Why you should always wear sunscreen on planes

Why you should always wear sunscreen on planes
We hope Jon Hamm remembered to slip, slop, slap.

As the spoken word poem goes: "If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it".

Wear it on cloudy days, wear it under make-up, wear it beneath light-coloured clothing if you must.

Not only is it one of your best safe guards against skin cancer, but it's crucial for preventing premature ageing.

But one place even diligent sunscreen appliers are probably forgetting to slip slop slap is on the plane. 

According to Beverly Hills dermatologist Dr. Harold Lancer, this is a critical mistake.

"If you don't [wear sunscreen on flights], your skin will age prematurely and fine lines and wrinkles will be much more visible earlier on," Lancer told US Marie Claire.

Plane windows, like car windows, don't protect from damaging ultraviolet light - and when you're in the air, you're roughly 10km closer to the sun's rays.

"The dose of UVA at 20,000 feet is a lot bigger dose than you’d get on the surface of the Earth," explained skin cancer expert Dr James Spencer to The New York Times recently. Another study last year found that "for every additional 900 metres of altitude above sea level, there is a 15 per cent increase in intensity of UV radiation."

"At 9,000 meters [29,527 feet], where most commercial aircraft fly, the UV level is approximately twice that of the ground," the authors wrote.

Not only that, but with the exception of take-off and landing, there is no cloud coverage to lessen the glare.

In fact, said Spencer, pilots have a higher incidence of skin cancers than the rest of the population, though the exact reason is unknown. 

So next time you're heading off on a tropical getaway, remember that protecting your skin starts before you even step foot on sand. 

The help you on your way, we've rounded up three sunscreen minis that are small enough to fit in your hand luggage without getting confiscated by security.

L-R: Liquid Sunshine Mineral Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 30 For Face, $36 for 50mL, Arbonne; To Save Face SPF30, $38, Mecca Cosmetica; Moisturising Fluid SPF15+, $7.95 for 50mL, Nivea.

*This article has been edited to correct an incorrect conversion of feet to kilometres.