This is a guest post courtesy of Paul Agelidis, the Founder and Owner at Revolucion, a cigar, tobacco and men’s gift shop in beautiful Vancouver, BC.

When you travel on a vacation, it can be difficult to maintain the health and appearance of your skin and your hair. While you travel on planes, trains or buses, and when you travel to new locations that have different climates, environmental conditions, and airborne pollution, your skin and hair get highly stressed.

Being away from the bathroom that has all your usual products and tools does not help either, as you won’t have access to everything you may need to stay as well groomed as you might want.

So if you have a vacation coming up and want to know how you can look and feel as healthy and clean as you’d like, you can use these five tips to accomplish that.

#1 — How to keep your skin hydrated on a plane

The optimal level of humidity for your skin is between 40% and 70% — any more than 70% and your skin will be more oily and prone to breakouts. Any less than 40% will make your skin more dried out. If your vacation will include multiple or long flights on a plane, you should know that most cabins have a humidity less than 30%. What better way to start a vacation that arriving with red, inflamed, sensitive and dry skin?

So how do you keep your skin hydrated through a long flight? First, make sure you drink lots of water to compensate. Get water from the flight attendants as much as you can and bring whatever bottles you are allowed to have on the plane with you.

Take regular drinks every few minutes. You can also apply hyaluronic acid to your skin before getting on the plane — it is a natural acid that helps hydrate your skin, and keep it hydrated for long periods of time. If you can bring a bit with you, apply it every few hours.

#2 — Always keep good sunscreen with you

Going on vacation usually means people are outside a lot more often than they would be at home, whether you’re relaxing out on a beach resort, touring the great cities of the world, or hiking through the wilderness somewhere. That also means that your skin is going to be exposed to the UV radiation from sunlight a lot more, even if it is a cloudy day.

You’ll want a good, strong and hydrating sunscreen. You can get the sunscreen that works best for certain types of skin, or that will work in certain climate conditions (cold, dry, humid, hot, etc). Just make sure that it has a good SPF rating, and that you re-apply it as often as directed to stay protected. The last thing you want is to have all your vacation pictures where you look like a freshly cooked lobster.

#3 — Wash yourself more often in hot & humid climates

If you are going on the vacation somewhere that is more hot and humid, you’re likely going to be sweating a lot more than usual. Both the sweat and the greater amount of moisture in the air from the humidity can make your pores get bigger, with the sweat trapping debris like dirt, dust, bacteria, and airborne allergens or pollution in them. That’s how you wind up dealing with a lovely breakout of acne on your vacation!

The best remedy is to wash more often than you normally would. In fact, you should at least rinse your skin after any prolonged period of sweating. Bring a good quality cleanser with you to wash once a day, with good moisturizing properties to minimize how much oil your skin produces.

#4 — Bring your beard oil with you

All of the above problems can affect the health and appearance of your hair as well. A lack of humidity can make your beard look dry, brittle and lifeless, while too much humidity can make your beard look (and smell) sweaty and greasy. To keep your facial hair properly hydrated, bring some beard oil with you that has the right ingredients and properties to help in the climate conditions you’ll face.

For dry climates or airplanes? Make sure the beard oil has strong hydrating properties to keep it looking lush, glossy and soft. For hot or humid climates? Get a beard oil or balm that can seal in the moisture of your hair to prevent it from absorbing the sweat, humid air, and excess hair oil production.

#5 — Don’t forget your beard brush

The best tool for grooming facial hair that you can combine with the beard oil is a good quality brush or comb, depending on how long your beard is. It can help straighten any tangles, improve the look of volume and life before and after a long plane ride with the lifeless cabin air, and evenly distribute your hair’s natural oils or any beard oil you apply.

It will also help massage and stimulate the skin under your hair, exfoliating any dry skin or dandruff that develop, while also clearing the hair follicles and pores of any built-up oil and debris. In general, the best kind of brush for a beard will use bristles that are natural and firm, such as boar hair. This is because facial hair is thick and coarse compared to the hair on your head, so a good beard brush can handle the beard hair much better.

About the Author:

Paul Agelidis has been the founder and owner of Revolucion, a Canadian cigar, tobacco and men’s gift shop in Vancouver, since 2005. For the last decade, Paul has worked very hard to become an expert in tobacco products, men’s care, travel & accessories, body & bath, and gifts & home. Prior to 2005, from 1997 – 2005 Paul worked in the wholesale cigar industry and traveled to the annual cigar trade show (Habanos Festival every February). He loves to share his tips with others who are looking to achieve a complete lifestyle with the finer things in life.