Beauty Secrets From the Sky: 5 Unexpected Tips From a Flight Attendant

Photo: Getty Images

You’ve all seen those photos—hell, we’ve even posted galleries of them on ELLE.com—of Miranda Kerr or Rihanna or Kim Kardashian emerging from an airport ready to greet the paparazzi as if they just woke up from an eight-hour nap and were attended to by a glam-squad midflight. Hair in bouncy waves, skin glowing, sunglasses on. So effortless! Right?
For us mere mortals, looking fresh faced and pulled together after a flight feels impossible. After all, you’ve just spent hours suppressing rage flames because the guy next to you downed four vodka cocktails and kept trying to chat while the kid behind you kicked your seat back as he played video games.

But when going from flight to meeting is part of your job, looking presentable is required.
So how to pull it off?

I decided to ask the real stars of the sky, the ones who spend most of their workweek in freezing, dry, pressurized cabins attending to stressed-out passengers: the flight crew. This past fashion month I had the pleasure of flying Emirates, and I was struck by how not-a-hair-out-of-place flawless the flight attendants were. Makena Hammond, a flight attendant who has been with Emirates for the past year, was happy to answer all my questions and share her tricks of the trade.

Photo: Emirates

LAY OFF THE BLOODY MARY MIX (AND THE COFFEE) “Hydration is key when you’re in the air. Avoiding caffeine on a flight is definitely something that helps. In flight, we have a full face of makeup on, and I use an Evian face mist and breeze it over my face throughout the trip. It’s great because you can use it over makeup.”
  DRINK/EAT THIS CABIN CREW-APPROVED CONCOCTION INSTEAD
“A thing that the cabin crew is doing now is putting chia seeds in our water because they’ve got omega-3s, fiber, and they’re supposed to give you this feeling of saturation. They look like little tadpoles, but they’re hard seeds. And in water, they get this jelly coat, and I really enjoy the texture so I drink more water. We eat a lot of nuts on board, and salads, and try to avoid salty foods because those make you retain water, and if you’re trying to look nice when you get off the plane, you don’t want that."
  DON'T PILE THE MAKEUP ON
“Don’t overdo it [with makeup]. That’s key. We have a minimum we have to wear on our face—foundation, blush, the right shade of red lipstick (our lips have to match the red scrunchie) —but you want to look professional and beautiful and not like you tried really hard.”
  BUT DO MAKE SURE IT LASTS
This comes straight from the Emirates cabin crew beauty guide: “Placing foundation over your lips and eyes can make the color stay on longer as well. Apply eye shadow afterwards and your looks will last on even the longest of flights. Waterproof mascara should be avoided as this dries out your lashes and is harder to remove after a flight or with a makeup wipe before sleeping on board.”
  BE NICE TO YOUR SKIN POST FLIGHT
“After flights, I try to do a moisture mask to get my skin back in order. I use jojoba oil or almond oil on my face. If I’m too tired, I wipe it off with a face towel and leave just a little bit of oil on my face.”

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