Question: How harsh is flying on skin and what are the best ways to protect against the damaging effects?
Answer: To put it bluntly, unless your last name is Kardashian or Trump, flying sucks. There's nothing glamorous about the middle row, an $8 cup of Sutter Home Chardonnay or watching a movie with your face an inch away from the screen because someone decided to recline their chair back into your lap. But worse than all of that is what air travel does to your skin. According to Dr. Bruce E. Katz, M.D. and Director at Manhattan-based JUVA Skin & Laser Center, "the pressurized environment of a plane is totally unnatural and completely sucks moisture out of the skin, leaving it looking dehydrated and dull." Add to that the anxiety factor, which leads to an increase in stress hormones that cause redness, inflammation and acne being released, the eye-irritating allergens in the air and increased exposure to bacteria and you have a recipe for a skin disaster if you don't counterbalance the effects. Basically, being on a plane is akin to "being in the desert in 95-degree heat," says Dr. Howard Sobel, dermatologist and founder of DDF Skincare.
Here's how to take care of your skin before, after and during a flight: