Dear Paula,

You have written some very valuable columns, but there's one subject I've never seen covered that I think you’d be perfectly suited to comment on, and that’s skin care while traveling in an airplane. We all know to use stronger SPF while flying because of the intensity of the sun's rays at that height, but what needs to be covered is how to arrive at your destination without your face/foundation looking cakey and dried out from the very dry air found on airplanes. Is the answer to slather on moisturizer, and then 20 minutes from landing, apply the makeup? Is it simply not to wear makeup? Is it those expensive facial sprays that are mostly water? I'm sure Paula has learned a thing or two from her own travel experiences, but the rest of us would LOVE to know!

Ronda, via email

Dear Ronda ,

I do travel over 100,000 miles every year, sometimes more. From Australia to Korea, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and throughout the United States over a 12-month period is exhausting and wonderful. In terms of skin care, there really isn’t anything all that special to do in flight. Most of what you read in fashion and travel magazines about this topic doesn’t make sense. In the long run you have to experiment with what works for you but here are some basics that can help you the next time you fly the friendly skies:

It is indeed drier at 35,000 feet, but if you don’t have dry skin it doesn’t really matter. If you have dry skin and you are taking a long flight somewhere you may need to reapply moisturizer or a well-formulated toner that’s rich in skin-identical ingredients, but of course that assumes you are not wearing makeup. If you are wearing makeup, spraying water over your face is useless; it won’t get to the skin cells through the foundation. If you aren’t wearing makeup, spraying your face water is also useless unless you apply a moisturizer over it very quickly as it will just be evaporated by the air. In terms of expensive water, your skin cells can’t tell the difference. The only cells water can affect are the skin cells on the surface (the corneocytes of the epidermis) and they’re dead.

Because of airport security I always have my travel packets with me. In the years following enhanced security screenings they have always gotten through every airport around the world in my carry-on luggage and get by all on their own without taking up precious room in that little quart container you have to use for other liquids and creams. Not every company offers samples of all their products, or even some of their products, so in this case I’m making a shameless plug for my line Paula’s Choice (www.paulaschoice.com). Personally, I find them a great convenience and, as the tag line goes, when I travel, I “don’t leave home without them.”

For long flights over 5 hours I travel without makeup. It is better for my skin and I hate having to wash up twice in those tiny little bathrooms with their horrible lighting. If I have an appointment I have to get to then shortly before I land and before the fasten seatbelt sign is illuminated again, I do wash up in the bathroom. This involves applying my skin-care routine and then my makeup. It looks a lot better that way.

For shorter flights I just wear my makeup as usual only I don’t powder until just before I land when I touch up my makeup. That way I don’t have anything drying on my face during the flight. I may dab a bit more moisturizer around the eye area before I apply my makeup (pre-flight) but most of the time I just keep things status quo.

A higher altitude in the outdoors does require a higher rated SPF, but in an airplane up in the sky not much UV light is getting through those tiny windows. What you normally wear for sun protection, meaning an SPF 15 or greater with the right UVA-protecting ingredients,  will do just fine.

Happy trails!