Traveling well is more skill than talent. Or perhaps it's just about muscle memory—packing and repacking a roll-aboard with military grade precision to get it past the checked baggage-happy flight attendants. Makeup artists travel a lot (a lot a lot) and learn their packing tricks by rote. As such, their recommendations for TSA-approved toiletries tend to be the most reliable of the bunch. So we polled six of them for their best tips to not get dehydrated, sick, or otherwise worse off than you started when boarding the plane. Consider it our gift to you. Happy travels!
Dick Page : “I try to keep what I pack as simple as possible because it's become so obnoxious to fly. The main thing for me is artificial tears without preservatives. I like the single-use packets because then you don't have to worry about leakage. If you're lucky enough to be in the front of the bus, they'll give you some lip balm, but I prefer one that's waxy in texture. Nothing can really add moisture to your skin, but you can stop it from getting out. If you're bringing a moisturizer, you need something that doesn't have a lot going on—like a Cetaphil or E45. Nothing anti-wrinkle or anything like that. And before take-off, put on foot cream.”
Fiona Stiles : “First, I decant everything into smaller bottles—save space in your luggage for souvenirs. One of my favorite things to decant is perfume, and I use these cute perfume rollers to carry around my favorite fragrances. I use a different color for each fragrance so I can carry a few and not get them mixed up. It comes with a little funnel to spray the perfume into. Also, the Ponaris Nasal Emollient has been a secret weapon of mine for years when I travel. It used to be included in astronauts' medical space kits. I can’t remember how I learned about it, but I’ve been using it for over a decade every time I fly. It keeps the nasal passages moist when you’re traveling so you don’t get tiny fissures in the membranes, helping prevent viruses from getting in. It’s totally liquid gold.”
Maki Ryoke : “I only need to travel with three things: The Organic Pharmacy Collagen Boost Mask, Tatcha Dewy Skin Mist (they come in travel size!), and Alexandra Soveral Forever Young Face Oil. No specific routine—but those three products can fix any problem in the airplane. And they smell good.”
Gucci Westman : “I totally don’t care if someone looks at me funny on the plane. I just go for the sheet mask because I feel like your skin freaks out completely on the plane–especially on long flights–so I tend to bring the SK-II Signs Eye Mask and Facial Treatment Mask. Then I take an awful lot of flax oil when I travel...sometimes I even break [a capsule] open and put it on my hands and my face. Flax is a super, super powerful nutrient for your digestion, skin, and brain that I learned about in Sweden when my mom and I did this homeopathic seminar weekend together. So I don’t take two, I take like eight or 10 a day. To pass the time, I use the NuFace Facial Toning Device. I just sit there and people kind of look, but nobody cares. You see a lot of different things on the plane nowadays. I feel like it’s no big deal. I’ve been doing masks in the plane for years.”
Amber Dreadon : “I don't buy very many things specifically in travel size as I keep it pretty simple in-flight. Good basics are the most important thing and most of mine–like lip balm or Caudalie Beauty Elixir—come travel-sized already. I do, however, buy dry shampoo in travel size. I don't use it often, but it saves me every few days and is especially great with blond hair. Then I make sure to have Sisley's Express Flower Gel Mask to treat the skin on really long flights and a lipstick like Marc Jacobs Georgie Girl that works as lip color and blush for right before you get off the plane. Muji also has cool little candles that come in ceramic pots with lids that are so great for traveling—you never know when you might need it.”
Jeanine Lobell : “The airplane bathroom is the best place ever to tweeze your eyebrows! The lighting is the most unforgiving ever, so you see everything and then some—it will be the best tweeze job you've ever had. I have several friends who confess this...It's also the best place to pick at any black heads or pimples. I haven’t gone there yet but hey, good to know, right?.”
—as told to ITG
Photo via Getty.
Because Gucci Westman's endorsement is as good as gold: Learn all about executing the in-flight mask here.
