Stephanie Kendall

Quick and Easy Tips for Travellers on How to Freshen Up Fast

After a long flight or journey, it's hard to arrive looking your best. Here are a few quick and easy tips for travellers who want to smarten up before they get to hotel check-in.

It's a rare place and person for whom first impressions do not count at all - most human beings are after all just human, and have judged each other before they've even exchanged a word. It's the primitive in all of us, and we're all subconsciously eyeing up potential mates. Most people have a desire to look presentable and attractive, but let's face it, there's always a few instances where even the best-dressed and well-groomed can look less than their best.

Common Game Face Failures

These everyday 'grunge scenarios' may ring some bells:

• You've had a sleepless night and it's all you can do to stumble into the office. Will anyone notice the dark circles, bed hair and odd-socks?

• You've stepped out of the plane after a long-haul flight – your seat didn't recline, the movie channels went on the blink and it's been a flying kindergarten. You're officially a zombie and you still have the immigration gauntlet to go (you're in LAX).

• Your children have been up all night, you're exhausted but still have to do the early school run. Will anyone notice the breakfast cereal on your top, the baby snail trails on your shoulder and those odd socks?

• You've been camping. You have had no access to a hot shower or a hairdryer - you've going 'au naturel'. However, supplies are low and you have to visit civilisation to shop. Wouldn't it be nice to do it without security tailing you?

Now come on, be honest. You're not going to tell me that these scenarios are just some of my experiences, are you? However, out of all of these, the times that irk me the most are those when people in the hospitality industry - people who are paid to give me a welcome – so they really should, make me feel uncomfortable because my 'game face' was having an away day. Anyone stumbling into a hotel after a long day and night (or after any of the above scenarios) will look less than Gisele Bundchen (unless she's Gisele Bundchen).

It did my soul some good recently to read about a couple who rocked up to a smart city centre hotel in Auckland recently. They'd been travelling around New Zealand in a campervan, but despite their backpacker grunge, received a genuinely warm welcome from the Kiwis at the hotel. To quote, “We'd just sold our campervan, it was raining hard and we turned up with an awful lot of stuff at the door of the hotel. We looked a bit grubby. I only provide this background because it would have been very easy for the hotel staff to have been a little sniffy with us. But here's the thing – they weren't.”

Hotel Booking Tips

Whilst it's great to see that hospitality is live and well in this Auckland hotel, you may not always be so lucky. So if you're travelling and want a similar style welcome on arrival, make sure you:

• Check out your accommodation or hotel website

• Read any reviews or testimonials

• Follow up recommendations from friends and family

• Fix your face fast (see below for quick and easy tips).

Meanwhile, for all of us who want to rejuvenate well-worn, well-loved and well-travelled faces and figures, here are my favorite quick, simple and easy fixes.

5 Quick Fixes to Beat Your Grunge Days

1. Carry handy wet wipes with you everywhere - in pockets, handbags, nappy bags – these can wash your face, wipe off any spills and wake you up.

2. Drink as much water as you can and limit the caffeine intake.

3. If you're on a long flight, moisturise your skin before you fly, drink as much water as you can, keep your hair simple, stay make-up free and try to rest (if not sleep).

4. Never, never put socks in the drawer unless they're part of a pair.

5. Vacation in New Zealand – you'll find that appearances really don't matter much to the Kiwi locals – they're unpretentious, genuinely friendly and almost always ready to go the extra mile to ensure visitors' vacations in New Zealand are fun, relaxing and revitalising.

I'll leave you with one last thought. If you really feel the need to fix your face, maybe you need to look at who's fixing you with that look. Let's face it, no mate of yours!

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