Essential Oil Skin Care Tips for Frequent Fliers

Are you one of those people that has lots and lots of airline miles, so many that if you had a dollar for each one, you could stop working for a living? Do you know exactly where all the Auntie Anne's Pretzels are located at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport? Do you book your flights by typing in the 3-letter airport code instead of the city name into the "Destination" box on-line? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you fly too much - and if you fly too much, chances are, it has taken a toll on your skin!

Let's face it: when you fly, you are entering an aluminum box full of bad air consisting mostly of recirculated other-people's-gaseous-disturbances. 37,000 feet up, you are actually grateful for being able to breathe at all, but on the other hand, have you ever taken a close look at a flight attendant's face? Talk about constant dehydration! The proper use of essential oils during your in-flight routine, in addition to having aromatic, anti-bacterial, and therapeutic benefits, can also help you avoid having YOUR skin resemble the Sahara desert or a topological contour map (where lines and wrinkles denote elevation). Here are 5 essential-oil based in-flight skin care tips that have worked for me, a former Frequent Flier:

Avoid drinking diuretics such as coffee, alcohol, or sodas. These squeeze the water out of our cells, and we need as much as we can get while we're up there. Drink plenty of bottled water with a twist of Lemon or Lime for further purification and a refreshing tingle. They don't have Lemon or Lime on your airline? Then use a drop of Lemon or Lime oil, instead. Don't like plain water? Try mineral water or club soda instead for a little extra "zest!"

Make a face spritzer and use it often! You can make one using an empty spray bottle with an atomizer top. Add some hydrating essential oils to make it more effective: I like to put 3 drops Lavender, 3 drops Neroli, and 3 drops of Rose per 4 ounces of water because these oils are not only hydrating, they're also anti-aging.

Have your body lotion readily available so you can quickly mollify dry, itchy areas like shins and arms. Add 10 drops of a good Dry Skin essential oil blend to 1 ounce of your favorite shea butter-based body lotion for maximum benefit as well: I like a blend of equal parts Roman Chamomile, Palmarosa, Ylang Ylang, Rose, and Sandalwood.

For dry scalp (which causes embarrassing flakes) and lips in-flight, rub several drops of Lavender oil into your scalp and a single drop onto your lips to help eliminate dandruff and alleviate chapped lips.

After you land, take a nice, long bath to soak up more moisture and soothe your nerves. Don't forget to dunk your head under as well! I like to add 15 drops of Lavender and 15 drops of Grapefruit to 2 ounces of Epsom salts to my post-flight baths - it has the added bonus of putting me straight to sleep and helping me get over jet lag!

Maryling Yu is a former frequent flier and current owner of Pavia Day Spa in Saratoga, CA, where she and her staff focus on clients' sanity, not vanity. http://www.paviadayspa.com

More resources:

RELATED ARTICLES

De Ice Boots Preventative Care
If you have de-ice boots on your aircraft you realize that for them to last you will need to keep them in new condition. In days gone buy aviators and aircraft mechanics have used all sorts of things to keep them in mint condition.

Lockheed Loitering Missile Expandable Wing Concept
Smart Missiles are expensive, but effective. Efficiency in the the new paradigm of the net-centric warfare will yield results to those who pay attention and do not waste assets.

Airbus to Build $600 Million Aircraft Manufacturing Plant in US
Airbus has announced that it will build a $600 million aircraft manufacturing plant in Mobile Alabama. This is significant news and will open doors to US based commercial airlines to buy more Airbus Aircraft in the future.

5 Tips for Stress Free Long Haul Flights
The world is becoming smaller by the day. Flying long haul to distant locations for business or pleasure is becoming increasingly more popular.

Airport Noise Reduction
Do you live near an airport and cannot stand the noise? Many of us do. Generally the airport was there before us however.

Starting an Aircraft Washing Business
So you love airplanes and you want to start an aircraft washing service? I cannot blame you, as I did the same thing. After cleaning Thousands of aircraft over the years, I have paid for my flight school, first aircraft and then started an aircraft washing franchise as a module of another franchising company I had founded.

Aerodynamic Inflatable Wing Gates for STOL
Low speed flight characteristic are crucial to safety. Those aircraft that have good flight characteristics at low speeds are favored by pilots and the companies, military, NGO or private individuals who operate them.

Increasing TAS in Modern Day Fighters with Expandable Wing Tips
As fighter aircraft get faster and faster there is a diminishing return on more aerodynamic streamlining in designs. You can only build the aircraft so "Aerodynamically Correct" once you have the best optimum design for speed, there is little you can do without changing the aircraft in-flight or the air itself.

First Class Airfare: How the Rich Travel
Have you ever wondered what all entails first class airfare, but never knew where to look? First class airfare can cost up to 15 times more than the regular fares for the same trip. So what do travelers living the high life actually get for these super inflated prices? Well, a lot.

How Cheap Can You Get? Try Online for Cheap Air Tickets
Most consumers feel the airline travel is very costly. We can end up spending a fortune when we add up the various costs, such as flights, accommodation, taxes and insurance, hotel services and car hire.

Leading Private Jet Charter Operators
Flying with the airlines can be a time consuming as well as risky proposition for businessmen as well as for people of wealth. If you absolutely, positively must get somewhere fast you are putting your trust in a system that is overcrowded, inconvenient, and failing when you fly with the airlines.

Inflatable Aircraft Wing Camber Modification
Every aircraft is a compromise. It is either built to fly fast or slow to land in tight distances and carry more weight.

Boeing is Really Flying Now
The Boeing Company has completely blown past projections for aircraft sales this month. Before the Annual Paris Air Show the Boeing Company had already made three deals for commercial aircraft of worth over 5 Billion in sales.

Airlines, Price Wars, and Branding
Here are some thoughts on the study of the theory of price wars as they relate to the industries like the Airlines and others. Comments on an article in Harvard Business Review in March-April edition 2000.

Downed Pilots Hibernating From the Enemy
When we watch Oliver North's "War Stories" or the "Wings Discovery Channel" we often see the problematic issues with downed pilots trying to evade the enemy. They have limited if any food supply and lots of people looking for them.

Private Jets: 4 Leaders in Fractional Flying
Fractional flying, you say. Is that division? Well, sort of.

Entering Business Aviation, Part I: Types of Aircraft
The jets that people fly in corporate aviation are usually a lot smaller than those found with the airlines. Exceptions to the rule are Boeing's BBJ and Airbus' Corporate Jet, both of which are based on some of the smaller types of aircraft marketed to the airlines.

General Aviation Manufacturing is in the Tank; Hang On It is Going to Get Worse
Change is a constant, Outsourcing Jobs, Capital flows, Emerging Markets are a given and this includes the Aviation Manufacturing Sector as we watch the current Migration pick up speed.It appears that the technological advantage that we have here in the United States is no longer going to sustain us without further advances.

Overcoming Jet Lag
Jet lag can be one of the worst, and certainly one of the most frustrating, aspects of long distance travel. Also called desynchronosis (meaning "out of time"), jet lag occurs when travellers pass through multiple time zones, arriving several hours ahead or behind their "home" time.

Future Shuttle Launches
The military aircraft we have are all equipped with anti-SAM systems. These prevent SAMs, Surface-to-air-missiles, which are heat seeking from hitting the aircraft.