A few weekends ago I went camping: honest-to-goodness, no-running-water (just a squeaky old cold water pump), no-flush-toilets, sleeping-on-the-ground (well, in a tent, but FLAT ON THE GROUND) camping. It was woodsy, buggy, and the weather was unpredictable. And we (and our dog) had a great time. (Although the older – and, admittedly, fatter – I get, the less happy I am sleeping on the ground… I think we need to invest in an air mattress next time!)
BUT… (here’s the important part/point of this post)… for the first time in many years, I went several days without wearing any makeup at all. OK, I’m not bragging, really – it’s just unusual for me. I don’t wear much, but I wear makeup every day that involves leaving the house (which is most days). But camping, under those circumstances? It wouldn’t have made sense to wear ANY, since I was too busy reapplying sunscreen and bugspray and, oh yeah, I couldn’t properly wash my face. Mild baby wipes are handy for these situations, but I wasn’t going to trust them to take my mascara off at night.
If you can’t properly wash your face, do your skin a favor and let it breathe. You don’t want to go to bed with leftover makeup on your face or in your eyes, as you’ll risk a breakout or an eye infection. (Not to mention those nasty-looking black globs that collect in your tear duct. That is mucus pigmented by your eye makeup, ladies! Hot stuff, eh?)
Now, I HAVE been camping and have also worn makeup – at parks where there is a working bathroom where I can wash my face. If you’re planning a similar type of summer outing and you’re normally a makeup wearer, but don’t want to overpack, what should you bring?
Well, the last time I camped at a running-water type of place, I snapped a photo of what was contained in the bag I schlepped back and forth to the campground bathroom:
So, these would be Liz’s bare minimum essentials: sunscreen (but of course!), moisturizer (I believe that was a recycled bottle filled with Lush Skin Sin), deodorant (trust me… not optional when you camp!), a hairbrush and a (pink, sparkly, very me – hehe) hair tie. As for makeup, I see a drugstore brow powder kit, a sample jar of tinted moisturizer, a tinted lip conditioner with SPF, a nail clipper and emery board, a concealer stick, a brown eyeliner pencil, and mascara in black and clear (the latter for brow-taming).
(Not pictured: soap, bugspray, toothbrush, toothpaste, floss. I bring floss everywhere – my dentist loves me.)
This is definitely pared down for camping simplicity, but it’s also fairly illustrative of what I consider to be my basic, everyday face: just enough tint to even out my skin tone, a liner and mascara to define my eyes, nicely shaped brows, and some tint on my lips. I get fancier, sure, but the above combo will get me out the door feeling adequately put-together and confident. It’s not shown above, but another useful product for weekends away would be anything multipurpose, such as a tint that can be used on both cheeks and lips. (I have a few Stila Convertible Colors that would do nicely on a camping trip, provided they didn’t melt!)
When I work with new clients, I like to ask what their daily, basic-makeup routine looks like, because it says a lot about how they present themselves and how much time they want to spend on their faces. For many, it’s sunscreen (good!) and no makeup at all (which is also good – there’s certainly no rule saying you have to glam out every day), but a lot of people have a few basic things they do, like mascara, lip gloss, undereye concealer. And others wear a full face every day, no exceptions! Whether or not you like to drive into the middle of the woods and sleep on the ground (oof – AIR MATTRESS NEXT TIME!), it’s worth thinking about what your fundamentals are, and whether there are things you want to try, or what you might like to do differently. I’m a big fan of finding the bare minimum and making it as easy and accessible as possible!
