The Modern Femme travels, le Part Four

This post will wrap up The Modern Femme travels series with some general thoughts and recommendations I have related to travel that didn't quite fit in the earlier posts.   All good things come to those who wait - these bits and bobs are the metaphorical cherry on top of my travel sundae!

  

Le Part Four:  The femme is in the details...

There are some things I can't travel without.  I don't know how I traveled before I had them, and now that I have them, I can't travel without them...

  

Socks on a Plane
   

LL Bean Wool-Blend Ragg Socks have a fanatical following.



The first thing I do once I've taken my seat on the plane is change into a warm pair of socks.  It is, hands down, the one non-negotiable facet of my travel routine.  Feet swell during air travel (or at least mine do), so I want my shoes off as soon as possible.  But because I don't want to track the dirt from the nasty airplane floor back into my shoes, and because generally I don't wear thick socks with shoes, I change into a heavy pair that will keep my feet warm and cozy in the hours to come.  It's my ritual, my thing.  It starts the whole trip off for me on the right foot. (Zing! Tip your waitress, folks.) 

If you wanted to multitask, you could oomph up this step by decanting some heavy duty moisturizer into a ziplock baggie, and then smearing it over your feet before you pull your airplane socks on. Warm and soft feet! You win.

See no Passengers, Hear no Passengers

Small in size but big in comfort!

For some strange reason, I can't sleep in a car or on a train, but I have no problem zonking out on a plane (maybe those little bottles of wine have something to do with it...).  Since I'm a very light sleeper, the only way I'm visiting dreamland is with the help of an eyemask and a set of earplugs.  I also need a neck pillow if I'm going to sleep sitting upright (or, more accurately, slouched over/curled in a ball). I prefer to use an inflatable pillow, as opposed to dragging a stuffed pillow around the airport.  One less thing, you know?

You can buy all three of these items in one travel kit, like the Case Logic Travel Comfort Kit , pictured above.  The benefit of a kit like this is you can throw it in to your carry-on or purse, no muss, no fuss. Just zzzzzzzzzz's.

Longchamps Le Pilage, the luggage champ of the long-haul flight

So, nowadays, it seems like I can't walk down the street without seeing a girl with a Longchamp Le Pilage tote bag draped over her shoulder.  I have been bitten by the Longchamp bug myself, though with a strange compulsion - I had to buy them at the airport duty-free, and there alone.  There was one year where I couldn't depart on a flight without having bought one.  Dear reader, I'm strange, I know.

Anyhow, most every one is familiar with the iconic Le Pilage tote bag pictured at right.  It's a classic.  But let me tell you my dear friends, you need to forget the tote bag, because what you really need is the Le Pilage Travel Bag: 

 

Longchamp Le Pilage Travel Bag, aka the best travel bag ever made.



You. Guys.  I don't know where to begin.  I'll never forget the moment I first saw this bag.  I was in the Istanbul airport.  It was towards the end of my "buy Longchamp bags in duty free" phase, and I was browsing through the duty free racks, looking at all the pretty new Le Pilage tote colors when my eye landed on the Travel Bag.  I stopped.  I stared.  I picked it up and bought it on the spot and it has been the best Longchamp purchase I've ever made.  Here are the top five reasons you need to get one today:

1.  It's deceivingly spacious.  I love its lines and sleek look, but don't let it fool you - I've nicknamed mine the "bowling bag."  I've carried a laptop, a kindle, assorted electrical chargers, my beauty and travel kit (see above) supplies, magazines AND a big bottle of water in it in one go. It's the little bag that could.

2.  It comes with a cute toiletry case in the same color, as pictured above.  I've used that toiletry bag for many an overnight trip - it can hold full size bottles of hair products, brushes, perfume bottles, etc.

3.  It's easy to carry around.  The handles of the bag are much thicker than the handles on the Le Pilage totes, so it doesn't dig into your hand.  It also comes, as pictured, with a detachable strap that you can sling over your shoulder or cross over your torso.  And finally, on the other side of the bag there's a panel that allows you to slide the bag over the telescoping handle of a suitcase, so that it can rest securely on top of your carry-on as you charge through the airport.  

4.  It's perfect for sliding under airplane seats.  Seriously, whoever designed this should be given an award.  It fits perfectly and compactly under a seat, leaving you with room to spare.

5.  Look at it!  It's gorgeous.  And I guarantee you, you wouldn't see one on every street corner. In the six years that I've owned mine, I think I've seen only one other person with one.  That's just crazy - this little (long)champ is the bomb.  Go on - get one for yourself today!

And on that slavishly enthusiastic note, we've wrapped up this Modern Femme travels series, folks.  Let me know in the comments if there's anything I didn't cover that you have questions about, and if you have travel tips or tricks, do share them in the comments for us to see.   

     

May all your future travels be swift, safe, and stylish.  Bon voyage!

xoxo,

MF

The Modern Femme travels, le Part Three

While the first two posts of The Modern Femme travel series might lead you to believe that I'm passionate about travel fashion, my real travel obsession is beauty and skin care.  I hate landing at my destination feeling crummy, with limp greasy hair, splotchy skin, and my glasses amplifying my tired, puffy eyes.  After ending a couple of flights in this sad state, I decided to take matters into my own hands.  I was determined to arrive at my destination looking as fresh faced as possible.  To wit, here's the routine I've come up with:


Le Part Three:  I feel pretty, and witty, and...dry?


Before the flight: 


If time allows, I'll make sure to eat a balanced meal before my flight so that I don't have to eat the crummy airline food.  Most often, this will be in the terminal, since I tend to fly a lot at night.  Regardless of where I've eaten, one thing that I absolutely always do before boarding is brush my teeth and floss (and yes, I get a lot of weird looks in the terminal bathroom doing this, but I don't care!).  Having squeaky clean teeth going into a long flight always makes me feel better. 


The other thing I do is buy the largest bottle of water I can find.  Cabin air is very dehydrating, so it's important to make sure you have water on hand during the flight.  (This is especially important if you decide to indulge in one of those little bottles of wine on board!)


During the flight:


I always carry a my beauty kit with me on the plane.  Here's the sequence I go through after take-off (again, I mainly take overnight flights, but you could do this for a long daytime flight as well):


1.  Pull my hair back into a ponytail or low bun.  I read once that one of the dirtiest places on an airplane is that little cloth cover on the headrest - they don't get cleaned in between flights, so your hair is resting against grease and oils left from prior passengers.  Gross!  I pull my hair up to have as little as possible rubbing against the headrest, and to keep my naturally oily hair off my face and contributing to any flight breakouts.


2.  Remove any make-up and cleanse my face with cleansing cloths.  I like Neutrogena cleansing towelletes.  I use these cloths all the time on flights - not just for cleaning my face, but also for cleaning my hands when they start feeling grody.


3.  Apply a good amount of eye cream - my eyes suffer the most on flights, getting incredibly dry and puffy.  I've used a variety of creams, but I like this eye cream from L'Oreal, as it's not too greasy.


4.  Slather on the facial moisturizer.  My skin drinks in moisturizer on airplanes, even though I have oily/combination skin.  That being said, I don't like feeling like I have a lot of heavy product sitting on my skin while traveling, so I prefer to use a gel based moisturizer, like this one from Garnier. 


5.  Put on lip balm (and reapply often). I like this Nivea lip balm for flights, though plain old Vaseline works pretty well too.


6.  Moisturize my hands.  The delicate skin on the back of my hands feels tight during a flight, and I always somehow give myself paper cuts on my knuckles (don't ask, I have no idea how).  My salvation is this wonderful shea butter hand cream from L'Occitaine , and bonus points for the relaxing lavender scent.  I focus the moisturizer on the backs of my hands, because I don't like the feeling of a lot of product on my palms - again, that's my aversion to greasiness while traveling.


7.  Finally, I remove my contacts.  As I mentioned, my eyes take the brunt of the dry air on flights, and while I'm not a fan of wearing my glasses in public, leaving my contacts in during flight guarantees that I'll have sensitive, bloodshot eyes when we land.  Even with the glasses, I bring eye drops to keep my eyes  lubricated throughout the flight and Visine to take away any redness before we land (when my contacts go back in).


I reapply the eye, face and hand moisturizers at least once during the flight. I also like to carry with me this travel sized Evian facial spray and use it mid-flight.  It's very refreshing especially if you follow it with some moisturizer (I recommend using it in addition to, not in lieu of, moisturizer.)  And of course,  throughout the flight I'm drinking that big bottle of water I bought!


When we're about to land I clean my face again with a towelette, reapply eye and facial moisturizer, put my contacts back in, and put on a little makeup.  My makeup routine is pretty simple - concealer, gel blush, a coat of mascara, and some colored lip gloss.  I go to the bathroom to apply some deodorant and brush my teeth a final time.


And there you have it!  That's my travel beauty/skin care routine.  It helps me feel as fresh as a girl can be after long hours in economy. 


Extra recommendations:


For anyone interested in learning more about in-flight skin care and beauty routines, I cannot recommend the following videos enough:

The lovely Lisa Eldridge has a fabulous video about turning your flight into a spa experience, and you can check out the rest of her blog at http://www.lisaeldridge.com/ for delightful make up tutorials and tips.

Michelle Phan is another makeup guru I love, and she has a great video about applying makeup in flight, as well as another general video about tricks and tips she uses while traveling.  You can check out her blog at http://www.michellephan.com/.  There's no way to not smile while watching Michelle, her joy is infectious!

That's all the beauty queen wrote!  Stay tuned for the final post in this series, The Modern Femme travels, le Part Four, coming soon. 

Till next time, dear readers, be well. 


xoxo,
MF

The Modern Femme travels, le Part Two

Now that we've established that you can travel in comfort and style without resorting to wearing your nightclothes (see The Modern Femme travels, le Part One), here are a few more thoughts on traveling with sartorial panache.

Le Part Two:  Layer, baby, layer, and be bootie-licious.

To coin Katy Perry, while traveling you're hot, then you're cold.  By the time you take your seat on the plane, you've shuffled yourself and your bags through security, roamed the never-ending terminal looking for your gate, navigated the human traffic jam boarding the plane, and hoisted your luggage up into the overhead bin.  While you wait for everyone else to board, lukewarm air trickles out of the plane's vents and two hundred other passagers' body heat turns the cabin into a sauna. 

Fast forward thirty minutes later, and you're shivering in your seat as the air conditioning takes the cabin temperature sub-zero and frost forms on the windows.  You wrap yourself in the thin complementary blanket that was waiting for you on your seat and try in vain to flag down a flight attendant for another one, since the blanket can't cover both your legs and torso, and you've had permafrost goosebumps on your arms for over an hour now.

Or you would be doing all of that, but you're not, because you were clever and layered your outfit.  Savvy traveler that you are, you wore a short sleeved tee-shirt under a jacket, and brought your scarf handy to loop round your neck. Voila!  When you're hot, the jacket and scarf come off, when you're freezing, you pile them back on.  

Layering is key when traveling, not only for maintaining your own climate control during travel, but especially when you're moving from a wintry locale to a warmer location, or vice versa.  Next time you fly, try pairing a comfortable short sleeve shirt, like the one below, with a casual blazer or sweater.  Add a scarf for a touch of extra color and whimsy, like this cute Pucci print.  (And did you notice the fabulous trousers?  Side-zipper, baby cakes!!)




Modern Femme travels by modernfemme

 

Next, confession time: I love me a good ankle bootie.  And I'm telling you, ankle booties are the way to go when traveling, for so many reasons:

1.  They look good.  Okay, this may not be the most practical of reasons, but hey, it's the truth isn't it?  Look at these cute things:

Ankle boots galore!

2. I like the height that comes from a bit of heel - it makes you look sleeker and more elegant, says I, than a pair of flats.  In addition, I'm a fan of wedge booties because I find they're easier on your feet than heels, especially if you're running through the terminal because your flight was delayed and you have to catch your connection.   

3.  Ankle booties are easier to get on and off than full boots...which leads me to the next major reason... 

4. You wear socks with booties, right? (That was a rhetorical question, please wear socks with booties!) So, when you have to send your boots through the x-ray machine at the security checkpoint, your feet are covered, and protected from any funkiness. Foot germs your fellow passengers might have.  Athletes foot.  Toe fungus.  Or worse, weird foot fetishists. 

So there you have it folks - that's my take on sartorial choices for travel.  Let me know what you wear when you're flying the friendly skies - anything you couldn't imagine traveling without?

Next: The Modern Femme travels, le Part Three - beauty and skincare routines when you're 35,000 feet above the ground.

xoxo,
MF