Look [and feel] good on the go: Simple ways to stay healthy and beautiful during the busiest travel season - Holiday Special

Shape, Dec, 2001 by Jenna McCarthy

In your vacation fantasy, you're feeling great and looking even better. In reality, globe-trotting can be considerably less glamorous. Between impossibly hard hotel pillows and that infamous, uninvited travel companion (the one that sits on your left shoulder with a pitchfork urging you to eat dessert every night and begging you to pretend you forgot your running shoes), it's not uncommon to come back from vacation needing a vacation. Fortunately, we've rounded up the best products and services for the weary -- but wellness-oriented -- traveler so you can return feeling refreshed.

relax yourself To help calm travel nerves, get hold of the Herban Essentials Fear of Flying Kit ($12;877-APOTHIA). The kit includes the relaxation-promoting essential oils lavender and clary sage. If you need a little extra help, check out fear offlying.com to sign up for half-hour consultations ($60) with pilot-turned-therapist Tom Bunn.

reduce travel stress Fly business class on British Airways and enjoy fully reclining beds, personal video screens and dining on demand, plus Molton Brown amenity kits containing cleanser, moisturizer, lip balm, reviving eye cream and a face cloth. Flying coach? It's easy to create a minispa right in your seat: Stock up preflight on Jane Good Skin Showlettes ($4.49 for 10; at drugstores); these miniwipes refresh the face or body. Evian Mineral Water Spray ($14.50 for three 1.7-ounce bottles; at Saks Fifth Avenue stores) is also a must; it's a refreshing mist that hydrates skin parched by dry cabin air. After spritzing, slather on vitamin E-based Prescriptives Flight Cream ($30; 800-7-BEAUTY) to lock in moisture.

indulge yourself When a layover is unavoidable, angle for a stop in Detroit at the Wayne County Metropolitan Airport. The brand-new Midfield Terminal, opening this month, features the OraOxygen Spa where the jet-lagged can get a massage or belly up to the oxygen bar for a rejuvenating whiff. (Minus overwhelming scientific support, there's still something to be said for ingesting oxygen-rich, noncabin air.) Not to be outdone, Vancouver International Airport recently unveiled two Absolute Spas, one in domestic departures (604-270-4-SPA) and one in international (604-273-4-SPA), where worn-out travelers can unwind with a full-body massage and treat their digits to an express manicure and pedicure. And if you're landing in London or New York City, the British Airways Arrivals Lounge at Heathrow and John F. Kennedy airports (opening this month) welcomes first-and business-class travelers with a Molton Brown Travel Spa (Heathrow, 011-44-208-562-5560). The spas offer a slew of complimentary quickie treatments includ ing hand and back massages, minifacials and more.

book a room with more than a view Allergies don't have to put a damper on your travel plans. At more than 170 Best Inns & Suites (800-BEST-INN) across the country, "evergreen rooms" feature an air-purification system designed to remove odors, dust and other airborne allergens, plus water filters to keep drinking water clean and clear. Down-to-earth types will applaud the Sheraton Rittenhouse Square Hotel in

Philadelphia (215-546-9400). The first hotel to earn the "Green Seal of Approval" the hotel employs a 24-hour air-filtration system, doles out organic products like aloe, grapefruit and oatmeal soap to guests and completely eschews the use of chemicals anywhere in the hotel (even the furniture is finished with nontoxic lacquer).

exercise your options For travelers who don't feel like spending precious vacation time cooped up in a gym, the Don CeSar Beach Resort in St. Pete Beach, Fla., offers an hour-long Beach Fit Trek class ($10; 800-282-1116) in which exercisers power-walk with poles for a full-body workout. Trump International Hotel and Tower New York City guests can hire a running partner for workouts in Central Park ($90 per hour; 888-448-7867), while those calling The Peninsula Beverly Hills home can get sweaty with the in-house personal trainers ($30-$95 per session; 310-975-2854) and then eat right with gourmet spa cuisine to go (prices vary) - developed by Peninsula chefs and certified by Peninsula nutritionists. But if you prefer to get your exercise in the privacy of your room, book a room at any one of the Omni hotels in cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and New York (there are 36 total in the United States; 800-THEOMNI), where you can borrow a "Get Fit Kit" with dumbbells, stretch cords and a floor mat.

sleep tight New York's The Benjamin hotel (800-4-BENJAMIN) promises you'll walk away rested or your room's on the house. The hotel employs a Sleep Concierge - the only one in the world - who helps guests drift off with whatever works (and that includes everything from warm milk and white-noise machines to in-room massage and turn-down service with lavender stress-relief oil). If you're not staying at the Benjamin, carry along lightweight tea candles from Aveda. At only $5 each (from aveda.com), these tiny candles (which come in scent blends like vanilla, cinnamon and ylang-ylang) can make any room seem relaxing.