There was a time when returning from a vacation meant clocking in for work the next day—if that usually happens—with your eyebags a little more prominent or your overall complexion appearing slightly more dehydrated from the sudden shift back to “office air”. Oftentimes, it would take at least a week to readjust to your old routine and nurse those post-holiday blues back to reluctant acceptance. However, while the laundry and accumulated to-do lists won’t disappear, travelling in the name of beauty will help ease your readjustment process.
Earlier this year, Skyscanner coined the term “glowmad” in their Travel Trends 2026 report. The word—otherwise known as beauty tourism or a “glowcation”—refers to the rising trend of travellers building their itineraries around beauty, skincare, and wellness rituals. These days, it isn’t enough to discover a new product through a viral reel and order it online. Rather, beauty is suggesting we look up flight tickets and board planes to travel miles away to achieve skin health you never knew was possible before.
It is no secret that nine-to-fivers have long allocated a fraction of their annual leave for a mental reset that involves a spa session or two. Nevertheless, due to social media’s burgeoning beauty culture and the audience that consumes it—Gen Zs in particular—the glowmad trend has taken off to become the new norm in vacationing. This new generation of travellers is redefining exploration in a new country by swapping the extensive sightseeing checklists for beauty treatments unique to a destination’s geographic landscape.
If you’re still sceptical that glowcations are an actual thing, don’t be—because when celebrities are signing up too, it’s clear that flying across the world for beauty treatments has moved well beyond the realm of us mere mortals. Just last year, Kim Kardashian went viral when she posted on Instagram about her trip to Bangkok to visit an aesthetic clinic. Soon after, celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow and Demi Moore followed suit.
As beauty becomes increasingly focused on longevity and skincare, fueled by technological innovation and the relentless pursuit of results, we start to notice this hyperfixation seeping into unrelated areas of our lives, from our eating habits (heard of ‘eat your skincare’ on TikTok?) to the ‘clean girl’ aesthetic amplifying the Pilates phenomenon within the fitness realm.
And now, travel is beauty’s latest target—much to the beauty cognoscenti’s delight. From Japan’s traditional mineral-rich onsen baths and advanced aesthetic procedures offered in Brazil to the famed wellness retreats and spa therapies surrounded by tropical surroundings in Thailand, there’s no shortage of specialised beauty treatments all around the world.
Topping the list of countries to visit for glowcation would undoubtedly be South Korea. According to Seoul Institute of Global Affairs, South Korea’s cosmetics exports reached a record number of $11.4 billion in 2025. On top of the meteoric rise in K-pop and K-drama consumption internationally, South Korea has cemented itself more recently as a global beauty capital, offering “glass skin” facials, microneedling, head spas, scalp analysis, and personalised skincare plans—all known as K-beauty.
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In addition, places like Paris, Thailand, Switzerland, as well as Kerala, India—known for their immersive Ayurveda and holistic healing retreats—are well recognised for their unique health traditions and cosmetic shopping.
Beyond these travel destinations, airlines have also wasted no time in recognising the glowmad trend and jumping on the bandwagon. Travelling in a plane is notorious for its dehydrating effects, so much so that you may have seen videos of beauty influencers sharing their on-flight skincare routines.
This summer, Etihad Airways announced a collaboration with South Korean brand Laneige as part of its Etihad Wellbeing program. Through this partnership, Etihad unveils its premium onboard amenity kits featuring Laneige products that focus on hydration to combat dry cabin air. In the same vein, Air France also partnered with Sisley to give first-class passengers and lounge visitors comfort kits that contain Sisley products: a hand cream, an eye contour balm, a moisturising serum, and a day cream.
Given all the time, effort, and money spent on these trips, including the distance travelled and meticulous planning done beforehand, we must eventually consider the effort-to-reward ratio. This is especially so for those in the working class: how much ground—literally—are we willing to cover in order to achieve our aesthetic goals?
All this to say, we have entered a new era of travelling in which people are seeking newer ways to experience new territory. Now, on top of looking up cafes and restaurants or cultural museums to visit in a new city, you’ll find yourself saving spa boutiques on Google Maps and booking wellness retreats—and future you will thank you for it.
This story first appeared on the GRAZIA Malaysia October 2026 print issue.
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The post Go The Distance: Everyone is Taking Part in the Glowmad Trend appeared first on Grazia Malaysia.
