23-04-2025
7 Beauty Essentials Flight Attendants Always Travel With
You don't have to be a frequent flyer to know how unkind travel can be on your beauty routine. When contemplating solutions for looking our best while traveling, we figured flight attendants would be the most qualified sources.
Whether they focused on combating dehydrating cabin air, long hours of work or changing climates, the crew members we spoke to opened up their suitcases to reveal the following list of beauty products and tips in the list ahead.
Purchase and pack flight attendant-approved essentials like an antioxidant-filled facial mist, a cult-favorite setting powder, and a classic healing ointment that you might already have in your bathroom cabinet.
1. A popular healing ointment
Target
Andrea Taylor, a flight attendant with Frontier Airlines, told us that she always carries a tube of Aquaphor wherever she flies.
"Whenever I feel as though my lips are becoming dry, I squeeze a little on the tip of my finger and dab it on my lips and, honestly, it makes them look and feel so much better than any gloss I've ever used," she said.
This cult-favorite healing ointment is formulated with more than just petroleum to help nourish chapped lips and heal compromised skin. It also combines the deeply hydrating emollient lanolin with glycerin and provitamin B5, both of which act as humectants to draw moisture into the skin and prevent it from escaping.
Get it from Amazon for $12.97.
2. A refreshing antioxidant facial mist
Sephora
Rather than masks, Taylor personally recommends facial sprays for a refreshing pick-me-up and dose of mid-flight moisture for skin. We are big fans of the Caudalíe grape water mist, a rich source of antioxidants to protect skin from environmental stressors while also soothing and hydrating. Plus, it comes in a TSA-approved mini size, perfect for your carry-on.
Get it from Sephora for $12+ (available in two sizes).
3. A vitamin-rich skin oil
Amazon
According to Ciornenchi, Bio-Oil does "miracles for the skin," especially on the body. This popular and deeply nourishing skincare oil may be best known for reducing the appearance of scars and stretch marks, but the formula is also a great source of vitamins and botanical extracts that can help heal skin, maintain proper skin barrier function and neutralize free radicals that are responsible for damage to the skin's cellular structures.
Get it from Amazon for $10.26+ (available in two sizes).
4. A mini flawless finish setting powder
Sephora
"I have very oily skin and working on the plane makes my skin produce more oils, so I [always] keep my Charlotte Tilbury pressed powder on me so I can touch up," Taylor said.
Available in a travel-perfect mini size, this flawless finish setting powder is made using micro-fine light-reflecting powders that blur imperfections and feel silky on the skin. The never-crease formula is also infused with rose wax and almond oil to hydrate and soften skin. You can grab this powder in four shades.
Get it from Sephora for $28+ (available in two sizes, including a refill option, and four shades).
5. A hair and body fragrance mist
Sephora
Taylor said that she always flies with fragranced body oils or perfumes because working countless hours on an aircraft can make anyone feel unclean. The Sol de Janeiro hair and body mist in the scent 62 is Taylor's current fragrance of choice to help her feel fresh before and after flying. According to her, this gourmand scent — it's slightly nutty with notes of vanilla — always gets compliments from passengers whenever she walks up and down the aisle.
Get it from Sephora for $25+ (available in two sizes).
6. A satin heatless curling rod
Amazon
One of Taylor's in-flight beauty tips for passengers is a heatless curling rod that you might have seen on TikTok. "I always use one on my layover," she said.
This satin-covered heatless curling tool creates fluffy, long-lasting blowout-style curls without the damage of a curling iron, and all in the time it takes you to reach your travel destination. This set by Kitsch comes with two matching satin scrunchies that keep your hair in place and are comfortable to rest your head on.
Get it from Amazon for $15.96+ (available in 14 colors).
7. A reparative ceramide hand cream
Amazon
"Flying really dries out your skin and I find my hands get really dry," Drillsma said. She said CeraVe's reparative hand cream"brings her skin back to life and absorbs quickly."
Like all of CeraVe's dermatologist-adored products, this non-greasy hand cream contains hydrating hyaluronic acid, a powerful humectant that draws moisture into the skin, and three essential ceramides, the so-called building blocks needed to maintain a healthy skin barrier.
Get it from Amazon for $10.47.