How to Look Great Coming Off the Plane, By the Minutes

For all of the secrets frequent fliers hold—from the chicest florist in Paris to how to talk your way into the ultimate hotel room upgrade—perhaps the most refined skill is mastering the art of looking unfettered no matter the distance (or time zones) between your origin and destination.

For stylist, law student, and blogger Margaret Zhang, monthly jaunts between Sydney, New York City, Paris, and Bangkok have made her something of an expert in the battle against visible signs of jet lag. And skincare expert Dangene, who spent over three years making twice-weekly cross-country flights between her Manhattan institute and now-shuttered Los Angeles outpost, is just as deft at executing post-flight overhaul treatments on her A-list clients as she is at her own in-flight preventative care.

According to both women, being ready to step from an airplane to a meeting, fashion show, or after-party comes down to the minutes. “Flying is very dehydrating for your organs, including your skin,” explains Dangene. “It’s almost like you’re going from a grape to a raisin.” To counteract this effect, certain hydrating measures can be taken in your seat, hotel room, and the spa. Here, Zhang and Dangene divulge their time-tested tricks for keeping a fresh face everywhere you go.

 

 

THE IN-FLIGHT RITUAL

 

30 Minutes After Takeoff
Start with a fresh slate. “Wash your face once you get on the flight,” says Zhang, who prefers a foaming formula to sweep off pollution and dirt. “They are the most cleansing.”

1 to 4 Hours After Takeoff
Zhang has an under-the-radar alternative to the in-flight sheet mask phenomenon: piling on applications of a clear moisturizing mask. Within the first hour of the flight, she paints on a thin coat of Dermalogica’s clear hydrating mask. After an hour, she layers a little more of the hyaluronic acid formula directly on top of the first. And by hour three, she’s rinsed it off and smoothed on one very thick coat of the mask, which can sit and soak in for a few hours. Then the process starts all over again.

According to Dangene, you should be drinking 12 ounces of water every hour. If her internal hydration tactic is more extreme, she takes a more relaxed approach to what she applies topically. “I take an Amore Pacific eye cream and an Orlane lip balm,” which she might pat on two or three times depending on the length of the flight. In between, she uses a spritz of Sanítas Moisture Mist on her face, neck, hands, and chest.

30 Minutes Before Landing
Both women head to the restroom to rinse off excess products and take a moment to brush teeth, fluff hair, and reapply lip balm, eye cream, and moisturizer—which, for Zhang, depends on the destination. This past week in New York City, Clinique’s Moisture Surge Spray was all she needed—something that she also turns to for extra humid days in Bangkok. Meanwhile, at home in Sydney, Actinica’s SPF-loaded day cream is a must for defense against the strong sun.

 

THE POST-FLIGHT RITUAL

 

If You Have 3 Minutes:
Should you reach your hotel with just enough time to set down your bags and head out again, take three minutes to give yourself a sink-side mini steam. “Turn on the hot water, put a bath towel over your face, and steam to really hydrate your skin again,” says Dangene, who might do this up to three times a day. “Every time I go back to my hotel room to change or freshen up, I steam, even if my makeup is on. You can always freshen that up.”

If You Have 15 to 30 Minutes:
Stretch, jump rope, or go for a jog—anything to boost your circulation. “Your body goes almost dormant when you travel,” says Dangene. “You always look better after you work out than you do [before].”

If You Have 1 Hour:
Book a quick extraction-free facial. At Dangene’s Institute of Skinovation in Manhattan, you can squeeze in a Skin Rejuvenation Treatment in as little as 20 minutes or as long as an hour, involving a circulation-boosting massage, skin-brightening microdermabrasion, a blast of oxygen, a hydrating or acne-focused mask, and a rebalancing LED light mask. “You’ll look like a toddler waking up from a nap.” Across the pond, London’s Alexandra Soveral will perform a moisturizing lymphatic-drainage facial massage; while Paris’s Joelle Ciocco will work on muscles from your heart up to your face, and then from within the inside of your mouth to release stress—not that you’ll still be feeling any by that point.

Travel never looked so easy.

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