My Simple In-Flight Skin Care Routine

Recently, I’ve been doing a lot of traveling so I wanted to share my skin care routine on the plane. There are different ways to how I approach this. It depends on the flight duration and also the time of the flight (night to morning or vice versa). In this post, I’ll be sharing how I maintain my skin during a flight that requires a day (including the transit time).

One of the hardest thing about taking care of the skin on the plane is the 100 mL limit, for an international flight (lucky you, if you’re going on a domestic flight). Since most of my skin care products are above 100 mLs, I take advantage of the samples I got from shopping.

Taking care of the skin on the plane is very important as the atmosphere above the clouds is very dry. That’s why the most basic in-flight skin care is maintaining the skin’s moisture level. I don’t have a special skin care routine, but I just want to share what works for me. Here’s what I do:

Night

1. COSRX One Step Pimple Pad

I use this to take my base makeup off. I normally just leave my eye makeup on because it’s too much to bother. This is really useful as it works as a cleanser and an exfoliator in the form of a soaked pad. The reason why I chose to just use this instead of using a cleanser is because the lavatory in the plane is so small, guys. So, do keep that in mind.

2. Sheet mask (optional, depending on skin)

This is just a step that is not required, but it serves as my relief for boredom. I only use a sheet mask if my flight duration is above 7 hours. If it’s less than that, I don’t even bother. For sheet masks, I usually prepare ones that are designed for hydration or for soothing, as that’s usually what my skin needs during the plane ride.

3. COSRX Pimple Patch (optional)

I only stick this on to the parts that I feel like a pimple is starting to pop up. If I don’t feel any, then I would just skip this step.

4. Cremor Lab Shadow-off Eye Cream

I use this when I’m not wearing makeup. I think this is an important step because the skin around my eyes can get flaky and that would suck when I apply makeup. And of course this step is to prevent wrinkles. I may be young, but there was a time when I saw wrinkles on my nose (I think it’s because of my lack of skincare), and I kind of got traumatized. So I have to prevent it.

5. COSRX Nourishing Rice Overnight Spa Mask

I don’t have a small sized moisturizer, so I just slather this on my face and sleep. It gives me extra hydration, which is great on the plane. Although, I do recommend applying two layers of this product if you have dry skin.

Morning

1. Wash face with water / gentle cleanser (small size)

I’ll be honest that I usually just wash my face with water. Although sometimes, I do use a gentle cleanser such as Sebamed, depending on the time I have and where I am at the moment. If I’m still on the plane, I just wash my face with water, it’s way too cramped. If I do have more time during transit, then I’d use the gentle cleanser.

2. Innisfree Green Tea Seed Serum (sample)

Since I have to make use of the samples I got anyway, I use the green tea seed serum after cleansing. I think that using this product reminds my skin that I haven’t neglected it and that minimalizing my skincare routine is just something temporary.

3. COSRX Nourishing Rice Overnight Spa Mask

I just use the same mask, as it also functions as a moisturizer. I think this mask helps maintain my skin’s moisture, which is important during travelling. If I lack a bit of moisture, my skin would be sensitized and I would start breaking out.

4. Innisfree Sunscreen

I make sure to at least apply sunscreen, even if I don’t use makeup. There are a lot of reasons that urges me to apply sunscreen, so I try to at least abide by that despite my laziness.

Honestly, it doesn’t seem like a lot and that’s true. I like to keep things simple on the plane. If I make it too complicated, it might encourage me to skip my routine. And I also don’t have proper skincare in a travel size, except for free samples. I guess I’ll have to move my skin care products into travel-friendly bottles.

Products I Loved and Hated in the First Half of 2017

Since we’ve gone through half of 2017, I wanted to share the products I loved and hated so far. This is something new since I have started using skincare and makeup. I’ve thought of doing monthly favourites, but I haven’t had enough products to share so might as well just compile it into one post. I tried to keep this post short, so I hope it’s not too overwhelming.

Products I loved:

Skincare

– COSRX Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser

I bought this in December and I have been continuously using this cleanser every morning. There’s only a little bit left, but that’s okay because I bought one more tube in Korea. See, that’s how much I love this product. It’s really gentle, and I understand that this cleanser does not strip away my natural oils, so my skin feels moisturized after using this. Check out my review on this product if you want to know more.

– L’Occitane Light Comforting Cream

I got this cream from inside the pouch my aunt gave full of other products from this same brand. Actually, I didn’t know that this was for my face. At the time, I didn’t have a proper face moisturizer, and my face was flaking out, so I decided to just try this cream. And it was really effective. My face wasn’t irritated, which was why I finished this cream and managed to survive through winter. After watching Get It Beauty, I realized that some Korean idols, like Han Seungyeon and Son Naeun, use this cream too, which means that it is promising.

– COSRX Overnight Nourishing Rice Overnight Spa Mask

I’ve been using this since April, and I’ve been religiously using this sleeping mask. This product keeps my skin moisturized during the dry seasons. I used this in the US which was really dry and it helped my skin stop flaking. I think it’s a really great product. I used it everyday, but I just found out that this was supposed to be used once a week or during special occasions. I started using this once a week when I came back to Indonesia. When I traveled to Korea and New Zealand, I would wear this like every day. I think it prevents my skin from getting too much stress from traveling.

– Etude House Therapy Air Mask

I started loving this product when I did the One Mask a Day Challenge. I like how the mask is transparent, and sticks well to my skin. Some sheet masks are thick and it seems like my skin won’t absorb the product. However, my skin absorbs the essence in this sheet masks. And it also feels less heavy, since the mask itself is thin and light. I felt that using this mask wasn’t a burden. When I tried other sheet masks that are heavier, it made me realize how great this mask is. My top three would probably be Snail, Lemon, and maybe Green Tea? I love all though, since I can use different masks depending on what my skin needs.

– Burt’s Bees Honey Lip Balm

I love this lip balm because it hydrates my lips making it so smooth. Whenever I wear this product, my lips rarely cracks, which is nice so my lip products look good on me. I’ve been using this during winter and spring in the US and even during the hot and humid season in Indonesia and it’s a really effective product.

 

Makeup

– Too Faced Sweet Peach Eye Shadow Palette

This is the only eye shadow palette that I bought and I love it. I’ve been using this since January and I’ve tried most of the colors. I like how the colors are pigmented, so I didn’t have to continue dabbing my brush on to the palette. I like the variety of pinks, browns and purple, which makes it versatile for different kinds of looks. I love using the mirror, I don’t know why but I prefer using it more than a cushion compact’s. Even if I’ve been using a lot of it, there’s still a lot of product. The only thing I don’t like is the smell, sometimes it can be too overwhelming, but otherwise, this is a really nice product.

– elf Eye Shadow ‘C’ Brush

I’ve been applying eye shadow on my eyes with my fingers. However, every time I do that, it creates a really bold look which I had not intended. I think this is mostly because I have monolids. My friend told me to use a brush so that I can blend my eye shadow and create a more natural look. I saw this in CVS so I decided to just buy it. I liked the design since it’s pretty minimalistic, and I also liked how the brush hair looks like. I wasn’t expecting much from this but it’s really good. I can definitely tell the difference between using this brush and my fingers. This brush makes my eye shadow looks softer which is much more suitable for my monolids.

Hair Products

– Oliology Coconut Oil

Ever since I bleached my hair, I’ve never paid proper attention to my hair. And because of that, my hair had to suffer. The ends were so damaged that it made me feel sad so I knew I had to do something. I bought this at TJ Max and it’s really good. It moisturizers my hair and has a really nice coconut scent. Although if I use this too close to the scalp, my scalp would be too oily.

– Head & Shoulders Itchy Scalp Care with Eucalyptus (2-in-1)

8 months ago, I realized how severe my itchy scalp was. I think I’ve always had itchy scalp, but it wasn’t so severe until then. I tried changing different shampoos, I thought it was because of hair dye, I even tried washing more often (despite everyone saying that it’s not good to wash my hair every day). But my hair was still itchy. When I came to the US to go to school, I bought this shampoo. And it worked. I washed my hair whenever I feel grossed out, sometimes every day, sometimes twice a day. Then, I realized that my scalp stopped itching. And when I came back to Indonesia (I didn’t brought it with me because I didn’t want to bring too much stuff), I realized how effective it was, because my scalp started to itch again. I tried to look for this in a supermarket here, but I couldn’t find it. I bought a different product from the same brand, however this product is the best one so far. I would definitely re-purchase this.

 

Products I hated:

Skincare

– Neutrogena Clear Face Sunscreen

I’ve been using this sunscreen for almost two years (not religiously) but of course I still haven’t finished it since there is a lot of product. However, I never noticed that my skin may have been affected by this sunscreen. When I watched Liah Yoo’s Sunscreen for Acne Prone Skin video, it made me realize that this sunscreen is irritating my skin. Apparently, this product is a chemical sunscreen which works by heating up my skin. This is why every time I use this product, my cheeks would get red and I would feel like my face is flushing. When I switched to a physical sunscreen, I did not experience red cheeks, so I stopped using this product on my face. I have sensitive skin, so it’s understandable for my face to react like that towards this product.

– Shiseido Makeup Remover

It’s not that I really hate this product, but I just don’t like it. It’s not strong enough to remove waterproof eyeliners so I sort of had to rub the cotton on my eyes to remove the eyeliner (I know, it’s bad but I didn’t have any other choice). And for some reason, this makeup remover makes the skin area near my eyes dry and flaky, which makes me dislike it even more. I don’t know if all makeup removers are like that, since this is my first one, but I hope they aren’t.

– Maybelline Baby Lips Sunscreen SPF 20

I bought this thinking that it is a lip balm and a sunscreen, but apparently it’s not. Or if it is, it’s not moisturizing enough. I thought I had to reapply this product very often since after a couple of hours, my lips would start chapping (this happened during winter). I kept on using it for a month and realize that it’s pretty much useless. It’s not moisturizing enough. I ended up just switching to a different product, however I still use this sometimes (I try to finish the products I have).

Makeup

– Revlon Colorstay

My sister gave me this foundation because it was too light for her. So I tried using this product. At first it was alright. However, when I used it more, I realized that my face is always cakey. In the US, it was even worse. I could even sort of peel the foundation, yes it was that bad. And the weird thing is that this is formulated for dry skin. Every time I gave this a chance, it always cakes and ruins my day so I just stopped using it.

– Lovedrops Tearbaby Deep Eyeliner

I bought this because I was looking for a waterproof brown eyeliner. But I was really disappointed. This product is not waterproof at all. It smudges so easily that only the ends of my eyes stayed. The middle part is gone. Even when I apply it, sometimes the product doesn’t come out, the tip just erases the parts that I have drawn. I really don’t like this eyeliner and probably would never buy it again. However, I do like the color because it creates a soft look. Now I use this eyeliner only on the ends to create a sharp line and use a different eyeliner to tight-line my eyes.

 

I ended up having too much products that I love. I think it’s because I don’t have other products to compare them to, so I probably just like what I have. These are just the first half of this year. Since I bought a lot more stuff to try, I’ll probably have new products I’ll love and hate, which I will hopefully add to my year-end post.

Korea Travels: The Korean Concert Experience [EXO’rDIUM ]

As I have mentioned in my Massive Korean Haul post, I got the chance to watch one of the EXO’rDIUMs in Seoul, which was on the 27th of May, 2017. I didn’t know much about the ticketing as my Korean friend was the one who helped me get the ticket. From what I know, it was a pretty hard process involving a fight among other Exo-Ls. At first we couldn’t get the ticket, but somehow some people cancelled their tickets and so we had the chance to get the tickets. As I wasn’t the one buying the ticket, I won’t write much about it, but I will write mostly on what the Korean concert experience is like.