Five products for $10 and under

Some cool products which won’t leave you skint.

Ecostore Conditioner, $9.95 for 220ml – Available in Normal, Fine and Fragile, Dry and Damaged, and Anti-Dandruff

Viola Organics Liquid Soap, $6.50 for 250ml - Available in Lavender, Summer Fresh, and Unscented Mild/Baby

Alba Botanica Terra Tints with SPF 8, $8.99 for 4.2g – Available in six shades

Primal Earth Shave Gel, $8.49 for 175ml – Available in Menthol Cool, Aloe Hydrate, and Extra Sensitive

Blue Earth soap block large $9 – Available in 18 different scents (including Lemongrass, Orange & Lime Swirl, and Rhapsody of Roses), and also a shampoo bar – see http://www.blueearth.co.nz/ for details

Festival Beauty Survival Guide

It’s that time of year when people are rocking up to music festivals to rock out for the day, or the weekend, depending on the length of the festivals. The Big Day Out, Parachute, Cornerstone Roots, and Tribal Pride are all coming up, as well as several other festivals. I’m heading off to Parachute, a four day festival, at the end of the week after next. I’ve been to nine festivals (eight Parachutes, and one Big Day Out), and so over the years I’ve learnt what things to bring with me.

At festivals, you get hot, sweaty, and tired, and there are often long queues for the bathrooms. All this is obviously going to affect your beauty routine, so here’s a list of some items which are useful to have.

Sunblock – Very important! Getting sunburnt is just naaasty. Use a sunblock with an SPF of at least 30, like Natural Instinct Natural Mineral Sunscreen SPF 30+, recently reformulated. It’s $8.99 for 60g, $14.99 for 125g, and $22.99 for 250g. For more info on sunblock, check out this post.

Lip balm with SPF – You don’t want your lips to get sunburnt, so use a lip balm with a high SPF, like Comvita Propolis Lip Balm SPF 30. For more suggestions, read this.

After-sun gel – Just in case you do get sunburnt, bring along something soothing like Natural Instinct Pure Aloe Vera Gel, $12.99 for 125ml, and $22.99 for 250ml. For more after-sun products, check out this post.

Deodorant – You will get sweaty, so make sure you have a good deodorant like The Herb Farm Fresh Natural Deodorant, $10.90. For info on other deodorants, look here.

Hand Sanitiser – There are times when you want your hands to be free of germs, but can’t be bothered waiting in line at a bathroom or tap. For suggestions on hand sanitisers, read this.

Insect Repellent – When you’re rocking out at evening concerts, you don’t want to be getting bitten by pesky insects, so use an insect repellent like one of the ones mentioned here.

Oil-blotting paper – useful for mattifying your face when you get all sweaty. Try The Body Shop Natural Powder Facial Blotting Tissues, or The Body Shop Tea Tree Oil Facial Blotting Tissues, both $7.

Travel packs or small bottles – You probably don’t want to be dragging big bottles of face wash, shampoo, and other toiletries around with you, so go for a travel pack, like Trilogy Travelers, $60, or one of the other packs mentioned here, or alternately, buy a set of small bottles to decant products into, like The Body Shop Travel Bottles, $20.

Hand Wash – Bathrooms at festivals tend to run out of soap pretty quickly, and don’t always get replaced. Also, there are times when you’re away from a bathroom, and would prefer to wash your hands rather than using sanitiser. Like when you’re putting contact lenses in for example. Do NOT do this after using hand sanitiser – it STINGS! Yes, I speak from experience! What I did when I went to Parachute last year, is put some hand wash into small bottles, and then used that with a water bottle. I used Sukin Hand Wash Cleansing Hand Wash, $10.99 for 250, and $24.99 for one litre. For info on other hand washes, read this.

Face mist – It gets HOT at festivals. Using a refreshing facial mist can help to cool you down, like Sukin Hydrating Mist Toner, $10.99 for 125ml, A’kin Pure Rose Hydrating mist, $22 for 125, or Evolu Refreshing Face +Body Mist, $25 for 100ml. I haven't actually used face mists myself, but it's a good idea.

Anyway, hope that helps all of you who are heading off to festivals, and remember also to drink lots of water, wear closed toe shoes in the mosh pit, and to get some sleep if you’re at a weekend festival. Do NOT try to stay awake the whole time – this time I don’t speak from personal experience, but from other peoples’ experiences. You need sleep to be able to enjoy yourself properly and, of course, to keep away those dark circles! So, look after yourself, and have fun!

Lip balms with SPF

Your lips need protecting from the sun as well as your skin. For the colder months I like Apicare Protect Me Beeswax Lip Balm SF 15, $7.20 for 4.5g. It moisturises really well.

Alba Botanica Sun Lipcare SPF 18 Lip Balm is also good. It's $8 for 4.2g. So is Evolu Healing Lip Treatment SPF 15, $19 for 10ml.

For a higher SPF, I like Comvita Lip Balm SPF 30, $11 for 5g. Or try Dr Hauschka Sunscreen Stick SPF 30, $26 for 4.9g.

Tinted lip balms

Like tinted moisturiser, tinted lip balm gives a bit of colour without being too full-on. A really good, affordable tinted lip balm I like is Alba Botanica Terratints, $8.99 for 4.2g, from Commonsense Organics and Homestead Health. It's available in six shades - Blaze, Bloom, Dawn, Garnet, Sienna, and Sunset, though I have only seen it in Blaze, Bloom and Sienna. I have tried Bloom, a nice shimmery pink, and also Sunlit, a bronze, which has now been discontinued. It has a yummy peppermint smell. It also has an an SPF of 8, although the ones I've seen say 18 - maybe it's been reformulated and the new ones haven't reached New Zealand yet? Anyway, while this gives the lips a really good amount of colour, I don't find it all that moisturising, so I put it on over another lip balm.

Aveda Lip Tint SPF 15, however, moisturises the lips really well, I've found. It's $27 for 4.25g, and comes in eight shades - Apricot, Copper, Coco Plum, Berry, Frosted Tulipa, Spice, Peony, and Verbena. The amount of colour it gives is awesome, as much as you'd get from a sheer lipstick. I used to have it in the peachy shade Apricot, now long used up, and I'd definitely like to try it in other shades. It lasts a really long time on the lips (like a few hours, which I consider to be a long time, at least), and it smells and tastes great.

For a much more subtly tinted balm, you could try Kereru Lipsalve in Geranium - pink, or Natural Rose - pink. Both $4.50 from Commonsense Organics. The balms are coloured with carmine, so vegetarians and vegans may wish to go for another tinted balm instead of this one.