25 Skincare Products That "Work Like Magic"
A convenient set of dual-textured toner pads made with lactic and salicylic acid to gently exfoliate skin and refine the appearance of those T-zone pores you swear can be seen from a mile away.
A fragrance-free CeraVe eye cream because you've seen this holy grail product evveerrryyyyyyywhere and wanna know what all the hullabaloo is about. Here's the deal — the non-greasy formula was developed with dermatologists and helps combat puffiness and dark circles with a nourishing combination of ceramides and hyaluronic acid.
A reviewer-loved Juno & Co.'s Clean 10 Cleansing Balm if disposable wipes just can't seem to cut through your most stubborn mascara, foundation, and SPF. All you need is a pea-sized amount of this creamy miracle worker to leave your skin feeling clean and hydrated without any icky residues.
A Hero Cosmetics post-blemish rescue balm for after the big pop to soothe irritation before a long-lasting scar sets up shop on your face. Simply pat your pimple with this gentle, nonirritating formula to relieve dryness, calm angry redness, and help reduce hyperpigmentation.
An Acure brightening facial scrub to de-gunk pores with a combination of French green clay, sea kelp, and Madonna lily that delivers soft, glowy results while still being gentle enough to use several times a week.
A soothing piercing solution because you've been watching that bump growing on your new piercing for weeks, and it's time to take action. This aftercare formula is designed to reduce the size of your keloid over time with 2–3 daily applications.
A two-ingredient Briotech spray reviewers have used to soothe inflammation of all kinds, from angry piercings and acne to stubborn rashes and rosacea. It uses hypochlorous acid, an ingredient found naturally in our white blood cells, similar to the much pricier Tower 28 spray.
An exfoliating mitt if you love the delightful feeling of disgust that comes with seeing dead skin slough away right before your eyes and knowing that your skin is going to feel SO SMOOTH after.
A gentle pore-clearing cleansing oil that's so effective at removing makeup and other residue that reviewers say you can actually see bits of gunk leaving your pores. WILD. It's suitable for all skin types and is formulated with heartleaf extract to help you get that *glowy* glass skin look.
A mega-popular CeraVe hydrating facial cleanser so you can keep your skin clean and clear with one simple product that won't leave your face feeling stripped and dry afterward. It also doubles as a bodywash if you're struggling with bacne, chestne, or buttne.
A powerful 2% BHA salicylic acid exfoliant if harsh scrubs haven't done your skin any favors. This helps to clear skin and unclog pores by gently sloughing away dead skin to reveal the texture-free glow hiding underneath.
A blemish-busting Mario Badescu drying lotion to take on pimples while you sleep with an effective blend of salicylic acid, sulfur, calamine, and zinc oxide.
A pack of nose pore patches for making your skincare dreams a reality by expunging gunk and excess oil from troublesome hot spots like your nose or chin. The hardest part will be resisting the urge to touch your post-treatment skin now that it's as smooth as a baby seal.
A gentle LilyAna Naturals retinol cream because retinol is a skincare workhorse that can do wonders for the appearance of fine lines and uneven texture. Combine that with a slew of hydrating ingredients like hyaluronic acid, shea butter, organic green tea, and jojoba oil, and you've got a daily moisturizer that feels closer to a magic potion.
A bottle of fragrance-free Goami rice toner so you can add an extra dose of hydration to your skincare regimen when you need it without shaking up your entire routine.
A retinol body lotion jam-packed with dermatologist-recommended ingredients like retinol and ferulic acid that promote skin cell turnover to target common complaints like wrinkles and rough, crepey texture. And that's on top of just being a nourishing, non-greasy moisturizer you can use allllllll over.
A hydrating snail mucin repairing essence for soothing *all* skin types (reviewers love how gentle it is) with the potential to help heal acne scars, fade dark spots, and smooth fine lines...all for under $20!!
An oil-free La Roche-Posay daily face moisturizer to seal in hydration with a fragrance-free formula that does more than just moisturize with ceramides and niacinamide to help repair the skin barrier. And you can get it with or without SPF 30?!? Pinch me.
A wildly popular Bio-Oil because real-life magic (aka science) has gifted us this powerful blend of moisturizing oils and vitamins to help fade the scars and stretch marks you thought were going to stick around for the foreseeable ever.
An anti-bacterial butt acne-clearing lotion made with tea tree oil that'll finally give your booty the same blemish-busting TLC you treat your face to.
A cruelty-free intense-therapy lip balm to take even chronically irritated lips from dry and cracked to hydrated and smooth while protecting them from future damage.
A vegan and cruelty-free lip scrub because your favorite lipstick will go on much smoother with a bit of extra skin prep. Scrub away any dry, flaky layers with this nourishing combination of coconut, sugar, avocado oil, and jojoba oil.
A vegan exfoliating body scrub for anyone who struggles with persistent KP. This buffs away bumps by combining the benefits of a chemical peel and microdermabrasion into one gentle, at-home treatment.
A pack of two dark spot corrector soap bars because they're packed with all the skin-loving good stuff (vitamin C, turmeric, hyaluronic acid, collagen, and MORE) to help even out skin and diminish dark spots wherever they pop up.
And a multi-tasking, plant-powered vitamin C serum with over 97,000 5-star ratings that can help minimize the appearance of a long list of skin woes like dark circles, sun spots, redness, and even breakouts.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
National Geographic
2 hours ago
- National Geographic
How smelling roses could help you make stronger memories
If hearing an old song or getting a whiff of freshly sharpened pencils instantly carries you back to high school, you're familiar with the link between your senses and memory. When a sensory experience spontaneously evokes an autobiographical memory, it's often called the Proust Effect, named for French author Marcel Proust who described how the experience of eating a madeleine instantly transported him back to childhood in his novel In Search of Lost Time. 'The senses are critical for memory because they're at the intersection between our environment, our experiences, and our memory system,' says Susanne Jaeggi, a professor of psychology, applied psychology, and music and co-director of the Brain Game Center for Mental Fitness and Well-Being at Northeastern University in Boston. But you don't have to wait for that random waft of pencil shavings to conjure your school days. By actively focusing on your senses during important moments, you may actually be able to improve your long-term memory. And even if you're not trying to remember a specific moment or experience, strengthening your senses will boost your memory overall. Here's how your primary senses influence memory—and what experts say you can do to hone them. The links between memory and the senses in your brain First, some background: On a basic physiological level, the parts of the brain that process smell, sight, sound, taste, touch, and memories are neurologically linked. When you're exposed to a particular sight, sound, or smell, your senses generate electrochemical activity—with brain cells firing, typically in the cerebral cortex, which is responsible for memory and learning, explains Andrew Budson, a professor of neurology at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and coauthor of the book Why We Forget and How to Remember Better. These signals are transmitted to the hippocampus, which then 'takes separate sights, sounds, smells, thoughts, and feelings and binds them together into something coherent,' he explains. Meanwhile, the brain's amygdala adds emotion to the experience, and another part of the hippocampus tags this information so it can be retrieved for years to come. 'One of the ways a memory can be tagged as important is if it had a strong sensation such as a strong smell or beautiful image associated with it,' says Budson. 'That tells the brain to hold onto the information for a long time.' When information is experienced across multiple senses—for example, if you see and smell an apple pie as it comes out of your grandmother's oven—it has a higher chance of being remembered, Jaeggi says, because 'you have different pathways for accessing it later.' Indeed, research has found that multisensory learning improves memory by creating what's known as a 'memory engram'—a physical trace or imprint of a memory in the brain—across different sensory areas in the brain. 'There's a myth that some people learn best with visual stimuli and others with auditory stimuli,' says Budson, who's also chief of cognitive behavioral neurology at the VA Boston Healthcare System. 'The truth is, we all learn best when we have a multisensory experience because we're literally storing that memory in multiple areas of the brain that are associated with those senses.' Different areas of the brain play a role in sensory processing and memory formation. There are two hemispheres in the brain, each of which contains four main lobes: • The frontal lobes help control thinking and short-term memory, as well as voluntary movements and emotion regulation; • the parietal lobes process and integrate sensory information, including taste, texture, and temperature; • the temporal lobes are involved in auditory processing and spatial and visual perception; • and the occipital lobes process and interpret visual information from your eyes. Sight has might As human beings, 'we are very visually oriented,' says Jonathan Schooler, a cognitive psychologist and professor of psychological and brain sciences at the University of California Santa Barbara. 'You can recognize a smell but it's hard to recall a smell. It's easy to conjure an image in your mind. While people often think vision happens in the eyes, what you see is actually processed in the occipital lobes, the parietal lobes, and the temporal lobes of the brain. 'Vision is the largest sense in terms of brain real estate,' Budson explains. Not surprisingly, research has found that visual long-term memory 'has a massive storage capacity' for details. Visual memory also can help you remember people and places—and it's flexible. In a study in a 2023 issue of Current Biology, researchers demonstrated that visual memories are the result of neural codes that evolve over time so that people can use that information to guide their behavior in the future. For example, if you make a list of groceries to buy but forget to bring it to the store, the process of having written it down and reviewed it will help you remember what you need. TIP: Zoom in on the details. If you train your eyes and mind to pay better attention to visual stimuli, studies have shown it can improve accuracy and efficiency in recalling visual information. If you're gazing at a scene in nature or a painting in a gallery, home in on the colors and textures to help you remember it better. (Learn what makes a photo memorable.) Hearing provides a soundtrack Although it's unclear why, scientists have found that auditory memory—the ability to remember information that's presented orally—tends to be less robust than visual memory. But there are exceptions: A study in a 2021 issue of the journal Psychological Research found that musicians have specific advantages when it comes to remembering sequences of sound patterns. These include the variations in pitch associated with speech (based on intonations or inflections) as well as changes in frequency of other sounds. This makes sense because remembering sound variations is important to musicians. A similar principle applies to important moments in real life for non-musicians: You might remember what song was playing when you met the love of your life or the lyrics to a song you played nonstop in high school because they mattered to you. 'A lot of what we remember has to do with the [subjective] importance of the information we're processing—the fact that it is important or interesting to us,' Jaeggi says. TIP: Break down the sound into separate parts. Auditory training—training your mind to listen actively to sounds and make distinctions between them—has been shown to improve working memory, attention, and communication among adults with mild hearing loss. So if you hear a great song that you want to remember to add to Spotify later, try to pick out certain instruments or rhythms in the piece. Smell conjures emotions If the smell of fresh-cut grass or campfires reminds you of your childhood, you're in good company. In 2021, a study conducted in Japan found that exposure to particular scents—such as tatami (Japanese straw mat), osmanthus flower, baby powder, citrus, and incense—elicited vivid, autobiographical memories, causing participants to feel as though they were 'being brought back in time.' 'No other sensory system is linked to the neural hub of emotion, learning, and memory, the way smell is,' says Rachel Herz, a neuroscientist and adjunct assistant professor in the department of psychiatry and human behavior at the Brown University Medical School. The primary olfactory cortex resides where the amygdala and the hippocampus meet—"that's where the conscious perception of smell occurs,' Herz says, and it's the area that modulates learning and memory. A study in the journal Memory found that olfactory cues are more effective than visual cues at helping people recall memories from childhood. 'If you smell an odor, it's a great way to unlock a memory,' says Lila Davachi, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Columbia University in New York City. TIP: Stop and smell the roses, the freesias—and the rest of your surroundings. A 2023 review of the medical literature found that olfactory training (a.k.a., smell retraining) is associated with improved cognition and memory. 'Good olfactory function is important for healthy brain aging,' says Herz, author of Why You Eat What You Eat: The Science Behind Our Relationship With Food. This is why Herz recommends engaging in smell training: Spend a few minutes every day smelling different things in your home such as spices, personal care products, perfumes, candles, or foods: 'Focus on what you're smelling and think about what it reminds you of,' she suggests. Taste the moment Believe it or not, there's something called gustatory working memory—the ability to remember a particular taste even after you're exposed to other tastes. With gustatory memory, taste information detected by your taste buds travels to the gustatory cortex, located within the cerebral cortex in the brain. There, it's processed and interpreted; then, the taste signals are transmitted to other brain regions, including the amygdala which plays a vital role in emotional responses and memory formation. Taste memory allows you to anticipate the taste of particular foods simply by looking at them, which helps you choose the foods you like and avoid those you don't. Keep in mind that your sense of taste doesn't work alone: 'When we talk about flavor, it comes from what's in our mouth but also [from] the volatile chemicals from what we're eating or drinking migrating up to the nose,' says Pamela Dalton, an olfactory scientist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia. While it's widely claimed that between 75 and 95 percent of what we perceive to be taste actually comes from the sense of smell, a precise percentage has been hard to prove; even so, many researchers agree 'that olfaction plays a 'dominant' role in the tasting of food.' TIP: Eat a wide variety of foods—and describe them to lock in the experience. A study in a 2022 issue of Nature found that healthy adults who engaged in taste recall training became better at recognizing and recalling sweet, salty, sour, and bitter tastes they'd previously been exposed to. To improve your gustatory memory, treat yourself to a range of these different taste sensations. Focus on the flavors and the way the foods feel in your mouth—then describe them in words. While drinking wine, Budson recommends focusing on the various flavors and sensations on your tongue. Get a feel for things Most people don't think of memories related to the sense of touch—often called tactile memory—but research shows that people are remarkably adept at storing and recalling memories of how objects feel. 'Touch sensations are processed in the parietal lobes, close to the frontal lobes and next to the movement processing area,' Budson says. This allows you to integrate the experiences of touch and movement in ways that help orient you and navigate your surroundings—which is why you can hold a cup of coffee without looking at it or spilling it. TIP: Channel your inner preschooler and make time for sensory play. Research has found that engaging in tactile memory training can improve sustained attention and working memory. You can do this at home by running your fingers through bowls of water, rice, and dried beans and noting the differences in how they feel. You could also try making shapes with clay while focusing on the way it feels in your hands. If you pay attention to sensations that feel good or uncomfortable, it can help you make wise choices in the future. For example, if you take note of the discomfort you feel in a roughly textured shirt, it'll help you remember not to buy clothes in the same fabric in the future. Your tactile memory can also help you decide if a tote bag you've loaded up is going to hurt your hand or shoulder, based on previous experience. Ultimately, strengthening your senses and your memory is all about paying attention to the world around you, Schooler says. He recommends engaging in breath-focused meditation, using your breath to anchor your attention, then shifting your focus to whatever sights, smells, or sounds are arising. Herz agrees: 'The more attention you pay to anything—and attention is multisensory—the more it will reinforce whatever information you're encoding in your brain.' This article is part of Your Memory, Rewired, a National Geographic exploration into the fuzzy, fascinating frontiers of memory science—including advice on how to make your own memory more powerful. Learn more.
Buzz Feed
8 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
25 Skincare Products That "Work Like Magic"
A convenient set of dual-textured toner pads made with lactic and salicylic acid to gently exfoliate skin and refine the appearance of those T-zone pores you swear can be seen from a mile away. A fragrance-free CeraVe eye cream because you've seen this holy grail product evveerrryyyyyyywhere and wanna know what all the hullabaloo is about. Here's the deal — the non-greasy formula was developed with dermatologists and helps combat puffiness and dark circles with a nourishing combination of ceramides and hyaluronic acid. A reviewer-loved Juno & Co.'s Clean 10 Cleansing Balm if disposable wipes just can't seem to cut through your most stubborn mascara, foundation, and SPF. All you need is a pea-sized amount of this creamy miracle worker to leave your skin feeling clean and hydrated without any icky residues. A Hero Cosmetics post-blemish rescue balm for after the big pop to soothe irritation before a long-lasting scar sets up shop on your face. Simply pat your pimple with this gentle, nonirritating formula to relieve dryness, calm angry redness, and help reduce hyperpigmentation. An Acure brightening facial scrub to de-gunk pores with a combination of French green clay, sea kelp, and Madonna lily that delivers soft, glowy results while still being gentle enough to use several times a week. A soothing piercing solution because you've been watching that bump growing on your new piercing for weeks, and it's time to take action. This aftercare formula is designed to reduce the size of your keloid over time with 2–3 daily applications. A two-ingredient Briotech spray reviewers have used to soothe inflammation of all kinds, from angry piercings and acne to stubborn rashes and rosacea. It uses hypochlorous acid, an ingredient found naturally in our white blood cells, similar to the much pricier Tower 28 spray. An exfoliating mitt if you love the delightful feeling of disgust that comes with seeing dead skin slough away right before your eyes and knowing that your skin is going to feel SO SMOOTH after. A gentle pore-clearing cleansing oil that's so effective at removing makeup and other residue that reviewers say you can actually see bits of gunk leaving your pores. WILD. It's suitable for all skin types and is formulated with heartleaf extract to help you get that *glowy* glass skin look. A mega-popular CeraVe hydrating facial cleanser so you can keep your skin clean and clear with one simple product that won't leave your face feeling stripped and dry afterward. It also doubles as a bodywash if you're struggling with bacne, chestne, or buttne. A powerful 2% BHA salicylic acid exfoliant if harsh scrubs haven't done your skin any favors. This helps to clear skin and unclog pores by gently sloughing away dead skin to reveal the texture-free glow hiding underneath. A blemish-busting Mario Badescu drying lotion to take on pimples while you sleep with an effective blend of salicylic acid, sulfur, calamine, and zinc oxide. A pack of nose pore patches for making your skincare dreams a reality by expunging gunk and excess oil from troublesome hot spots like your nose or chin. The hardest part will be resisting the urge to touch your post-treatment skin now that it's as smooth as a baby seal. A gentle LilyAna Naturals retinol cream because retinol is a skincare workhorse that can do wonders for the appearance of fine lines and uneven texture. Combine that with a slew of hydrating ingredients like hyaluronic acid, shea butter, organic green tea, and jojoba oil, and you've got a daily moisturizer that feels closer to a magic potion. A bottle of fragrance-free Goami rice toner so you can add an extra dose of hydration to your skincare regimen when you need it without shaking up your entire routine. A retinol body lotion jam-packed with dermatologist-recommended ingredients like retinol and ferulic acid that promote skin cell turnover to target common complaints like wrinkles and rough, crepey texture. And that's on top of just being a nourishing, non-greasy moisturizer you can use allllllll over. A hydrating snail mucin repairing essence for soothing *all* skin types (reviewers love how gentle it is) with the potential to help heal acne scars, fade dark spots, and smooth fine for under $20!! An oil-free La Roche-Posay daily face moisturizer to seal in hydration with a fragrance-free formula that does more than just moisturize with ceramides and niacinamide to help repair the skin barrier. And you can get it with or without SPF 30?!? Pinch me. A wildly popular Bio-Oil because real-life magic (aka science) has gifted us this powerful blend of moisturizing oils and vitamins to help fade the scars and stretch marks you thought were going to stick around for the foreseeable ever. An anti-bacterial butt acne-clearing lotion made with tea tree oil that'll finally give your booty the same blemish-busting TLC you treat your face to. A cruelty-free intense-therapy lip balm to take even chronically irritated lips from dry and cracked to hydrated and smooth while protecting them from future damage. A vegan and cruelty-free lip scrub because your favorite lipstick will go on much smoother with a bit of extra skin prep. Scrub away any dry, flaky layers with this nourishing combination of coconut, sugar, avocado oil, and jojoba oil. A vegan exfoliating body scrub for anyone who struggles with persistent KP. This buffs away bumps by combining the benefits of a chemical peel and microdermabrasion into one gentle, at-home treatment. A pack of two dark spot corrector soap bars because they're packed with all the skin-loving good stuff (vitamin C, turmeric, hyaluronic acid, collagen, and MORE) to help even out skin and diminish dark spots wherever they pop up. And a multi-tasking, plant-powered vitamin C serum with over 97,000 5-star ratings that can help minimize the appearance of a long list of skin woes like dark circles, sun spots, redness, and even breakouts.
Buzz Feed
10 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
12 Things Doctors Do When Traveling To Avoid Getting Sick
When travelers return home from a vacation, they typically bring cool souvenirs, cherished memories and a broadened perspective on the world. But sometimes they also come home with a terrible cold, digestive problems or other health issues. It's common to get sick when you travel, whether you come down with symptoms during the trip or start feeling bad after the return. But this outcome doesn't have to be inevitable. 'You can assume that travel will increase the risk of getting sick, and none of us wants to get sick while traveling, said Dr. Henry M. Wu, an associate professor at Emory University School of Medicine and director of the Emory TravelWell Center. 'It makes sense to take extra precautions we don't do on a daily basis.' Below, Wu and other doctors share the things they always do when they travel to avoid getting sick. 1. Masking In The Airport And On The Plane 'Although COVID is no longer as large of an issue as it was, given that I am in close quarters with the same circulating air on an airplane, I still wear a mask on all flights and in the airport,' said Dr. Barbara Bawer, a family medicine physician at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. 'Depending on where you are going, wearing a mask in crowded places is also important.' She suggested packing at least a couple of masks in case one gets soiled or ruined. High-quality masks like N95s are your best bet for reducing germ transmission in crowded indoor situations. 'I still lament the time I sat on an overnight train in France across from a couple that coughed and sneezed the entire trip — only to get a horrible cold a day later and miss the 48-hour French countryside wedding extravaganza I had traveled so far to attend,' said Dr. Sarah Battistich, an emergency medicine specialist with NYU Langone Health's Virtual Urgent Care. 'Now I routinely wear masks in transit, whether or not there are identifiably ill persons around me.' Face coverings can also offer protection in multiple ways. 'The mask will keep you from touching your nose and mouth with your hands,' said Dr. Heather Viola, a primary care physician at Mount Sinai Doctors-Ansonia. 'First and foremost, I constantly wash my hands, always carrying with me hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol to prevent the spread of germs,' Viola said. 'Many airlines are giving out alcohol-based disinfectant wipes when you board. I use these to clean my seat, headrest, armrests, tray table, and entertainment screen — basically, anything you may touch while sitting in your seat.' Packing your own alcohol-based disinfecting wipes can also be useful. 'I am a big proponent obviously of hand washing,' Battistich said. 'But also trying to limit touching of shared surfaces and therefore limit the risk of coming into contact with bacteria and viruses. I make a game out of it with my daughter to not touch any surface in public bathrooms, including doors and toilet seats.' 3. Staying Hydrated 'If I'm taking a long flight, try to start out well hydrated and avoid alcohol on the plane,' Battistich said. Maintaining a healthy water intake was a priority for all the doctors who spoke to HuffPost. 'I always travel with electrolytes ― packets of dissolvable electrolytes ― for water or vitamin water,' Viola said. 'This is a good way to keep hydrated with more than just water and help prevent in-flight nausea or dehydration.' 4. Taking Immune System Boosters Viola is also a fan of nasal mists and vitamin C tablets prior to boarding. 'The plane cabin is dry, and microorganisms are free to circulate in the air, so before I go on a plane, I take a few vitamin C tablets to boost my immune system and help give my body the ability to fight off airborne germs,' she said. 'Nasal saline spray or nasal mists can also help fight germs as they keep your nasal passages moist, which enhances your body's own germ-flushing activity. You can even apply a small amount of Neosporin or petroleum jelly just inside the nostrils — using a Q-tip if your hands aren't washed — to create a barrier between you and the airborne germs.' 5. Avoiding Peak Travel Times 'If possible, try to travel during non-peak times, which often is the middle of the week and mid-morning or midday, instead of very early or in the evening,' Bawer said. 'This may depend on your city, though, so do some research ahead of time.' Avoiding the biggest crowds and sense of stress is a good way to cut down on your potential exposure to germs, and traveling in the middle of the day typically allows for a full night's sleep the night before or after your flight. 6. Prioritizing Rest 'Make sure to get adequate rest before your flight and if able, try to sleep while traveling when appropriate,' Bawer said. 'When returning home, give yourself some time to re-adjust back to your daily schedule and environment. Try not to return home at 11 p.m. or midnight and then have to head straight to work the next day. Give yourself a few hours or, if able, an entire day at least to recover, get caught up on laundry or grocery shopping or other needed chores, and get plenty of rest.' Fatigue can impair your immune system, as well as decrease your endurance and negatively impact your mood. 'I'm a big fan of those flat packable travel pillows which support your neck, and I've found bringing ear plugs and an eye mask or scarf to keep out the lights is super helpful for getting that extra bit of rest — like that hour at the end of a night flight where you still want to sleep but the flight crew turns the bright overheads on,' Battistich said. 7. Not Overscheduling Just as you should prioritize rest to help your immune system, you should also try to reduce stress where possible. 'Don't overschedule your trip to allow time to enjoy yourself and give some flexibility in the itinerary,' Bawer advised. 'Stress can induce sickness, especially in a new environment.' 8. Eating A Well-Balanced Diet 'Eat a well-balanced diet leading up to the trip to get your body and immune system ready to fight anything it comes into contact with and on the day of travel as well,' Bawer said. 'Most people don't eat as healthy while on vacation but try to incorporate fruits and vegetables with all meals to keep your immune system at the highest level.' She always packs healthy snacks and a refillable water bottle to ensure she gets the nutrients she needs during her travels. 'Often we don't have time to eat, especially with flights being delayed or late, and we either skip meals or grab something quick, which is rarely healthy,' Bawer noted. 'I make sure I am up-to-date on vaccines before travel,' Wu said. 'Flu and COVID-19 are so common among travelers, and even a mild case can ruin a trip. Also, for international travel, there are additional vaccines that might be recommended or required, or even malaria prophylaxis for some areas. I suggest travelers check the CDC [Centers for Disease Control Prevention] travel website or see a travel medicine specialist for advice.' In addition to getting the necessary travel vaccines ahead of time, you may want to procure special medications in advance. 'Consider getting a prescription for diarrhea medicine if traveling to another country where traveler's diarrhea may be an issue,' Bawer advised. 'If traveling to another country, avoid drinking their water — this includes anything washed with local water like salad and fruit. Focus on eating foods that have a shell and don't need washing and drink bottled water. Also, use this to brush your teeth. This can help to avoid traveler's diarrhea from developing.' Packing an over-the-counter anti-diarrheal like Imodium is another good idea, especially when traveling internationally. 'If I'm uncertain about particular meals, I try to stick to foods that have been fully cooked and are served hot, avoiding raw and undercooked foods,' Viola added. 10. Keeping Up With Sun Protection 'Wear sunscreen daily,' Bawer urged. Whether at home or on vacation, you should apply (and reapply) a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30 every day. Keeping up with your sun protection regimen is especially important if you'll spend a lot of time outside during your travels. 'Sunburn and heat-related illnesses are some of the most easily preventable causes of a ruined vacation,' Battistich said. 'Don't forget sunscreen, long sleeve shirts ― linen is great for hot climates ― and hats. The bigger and more packable the hat, the better.' 11. Buying Insect Repellent 'If it's an outdoorsy trip or I'm going to tropical areas, I make sure to pack bug repellent,' Wu said. 'Mosquitoes, ticks and other biting bugs can transmit many infections.' Ensure your sunscreen complies with local regulations and check the CDC's recommendations for effective products. 'It isn't always easy to find these things on the fly, so preparing in advance will eliminate the chance I am caught off guard,' Wu added. 12. Packing Medication 'I also bring over-the-counter medications that I will have on hand in case I start to feel unwell,' Viola said. She packs acetaminophen for pain or fever, ibuprofen for pain, an antihistamine like Benadryl and Pepto-Bismol in case of stomach upset. 'My doctor's travel kit included some preventatives and some emergency rescue meds,' Battistich said, listing many of the same medications, as well as anti-nausea medications and remedies like SeaBands, ginger packets, and aromatherapy sticks. 'There is evidence that taking Pepto-Bismol tablets before and during travel can help reduce in the risk of traveler's diarrhea,' she added. 'I also back very basic wound kits with Band-Aids, antibiotic cream, and if going to a hot and humid climate, or when hiking and backpacking, I will also often bring an antifungal cream.'
