, which can dry your skin or cause acne breakouts.   

You can minimize the potential damage to your skin by having trusted skincare products by your side.   

It’s good to have travel-friendly skincare products so that you can bring your entire regimen. You also won’t have to transfer products into smaller containers which can get messy and tedious. 

However, if space is an issue, stick to skincare essentials such as cleansers, moisturizers, and sunscreen. 

Cleaner removes excess oils, dirt, and bacteria on your skin. A moisturizer keeps skin hydrated and prevents moisture loss. Sunscreen is also a must to protect from harmful UV rays, which can cause premature aging and other skin concerns. 

Use lusher products such as sheet masks (once to twice a week), face mists, and eye creams to keep skin hydrated.   

Make sure to consider your travel destination as well. Not all products in your current skincare routine may suit the weather there. For instance, heavy creams are well-suited for drier climates. If you’re going somewhere humid, you might want to switch to lightweight creams. 

Building a Travel-Friendly Skincare Routine for Healthy Skin 

Going on a vacation is your time to enjoy and have fun. However, skin issues such as dryness and dehydration, acne breakouts, and skin irritation can make it hard to get the most out of your vacation. So to keep skin healthy while traveling, it’s good to have some strategies in place. 

Given the dry cabin environment, it’s essential to know how to keep skin hydrated on a plane. You’ll want to have travel-friendly moisturizers and ensure you drink plenty of fluids. 

Keeping the mind calm and stress-free also reduces your risk of skin inflammation. 

Upon arrival at your destination, you still need to stick to healthy habits to keep your skin hydrated. This includes getting enough sleep and having all your skincare products. 

All SKIN By XND products are travel friendly. This makes it easier for you to bring along your entire skincare regimen. No matter the destination, you’ll have everything you need to keep your skin healthy and hydrated. Your skin won’t have to reacclimate as much when you get back. All in all, it’s a seamless strategy for optimal skin health.