Is it pointless to apply skin care on an airplane?
Dear Beauty Editor,
I saw this video explaining that because plane air is so dry, it’s drawn to the moisture in skin care and starts sucking it away, making your skin even dryer. And airplanes are dirty, so you also introduce a lot of germs to your face. Should I apply skin care on an airplane?
Anon.
Wow, there’s a lot to unpack in that video, which claims that if you “add hydration by doing some skin care” on an airplane, “the dry air will instantly start sucking the hydration out of your skin.” Not only is it totally fine to apply moisturizer in the low-humidity environment of an airplane, but for people with dry skin or who have a condition like psoriasis or eczema, it’s beneficial, says board-certified dermatologist Heidi Waldorf, M.D.
How does low humidity affect the skin?
Water constantly evaporates from your body via your skin, but when your skin barrier is functioning properly, the transepidermal water loss (TEWL) levels remain low. However, in dry environments like deserts and airplanes, TEWL increases. “The raison d’être of topical moisturizer is reducing transepidermal water loss,” explains Waldorf. So, applying a product with a mix of moisturizing agents (which is standard for all moisturizers, even the inexpensive ones) will help keep your skin hydrated.
What’s the best type of moisturizer to apply on a plane?
There are three general characteristics of the moisturizing ingredients used in skin care. They can be humectant, which means they hydrate by pulling in water from the atmosphere or your underlying epidermis; emollient, meaning they fill in the spaces between the cells on the surface of your skin, so it feels softer and smoother; and/or occlusive, meaning they coat the skin to reduce transepidermal water loss. (FYI: Many ingredients have more than one of those properties.) “It’s important to use a moisturizer that contains not only a humectant like glycerin or hyaluronic acid to absorb water into the skin cells, but also an occlusive like dimethicone, squalene, petroleum, butters, or oils to seal that moisture in,” Waldorf says.
Almost all skin-care products marketed as moisturizers contain a mix of humectant, emollient, and occlusive ingredients. (Below are a few I like that come in travel sizes.) However, it’s worth noting that many targeted and specialty skin-care products could be missing that crucial mix of moisturizing agents. For example, antioxidant serums or anti-aging treatments may lack occlusive ingredients, and face oils may not have humectants.
What type of skin care would make your skin dryer if you applied it on a plane?
I’m not sure how the person in the video developed their (incorrect) theory about what happens when you apply skin care on a plane. Still, if I’m being generous, I can think of a scenario that might be used — out of context — to justify their logic. Let’s say you got your hands on something like 100 percent pure hyaluronic acid, a humectant with no emollient or occlusive properties. If you were to apply that to your skin while on an airplane, it could potentially make your skin dryer. Humectants attract moisture, and when there isn’t much humidity in the air, they can pull water from deeper in your skin and bring it to the surface. If your skin barrier is compromised, perhaps because of the extremely low humidity, your transepidermal water loss would increase, meaning that the hydration in your skin would be lost to the air. But if you’re applying regular moisturizer, that won’t happen.
Is it okay to apply skin care in “dirty” plane air?
Finally, let’s talk about the germ factor: Touching your face or applying skin care is fine, as long as you sanitize your hands first. “Just as you should use a hand sanitizer before eating on a plane, use one before applying skin care,” says Waldorf. “Even at home, it’s a good rule to always apply skin care or makeup with clean hands.” The good news is, since you’re applying moisturizer, you can just rub a little extra into your hands to counteract any drying effects of alcohol-based hand sanitizers.
Send your questions to AskABeautyEditor@nymag.com. (By emailing, you agree to the terms here.)
