Sensitive Skin Traveling Tips
Listen NOW or on Apple/Itunes + other channels
Fairface Podcast transcript / show notes
Hello my friends and welcome back to another episode of the Fairface Podcast! It's finally summer! Today as I'm recording this, it is June 22 and it actually rained this morning here in Seattle and is only in the upper 60's today, but is supposed to get a lot warmer and sunnier and be 91 degrees by this weekend! Which is crazy, and that's honestly, a little too hot for me, but I'll try not to complain because we've had a very wet, gray spring so far.
Do you have any summer plans?
Now that school is out, it feels like everyone I know is heading out of town to start doing some traveling. I've noticed more and more people out and about as compared to the previous 2 summers with the pandemic fears and restrictions.
Last weekend we were walking through a Farmer's Market in this charming little town in central WA, called Roslyn. If you remember a show back in the 90's called Northern Exposure - that show was filmed in Roslyn.
Anyway, at this farmer's market, there were hoards of people. It was very packed. It felt a little strange, to be honest. Definitely no more 6 feet between anyone or anything...and yet, when I went shopping yesterday, there were still a lot of people wearing face masks.
So I'm not really sure what most people are thinking about traveling, or being around a bunch of people. I personally haven't flown anywhere in years, but I know things are changing and a lot of people are flying to many different destinations.
Anyway, for those of you who are going to be doing some traveling, even if it's just a few nights away or you are traveling to a far off place, I have some great tips for you to keep your sensitive skin looking and feeling it's best even while being away from home and your normal routine.
These tips have really helped me because my sensitive rosacea-prone skin tends to react to everything, and that includes being away from home and a change in my routine.
So let's first talk about the things you may not even realize are effecting your skin when you travel.
Top 4 Things Affecting Your Skin When You Travel
Climate
Your skin has adapted to where you live and changing those conditions can be triggering to your skin. In addition, the skin care products that work well for your skin at home may not work the same in a different climate.
For example, I love CeraVe moisturizing cream and I can get away with using this thicker moisturizer in Seattle up until about summer when the weather starts getting hotter, and then I may switch it out for something a little lighter.
If I were to travel to Chicago, where it is a lot more humid than Seattle, I would definitely not be using the heavier cream, I would need to use something a lot lighter.
The reason I picked Chicago as my pretend travel destination, is because one of our awesome customers from Chicago recently reached out to me asking about a lighter moisturizer I could recommend, because the CeraVe moisturizing cream had just become too much - it had become much more humid and sticky in Chicago.
For lighter moisturizer options I've used Vanicream lite lotion in the past, and I'm going to try Vanicream Daily Facial Moisturizer, which was recommended by a Dermatology Nurse Practitioner, @ElizabethRusseau, who I follow on Instagram, who also has sensitive skin.
The next thing that can affect your skin when you're traveling is the
Water
I'm not talking about drinking water, although we'll cover that when we talk about the food you eat during your vacation. I'm talking about the water you'll use to shower and wash your face.
Different water systems in different areas, use different chemicals and additives to clean the water. Maybe they soften the water, maybe you're staying somewhere that uses well water.
So keep in mind, sometimes this change in water can effect your skin.
Another thing that can definitely have an impact to your skin when you're traveling is
Diet
What you eat and drink not only effects how you feel while you're on vacation, but it also affects your skin and it's appearance.
For example, if you normally drink a fruit + spinach smoothie every morning and now you are suddenly eating bacon, sausage, and waffles smothered with syrup and whipped cream, you may become bloated and your skin may become puffy, dehydrated, those fine lines start looking a little deeper, and you may even break-out after a few days.
The last thing that can affect your skin when you're traveling is
Sleep
Lack of sleep can not only make you look tired (obviously) it also causes inflammation which can make your skin more prone to sensitivity, allergic reactions and acne. Inflammation also causes the proteins in your skin to break down, which attribute to the glow and smoothness of your skin.
Is some of this starting to make sense?
I can't help but picture myself looking in the hotel mirror day 2 of a vacation and thinking, wow, what happened to my face? My eyes are swollen or droopy, my skin feels a bit dry, my face is a bit red and I look like I just fell out of the dryer.
Let's combat all of these potential triggers by creating a plan to help prevent as many of these adverse reactions as we can, so that when you travel, your skin can adapt much better to all these different changes, because you know how to give it what it needs, in all the right ways.
Sensitive Skin Travel Plan
to combat climate, water, diet and sleep problems while traveling
1. Continue to follow your skin care routine
I know part of the lure of taking a vacation is breaking free from your every day routines, trust me, I totally get it. But please don't take a break from your daily skin care routine, especially if you are already prone to sensitivity. Don't just skip washing your face and falling asleep with your sunscreen and makeup on. It will show up on your face and you won't like it.
I don't recommend using the soaps and body washes that come with your hotel room, especially if you have sensitive skin. Bring the normal every day skin care products you use at home that you know your skin tolerates well.
Since I use baby wash in the shower, I bring it with me and even use it as my hand wash instead of using those awful bar soaps in hotels. I never feel like I can get all the soap off - it's like they're waxy or something. And all it takes is for any of that hotel soap residue to still be on my hands when I put on my face moisturizer, to make my face react.
2. Bring your own face cloths and extra drying cloths
If you have sensitive skin, using the washcloths and towels in your hotel room on your face, can definitely be a trigger to your skin.
They use heavy duty detergents and bleaches to keep their towels clean, and any residue can cause your skin to react and become red and irritated. The texture on the hotel towels can also cause your sensitive skin to react.
Your skin is already in a vulnerable position when you travel so having soft face cloths to wash your face with and bringing extra's to dry your face with will make a HUGE difference in the way your skin looks and feels while you're traveling.
I have even had customers who were traveling contact me, asking if I could send them some washcloths to their hotel because they accidently left without them. And the answer is yes! I'm happy to do that. There are many hotels that have a concierge service that if you let them know you are expecting a package they will be on the lookout for it and deliver it to your room.
And as an extra side note, if you live outside the US and we aren't currently shipping to your country but you are going to be traveling in the U.S., you can arrange to have your Fairface Washcloths order shipped to the hotel you'll be staying in. I have done this a few times for our customers who live in various parts of the world.
Tip # 3 in our Sensitive Skin Travel Plan is:
3. Adjust skin care products as needed, *before you travel.
As I mentioned, you may want to switch out your heavier face cream for a lighter one if you're traveling to a more humid location, or you may need to use a heavier moisturizer if you're going to a drier climate. I would just suggest trying out any new skin care products at least a week or 2 before traveling. You don't want to figure out that your skin actually reacts to something while you're on vacation. Try it with plenty of time before you go.
4. Pick up a jug of Distilled water at the grocery store.
This may seem a little extreme, but if you are afraid your skin may not tolerate a new water system, pick up a gallon of distilled water to wash your face with. Distilled water is actually used in many skin products for cleansing and conditioning the skin.
If your skin and hair are really affected by the water system, you can also bring a shower adapter that you fill up with distilled water and shower with it (but that's even more extreme). You're going on vacation and you're probably already overpacking, so you really don't want to bring everything and the kitchen sink.
5. Bring a humidifier, fan, hat and ice packs
Depending on the new climate and conditions, any of these tools may help. Whether it's adding a little moisture to dry air in your hotel room, or having a portable fan, gel ice packs, or a hat for a little shade in hot conditions, these can also help your skin from getting over heated.
6. Eat foods with higher water content
This has been a game changer for me and my skin on vacation!
I still eat things I like, that are more on the salty side, like a good roast beef dip sandwich with fries. That sounds so good right now. But I also make sure I'm eating lots of healthy foods with high water content - that's the key - to keep me and my skin more hydrated. It really works.
For meals or snacks, I make sure to also eat high water content foods like lettuce (so salads), cucumbers, celery, watermelon, strawberries, oranges, grapes and apples. Alot of these foods can be washed and cut up and tossed in a cooler. They taste so good when you're hungry and you know you're plumping up your skin with good hydration.
7. Carry a water bottle
In addition to eating foods with a higher water content, it's important to drink more water than you think you need. I always carry a water bottle. We love to fill up several water bottles with ice and cold water before we leave our hotel room and keep them in a cooler in the car. When your bottle gets empty you can either buy water to refill it or some fast food places or gas station drink stations will let you refill ice and water for free. It's important to stay hydrated.
And the final part of our sensitive skin travel plan is to:
8. Bring a bit of home to your sleeping routine
I don't know about you, but I always seem to have a hard time sleeping when I'm away from home. It can be the familiarity, and comfort that are missing, it can also be the addition of different feels, sounds, lighting, you name it.
So try bringing a bit of those home comforts and familiarities along with you to help you adjust and sleep better, which will ultimately help prevent that inflammation and increased sensitivity to your skin we talked about earlier.
Something that can make a big difference to your skin's appearance is to bring your own pillow. If that's not reasonable because it's too big to travel with, bring your own pillow case (my favorite). And I would add, bring several clean pillow cases so you can keep switching them out to sleep on a clean one each night.
The same heavy detergents that are used to wash the towels at hotels are also used on the linens. All you need is to sleep on a somewhat scratchy cotton pillow case with detergent residue on it all night, to make your face and even your eyes, red and irritated in the morning.
Bringing your own pillow cases or your own pillow will make a big difference to your skin while you're on vacation.
Lets quickly look at a few other ways to help you sleep better when you're away from home- so you, and your skin can look and feel better-
Try to bring other comforts of home-
- If you use a white noise machine at home, bring it with you.
- If you have a candle in your room that smells like lavender, bring it with you.
- If you're sensitive to light, bring an eye mask or I recommend bringing large binder clips to keep the hotel shades closed more tightly so you don't get the light coming in.
- Use an extra towel to cover the light that comes in under the door.
- Bring sticky notes to cover different lights from the gadgets in the hotel room
Look around your room at home and see what you can mimic in a hotel room and bring those things with you so you can have that extra feeling of peace and comfort.
Well, I hope these travel tips can really help you and your sensitive skin to look and feel good while you're traveling. These things have really helped me so I wanted to pass them along to you.
Do you have any travel tips that have helped you with your sensitive skin? I would love to hear what they are. I'm always looking for ways to improve my routines and anything that helps you could always help me and our sensitive skin and Fairface community.
Thank you again so much for listening! Happy travels and happy summer and happy skin! I'll see you next time!
SHOP our soft washcloths for sensitive skin:
thru our Fairface Washcloths Etsy Shop
Or
No comments:
Post a Comment