In a couple of weeks, I’ll be en route to Glastonbury and I’m feeling pretty smug about my streamlined beauty kit. I could go barefaced, but quite enjoy the challenge of looking presentable when at the mercy of the elements, and with the scarcity of hot water. Organisers have banned the sale of plastic bottles this year and, though festival-goers are permitted to bring their own, I’m trying to join in the spirit where practical, by packing a few Beauty Kubes – compact cubes of sulphate-free and vegan shampoo and body wash. Crush them between palms, add a smidge of water, and lather on to skin and hair. I’ve chosen the bergamot and coconut, on the optimistic basis that they’ll be refreshing after a hot, sweaty day on site (experience suggests they’ll more likely be washing away lashings of mud and other people’s cider).
This will be the one occasion all year when my skin makes contact with a face wipe, since they mostly plague the environment, sewers and oceans as idiots persist in flushing them down the loo, and are nowhere near as effective as proper cleansing. But at a festival, they’re almost unavoidable.
I’m taking Yes To Cucumbers’ cruelty free Soothing Hypoallergenic biodegradable Facial Towelettes, £2.66 for 30, which remove makeup better than most and can be thrown into food bins to decompose. Sunscreen is the most important thing, naturally, and my weapons of choice will be Coola’s Pina Colada SPF30 spray (£22, 100ml), which applies in seconds, moisturises and has an all-natural pineapple and coconut scent that will replace perfume for the weekend, and Dr Dennis Gross’ Instant Radiance SPF40, £44 (50ml), a tinted sunscreen in two racially inclusive shades. Mascara must be able to withstand the inevitable rainshowers. I’ve lined up Eyeko’s Yoga Waterproof, which lasts brilliantly, is blackest black, and its travel size (£10) still has the thickening, lengthening brush of the full. Like everything else here, and in my backpack, it is cruelty free.
Any additional makeup will come in stick form, for ease, and mostly from e.l.f. (No-Budge Shadow Sticks, terrific and a mere fiver) and Milk Makeup. Milk’s new Glow Oil Lip & Cheek sticks, £12, are my new obsession and a more casual, summery and festival-appropriate version of the classic matte multitasking stick I wear frequently at home. The Glow Oil doesn’t last as long as the original, but I’ll gladly reapply during Hozier.
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