14 beauty products SQ flight attendants swear by

SQ girls are always perfectly put together, but just what goes into looking perfect for the flight? We let you in on their beauty secrets

Credits: 123rf
Credits: 123rf
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Regardless of how often you travel, your skin is never immune to the elevated amount of external aggressors it gets exposed to when you’re mid-flight. For starters, cabin air is extremely dehydrating, which means that your skin is counting on you to help replenish it with moisture (which is lost continuously). The higher-than-usual pressure also means that our blood circulation becomes poorer, hence dull skin. And if that’s not enough, cabin food tends to be higher in salt. Factor in that pre-take-off glass of champagne and those two glasses of Bordeaux you were thinking of having with your baby lamb chop and you get the perfect recipe for dehydration and puffiness.

Luckily, there’s an end to all this because once we land, it’s back to regular programming. But what about the stewardesses? What do they do when flying is their job?

From nourishing moisturisers to the most hydrating face masks, we have learnt a lot from flight attendants over the years. Ahead, we've rounded up 14 products that Singapore Airlines flight attendants (also known as SQ Girls) swear by to protect your skin against the harsh cabin air even on long-haul flights.

Jet Lag Mask, $74.06, Summer Fridays from Amazon

Credit: Amazon
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You’re almost all packed up — until you remember that you have no idea how to take care of your skin while travelling to a cold area. To ensure your skin stays moisturised and hydrated during your chilly travels, consider packing a nourishing face mask to prevent dry, flaky skin. A good mask that SQ girls swear by includes the Jet Lag Mask from Summer Fridays. Eponymous to its name, this mask helps renew tired, dull skin and can be used as a daily moisturiser, overnight mask or even as an in-flight skin saver, which comes in handy, especially for long-haul flights. Formulated with glycerin and hyaluronic acid, the mask helps to boost and hold moisture so it stays plump and glowy, while niacinamide reduces the appearance of fine lines and pores for brighter, smoother skin. To top it all off, it also has a blend of allantoin, bisabolol, panthenol and cucumber extract, which works well together to comfort stressed skin.

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Hydra Vizor Invisible Broad Spectrum SPF 30 Sunscreen With Niacinamide And Kalahari Melon, $37, Fenty Beauty from Sephora

Credit: Sephora
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There are tons of moisturisers to choose from in the market, but if you're a frequent flyer, you'd probably want one that you can easily chuck in your bag without having to worry about it spilling. A good example would be the Hydra Vizor Invisible Broad Spectrum SPF 30 Sunscreen Moisturiser from Fenty Beauty. Aside from its moisturising properties, SQ stewardesses love this particular moisturiser for its unique design that prevents the moisturiser from spillage. What's more, it's also formulated with SPF 30, so you'll also have sufficient coverage from the harmful UV rays.

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Daily Toner Pad, USD$33 ($44.67), Needly from Olive Young

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For smoother, brighter skin, many swear by the daily toner pads from Needly. What's unique about these pads is that it's steeped with salicylic acid that helps to reduce redness and irritation, as well as polyhydroxy acid which works to prevent ageing skin and reduce the appearance of lines and wrinkles. Whether you're using it in the AM or PM, this toner pads also help to safely and effectively exfoliate and reveal smoother and brighter skin, thanks to its natural tea tree extract and BHA&PHA properties.

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Vitamin C Serum, $39.90, Goodal from Watsons

Credit: Watsons
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Speaking of brighter and smoother skin, a popular favourite when it comes to Vitamin C serums, would be the one from Goodal. Boasting a gel-like texture, many swear by this serum because of its lightweight texture that absorbs quickly into the skin with no stickiness after application.

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L’Oreal Paris Hyaluronic Acid Eye Serum, $57.90, L'Oreal Paris from Guardian

Credit: Guardian
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Whether you're spending hours catching up on your favourite shows or you're struggling to fall asleep on those long-haul flights, our gentle eyes bear the brunt and puff up. However, you can easily fix this by investing in an eye serum that will reduce dark circles and re-plump your eye lines that will brighten your peepers. In this case, the eye serum from L'Oreal Paris is formulated with hyaluronic acid and caffeine which helps to intensively rehydrate, smooth and re-plump eye lines energizing the area around the eyes and depuffing your eye bags. It also comes with a triple roller applicator which helps to depuff and revive tired-looking eyes.

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Confidence In An Eye Cream, $79, IT Cosmetics from Sephora

Credit: Sephora
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Whether it's ageing or the weather, dry under eyes can be uncomfortable and may take on a scaly or rough appearance. However, you can easily resolve this by using the right under-eye cream like the ones from IT Cosmetics. Targeted to solve four signs of eye fatigue, including crow’s feet, dark eye circles, lack of firmness and dryness, this vegan peptide eye cream boasts a potent formula that will instantly make your eyes look more refreshed and plump.

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Revive Eye Serum : Ginseng + Retinal, $24.90, Beauty of Joseon from Amazon

Credit: Amazon
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For those who prefer something with a thinner consistency, we recommend trying this eye cream from Beauty of Joseon. Made with 10% ginseng root extract and 2% retinal liposome, this product helps to combat anti-ageing by improving elasticity while repairing damaged skin.

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Lip Repair, $7.75, Aquaphor from iHerb

Credit: Aquaphor
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Lip balms are a must, especially when you're travelling. It guards your lips against dryness and discomfort in various climates keeps your lips hydrated throughout the day. A cult favourite for many SQ girls would have to be this particular one from Aquaphor. it glides on smoothly onto the lips, relieves dryness, and soothes chapped, cracked lips.

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Priming Moisturiser, USD$24 (S$32.52), Glossier

Credit: Glossier
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When you're travelling, you'll want to avoid overpacking. And when it comes to our beauty essentials, we love double-duty products that not only help us save space, but also time from our beauty routines. A good example would be this highly-raved priming moisturiser from Glossier. Lightweight and buildable, this moisturiser helps to hydrate, evens out your skin texture, and minimises the look of pores with just one application.

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Lip Tub Rosy, $5.25, Vaseline from Watsons

Credit: Watsons
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you can't go wrong with this lip balm. Having been in the market for years, it's safe to say that this product is a fuss-free essential that you can't travel without. And as its name suggests, we love how this lip balm also adds a subtle tint to your lips, so you won't have to worry about doubling it up with your lipstick to add some colour to your lips.

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Crème De La Mer Moisturiser, $360, La Mer from Sephora

Credit: Sephora
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What could be better than arming your skin with a rich balm before a long-haul flight? Highly concentrated in La Mer’s signature Miracle Broth, it speeds up wound healing and collagen production while intensely nourishing it so the skin stays soft and supple throughout the flight. All you have to do is rub a pea-sized amount between your palms to warm it up before pressing it into the skin so that it doesn’t feel thick or greasy. Bring a small container of it onboard with you and use it as a lip balm so you never have to worry about chapped lips.

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Luminous Dewy Skin Mist, $82, Tatcha from Sephora

Credit: Sephora
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Many women already carry a face mist in their purse, let alone during a long-haul flight. Easy to use and packed with skin-conditioning ingredients, a face mist is the ultimate weapon in a lazy girl’s arsenal against the harsh cabin air. And this one from Tatcha also promises to leave skin with a dewy glow, thanks to a content of over 20 per cent botanical oils and humectants. With a blend of Okinawa red algae and Japanese anti-ageing superfoods, it infuses skin with antioxidants, strengthening it against free radical assault. Its super fine mist means you can use it over or under makeup without causing makeup to slide or smudge.

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Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Concentrated Hand Cream, $7.50, Neutrogena from Lookfantastic

Credit: Lookfantastic
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If you think your hands feel dry and rough, imagine what a flight attendant’s hands go through. In addition to serving food and drinks to passengers, they also have to maintain the cleanliness of the cabin, which means they probably have to wash their hands countless times throughout a single flight. No wonder they count on something heavy-duty like this powerful hand cream from Neutrogena. Clinically proven to deliver quick and effective relief for dry and chapped hands, this glycerin-rich hand cream wraps hands with a layer of moisture so the skin looks and feels softer.

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SK-II Facial Treatment Mask (6 Pcs), $148, SK-II from Shopee

Credit: Sephora
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Saturated in SK-II legendary Pitera complex, each of these sheet masks infuses skin with an optimal blend of vitamins, minerals and amino acids to deeply hydrate parched skin for a crystal-clear complexion. No wonder so many flight attendants count on them to revive and resuscitate their tired and dull skin post-flight.

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