Angel Ong, 28, is a United flight attendant who just came back from Seoul, Korea. She is giving us an inside look at her in-flight beauty routine.
“I’ve been with United for 7 years, and it’s such a lovely job that time flies! I’m based in San Francisco, and after a while, your destinations are pretty much the same, but you don’t appreciate them any less.
I was in Seoul for a couple of days. Seoul is known for their skincare, so they have a lot of stores. They have really good face masks, and they’re known for it, too. The duty-free offers good jumbo packs of variety, versus other stores you would go to and you would be buying separate ones. They have snail ones, they have hyaluronic acid, they have some for hydration, soothing, etc. When I went there a couple of days ago, I got my stash.
Then when you get back it’s kind of like reality again: to the gym now, grocery shopping and live a normal life!
[But] when I first started [my job as a flight attendant, I experienced breakouts]. You’re just doing trial and error trying to figure out what works best for you. The air is so dry, and you’re at an altitude of 8,000 feet. So, you have to put on a lot of moisturizer, drink a lot of water, [and] moisturize not just externally but internally. I have an eye roller that has a hydrating moisturizer in it … and a metal ball at the top so it cools. My makeup and toiletries bag don’t leave my suitcase. I have my at-home things, but then I have my traveling sized items, so I don’t have to be switching bags, I’m bound to forget.
On a long flight, I also remove my makeup — so it doesn’t clog my pores — with some makeup wipes. [And then] it only takes like five minutes for me [to] throw it on really quick [before we land]. A tinted moisturizer, a little bit of eyeliner, eyeshadow … I was kind of blessed with eyebrows, so I don’t have to touch [them] — it saves me a lot of time! A little bit of mascara, a little bit of blush or contour and some lip color. Without lip color, you don’t look alive.
All these years of perfecting the routine!
On her diet
It’s hard to cook when you’re gone, but you [have to] try to eat more similar to what you would eat at home. There are always veggies in my meals … and there’s always some protein. [And] because I’m kind of health and fitness freak, I usually bring my own [food when flying], and I try to eat very little. [But] I always get the yogurt and fruit in the plane, and then I always [have] a protein shake with me. Snack-wise, I always have some kind of nuts and oats. It’s more nutritious than just a bag of chips or something.
If I were to work a short, quick, 5-hour red-eye flight, I won’t eat anything through that. It should be a sleeping time. [But] If I do get hungry, a protein shake or fruit. For a long international flight, I try to avoid eating at what would be late at night for me, sometimes it’s hard to tell. It’s about making the distinction of when your body isn’t hungry, it’s just tired. Drink lots of water and you’ll notice that you weren’t hungry, you’re just dehydrated and tired!
On her fitness routine
I’ll be gone for 3-4 days at a time for one trip, then have a couple of days off to relax and recharge and go at it again. Every single day I’m off work, I’ll go [to the gym], but not always when I’m gone. [When I’m gone I] always do something kind of active. It may not always be the gym, but if I go somewhere I’ve never been, [I] easily get 20,000 steps just walking around looking at sights. And I love to run, too, so I put on sneakers and run throughout the city and check everything out, and that’ll be like eight miles. But if I don’t do that, then I’ll go to the hotel gym and do a routine. You always have to do something fitness-related to help you sweat.
On her favorite places
I just went to Honolulu, and that’s one of my favorite places in the world. If I were to go for a really good retreat, relax, yoga … Bali, Indonesia is my go-to. For a quick getaway weekend with my girls, and it’s just down the street: Napa. I’m originally from Phoenix, Arizona, so I’m a mountain girl.”
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