Hi Reader,
I hope you are doing well.
This has been a relatively quiet week at SFT with all of us going back to our desks after a couple of weeks traveling and meeting.
Reminder: Only 8 spots left on our 10th anniversary Caribbean luxury sailing trip next February. Book your spot and join the SFT family on a trip to remember! |
This week's episode of the podcast is a really important, controversial and difficult one that I recommend you all listen to.
I talk to Fatima, former Afghan tour guide and now girl's and women's rights activist living in Italy.
Fatima fled when the Taliban took over and became a refugee in Italy where she joined the university to pursue a degree in communication and politics while continuing her work to promote women and girl's education through her charity school
We talk about the ethics surrounding traveling to Afghanistan, promoting it, talking about it and even trying to help by shedding light on some of the initiatives helping women and how all of this can backfire despite the best intentions.
On this week's travel tip, I wanted to take an interesting conversation in the group: Should you wear a nourishing face mask onboard to help keep your skin soft and hydrated on a long flight?
Should you wear a moisturising sheet mask on a plane?
An Italian friend of mine from Singapore always used to wear a moisturising sheet mask onboard, even on relatively short flights.
She has flawless skin so whatever she is doing is working, clearly.
I thought it was a bit silly given that it's only a few hours, surely it makes little difference?
But I have never been a beauty queen, I don't wear make up except for special occasions, I follow a minimal and simple beauty routine that hasn't changed in 25 years and I am generally very low maintenance when it comes to my skin or appearance.
With age though, my skin isn't as elastic and moisturised as it used to be, so on my last long haul flight I decided to wear a sheet mask and I must say that I landed with much better skin than usual. But can I conclusively say it was the sheet mask? Because I also didn't drink alcohol and slept through.
And I am not the only one doing thinking about this.
There was a post in the group this last week asking whether you would wear a moisturising mask on a plane in Business class.
This was specifically for a mask you would wear for a few hours, not a regular sheet mask that you typically wear 10-20 minutes, but the responses were pretty divided:
- 44% answered "Who cares what anyone else things, you do you"
- 39% said "Not a chance"
Her question was more around whether you would do it and whether it would be weird to do, and she was planning to wear it for 8 hours, through meal service, while in Business Class, so with limited contact and visibility of others.
The conversation got me thinking about whether this is a gimmick, an actual good idea or if scientifically, it makes a difference.
So I dug deeper and found the following:
- Plane air dries your skin, nothing untrue about that. This is a combination of dry air, and probably not drinking enough water. Service onboard, especially in Economy, doesn't provide anywhere near the amount of water we should be drinking and then there is the odd alcoholic drink contributing to further dehydration.
- Travel can dry your skin further. Stress, changed sleep patterns, lack of rest, jetlag, all make your skin even more prone to break outs and dryness.
- Planes are dirty places, with germs circulating, airborne bacteria, dirty surfaces we constantly touch, and bathrooms that are germ fests. Keeping your skin clean is extra difficult so some dermatologists advise that adding skin care products to the skin in an environment like this risks adding more contamination to the mix.
The jury is out there and there isn't a clear decision on whether sheet masks actually help.
Some dermatologists claim that sheet masks can't hurt, others are adamant they do more harm than good by drawing germs and bacteria onto the skin and possibly dehydrating it even more, so you should keep them for your hotel room.
From an etiquette perspective, experts say that being considerate of others means using products that are fragrant-free, avoiding LED masks that light up the cabin and limiting the space you take from others around you, especially in Economy.
Being discreet is the main consideration.
What everyone agrees on is that drinking enough water, and limiting coffee and alcohol are good strategies, I would even throw electrolytes which I always carry with me when I travel and have started adding to my water bottle on long flights too.
Do you use sheet masks when flying?
2026 / 2027 Full calendar of tours
See the full list of our future trips below.
✅ = Trip is confirmed ☑️ = SOLD OUT 💃 = I or Meg will co-host these trips
2026 trips
- 🚗 Cuba: 29 Dec 2026 to 4 Jan, 2027 (New Year's Eve) >> Book here
- 🧘♀️ Bali: ☑️ 20 to 28 Jun || ✅ 3 to 11 Oct [1 SPOT LEFT] >> Book here
- 🌮 Oaxaca: 11 to 17 Oct || 8 – 14 Nov || 29 Dec 2026 to 4 Jan 2027 >> Book here
- ⛩️ Japan: ☑️ 13 to 23 Jun || ✅ 13 to 23 Oct [1 SPOT LEFT] >> Book here
- 🐑 Iceland: ☑️ 11 to 18 Oct || ☑️ 25 Oct to 1 Nov >> Book here
- 🍷 Georgia: ✅ 5 to 13 Sep [1 SPOT LEFT] >> Book here
- 🇦🇲 Armenia: 💃 ✅ 13 to 19 Sep >> Book here (200 EUR off if you book Georgia + Armenia)
- 🏰 Scotland: ☑️10 to 18 Oct >> Book here
- 🦘 Australia: 💃 ✅ 11 to 22 Oct [1 SPOT LEFT] >> Book here [Meg will host this trip]
- 🥘 Barcelona & Beyond: ☑️ 20 to 28 Jun >> Book here
- 🎄 Christmas markets: ✅ 21 to 29 Nov || ✅ 5 to 13 Dec >> Book here
- 🐪 Morocco: ✅ 2 to 12 Oct [Photographer onboard, 2 SPOTS LEFT] || ☑️ 6 to 16 Nov >> Book here
- 🍝 Tuscany: ☑️ 5 to 12 Sep >> Book here
- 🦁 Tanzania Value safari + Zanzibar: ☑️ 11 to 21 Sep (Great Migration) || 23 Dec to 2 Jan, 2027 (Xmas + NYE) >> Book here
- 🇪🇬 Egypt: ☑️ 30 Oct to 8 Nov >> Book here
- 🇹🇿 Tanzania Luxe safari + Zanzibar: ☑️ 25 Sep to 5 Oct (Great Migration) || ✅ 1 to 10 Nov [1 SPOT LEFT] >> Book here
- 🦭 Galapagos sailing: ☑️ 5 to 12 Dec [Photographer onboard] >> Email us to be added to the waitlist
- 🇦🇶 Antarctica: 💃 ☑️ 13 to 27 Dec >> Email us to be added to the waitlist
New 2027 trips are being announced every week
- 🌴 Caribbean island hopping: 💃 💃 ✅ 13 to 20 Feb, 2027 [Photographers onboard, both Meg and I will host this trip] >> Book here
- 🏔️ Kilimanjaro: ✅ 12 to 22 June 2027 >> Book here
- 🧘♀️ Bali: 4 to 12 Sep [Photographer onboard] || 2 to 10 Oct >> Book here
- ❄️ Swedish Arctic: ✅ 20 to 26 Mar, 2027 [3 SPOTS LEFT] >> Book here
- 🐬 Ecuador & The Galapagos: ✅ 13 to 25 May [3 SPOTS LEFT] >> Book here
- 🇪🇬 Egypt: ✅ 2 to 11 Apr [2 SPOTS LEFT] || 5 to 14 Nov >> Book here
- 🍝 Tuscany: 13 to 20 Jun || 5 to 12 Sep >> Book here
- 🦁 Tanzania Value safari + Zanzibar: 27 Aug to 6 Sep (Great Migration) || 24 Sep to 4 Oct (Great Migration) [2 SPOTS LEFT] >> Book here
- 🇹🇿 Tanzania Luxe safari + Zanzibar: ✅ 10 to 20 Sep (Great Migration) [2 SPOTS LEFT] || 1 to 10 Nov >> Book here
- 🐪 Morocco: 1 to 11 Oct || 12 to 22 Nov >> Book here
- ⛩️ Japan: 8 to 17 May || 4 to 13 Nov >> Book here
- 🦭 Galapagos sailing: 25 Nov to 2 Dec || ☑️ 9 to 16 Dec >> Book here
- 🐒 Madagascar: ☑️ 💃 20 Sep to 3 Oct, 2027 >> Email us to be added to the waitlist
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Have a wonderful rest of the week.
CO-FOUNDERS, SOLO FEMALE TRAVELERS
