I feel like a bit of an expert on this topic because I spent eight months of last year traveling around the world and blogging about skin care. I’d recently cleared my acne before I headed overseas but I had to work hard on the maintenance of my clear skin while I was away.
When it comes down to it, taking care of your skin while you’re on the road is not much different to taking care of it when you’re at home. I guess there are two main things to keep in mind …
- You can’t lug around ALL of the cosmetics you normally use
- Healthy diets and detoxes are put on hold
Products
The number one rule when traveling is do not trial a new product the day you leave. Or even the day before. The last thing you want is a cosmetic acne reaction or clogged up pores on your holiday. You’re much better off taking good quality products that you’ve tried and tested and know fit well with your skin.
If you haven’t yet found products that you love (and I know some of you haven’t) and you do happen to buy something new just before you leave, then make sure you do HEAPS of research before you make your purchase. Make sure the product contains no ingredients that can clog the pores, and look the product up on MakeupAlley.com for reviews from others with acne prone skin.
As for packing for your trip away, the most essential items to take with you are a good quality cleanser and moisturizer. Also consider the climate of the destinations you’re visiting. I was traveling through very hot and humid to very dry and cold cities so I needed products that would be okay with both extremes. For me, Philosophies Purity Made Simple and Live-Live’s Bee Yummy Skinfood are good on my skin for all climates so perfect for traveling.
I also took with me Paula’s Choice 2% BHA in case it looked like my skin was breaking out or my pores were a bit clogged, and Miessence Purifying Blemish Gel for spot treatment if I got a breakout.
If I stayed in a destination for longer than a few days I picked up some baking-soda from the grocery store (although a few apartments we stayed in already had some in the kitchen) and mixed that in with my cleanser as an exfoliant.
Taking less products also opens up space in your bag to try new products that you find while you’re traveling. There is no Sephora here in Australia so I almost fell over with excitement when I first found that store in Canada. Many of the products Sephora stocks can’t be found in this country so I had a great time exploring the new products and finding out what was good. And even more so for the natural and organic products I found in health stores and Whole Foods.
Diet
This is a huge topic and worthy of its own blog post but I’ll just be brief.
I’m not sure what you’re like when you’re traveling, but personally I treat myself a lot more. This was especially the case when I was in North America because I have a sweet tooth and the Americans sure know how to make ice-cream and cookies. I still have dreams about Ben And Jerry’s!
Store bought ice-cream and cookies are foods I very rarely eat when I’m at home in Brisbane. But I don’t feel bad that I ate more of them while I was traveling because I got to enjoy those foods in the moment and while they were available to me. My skin survived and perhaps the fact that I was relaxed and happy and having a lovely time compensated for a worse diet.
But I still ate relatively well. We always made a very healthy breakfast no matter what city in the world we were in. And we made sure we always had a good serving of salad or vegetables with each meal.
There’s a great restaurant website that I’ve linked to before. It’s called HappyCow and it’s a wold wide vegetarian restaurant guide that lists healthy restaurants as well. I found it useful in searching for healthy restaurant options in the cities we visited. New York was probably the best with so many healthy options to choose from (err, along with the cup cake bakery that I found and got addicted too as well!).
If you want to learn more about eating for your skin, check out my book Eat Away Your Acne.
7 responses ↓
Great article, Fran! You read my mind! I’m leaving for Miami in less than a week and was getting a little freaked out about my diet and skin in a different city. After reading this and watching your video, I’m hopeful that things will be just fine! Thanks!
Fabulous post! You read my mind too as I leave for a 2 week trip this Sunday… great, practical, useful tips that i will definitely use. Thank you!!
Hi Fran,
Have you found grains to cause problems with acne? Some experts say there’s a strong correlation between grains and acne, and they can be particularly tough to avoid when traveling, especially with all the refined foods most of us like so much.
I use Miessence products too! Great stuff! Although I just use the basics like soap, toothpaste, deodorant, etc.
Definitely, wheat is a big one. A lot of people find that their acne clears up once they start eating gluten free.
Oh, the Miessence toothpaste is great! Although I’ve found a better one called Spry that I buy online through iherb.com
Great blog and really great advice! Before I went travelling last year I made the mistake of beginning the OCM a month beforehand, as well as using new foundation, moisturiser AND cleanser. The result of this was that whilst I was away I had the worst skin I’ve ever had. I still had an amazing time but I know that if I hadn’t of messed with it, my skin would probably not have gotten worse and I would have had a lot less stress and anxiety whilst I was away, and I wouldn’t have had to suffer the resulting hyper-pigmentation and scarring for the past year as I have done. If I knew then what I know now!
Since I cut out wheat my skin behaves a lot better, and so does my digestive tract. I’m fine with Spelt, which is an amazing grain… And I tolerate Burgen breads just fine… But the minute I go to someones place and they specifically made or purchased something and I feel too rude to decline it, I am in all sorts of trouble that I later regret… And dont worry, I do tell people I can’t eat wheat or refined foods but they still insist!
Kitty, I know how you feel… And I’ve noticed that often people don’t believe me when I say a particular food makes me break out, since we’ve grown up hearing that food doesn’t affect your skin. So instead I just say that I’m very allergic to XYZ. I say it gives me a rash (hey, acne is kind of a rash), affects my bowel movements…I just make it as gross as possible and they finally listen. And they stop buying those products that I can’t eat. Even if they do, I don’t worry about being rude because in the end my health is more important than being polite for a few seconds. Hope that helps!
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