The primary cause of skin damage during a flight is airplane cabin air. Since it’s much less humid than the level our skin is accustomed to, our skin tries to compensate by rapidly producing oil (for oily skin) or quickly drawing out water from our skin cells (dry skin). If you don’t apply a facial oil for every hour of the flight, your skin will feel either super dry or super greasy by the time you land. But this can be easily fixed, though. Just do a mini-facial once you’ve reached your hotel by exfoliating and slapping on a hydrating honey mask. After a day or two, you’ll find your skin fully-recovered.

You might be thinking right now, “If I can get an instant fix post-flight, what’s the big deal?”

When you are flying high at 30,000 feet, you are so much closer to the sun. As such, those pesky and powerful UV rays will easily find their way to get inside your precious pores. In case you need a refresher, sun damage is the #1 cause of premature aging, blemishes, spots, wrinkles, rosacea, and even skin cancer. That’s why it’s essential to wear your sunscreen every day. But when the distance between you and the sun gets shorter, the effects of UV rays will be multiplied tenfold. So how can you deal with this situation?

As someone who gets on a plane several times a month, I have a super simple tip that will help you block out the sun’s powerful rays when you’re on a flight. Like most of you, I want to prevent lines and wrinkles from appearing faster than they have to. So here’s my #1 favorite airplane ‘must-do’:

Always choose a window seat.

“What?! Won’t choosing a window seat put your face even closer to the sun’s rays?” Well, it does. But not if you close the window shade, of course.

PJ Tip: The unspoken plane rule is that whoever gets the window seat gets to be the master of the window shade. So, you get to control whether it should be open or closed. --This is why I always book a window seat.I

I've learned that airplane windows don’t correctly screen out UV rays. In a nutshell, you should always keep your skin health in check because it gets pretty bright up there during daylight hours. Do your skin a favor and decrease UV exposure by sitting next to the window. Of course, you still want to apply a generous layer of sunscreen pre-flight for complete protection.