Glamping
by
Cheryl Fenton
| June 03, 2012
Propane grill, check. Bug spray, check. Lack of enthusiasm for your upcoming camping trip, check.
You know who you are: your idea of “roughing it” is skipping your weekly mani/pedi, so the very thought of tents makes you tense. And as something of a beauty maven, you’re panicked that a few hours in the woods will leave you with grimy hair, sunburned cheeks, and unsightly scrapes — looking about as bedraggled as a victim of Camp Crystal Lake.
Fear not. You can turn camping into “glamping” with a few al fresco glamour supplies. Stow these products alongside your first-aid kit, and you’ll certainly survive until your next spa trip.
• The great, grimy outdoors can quickly turn ’dos into don’ts. Fortunately, you can freshen up your locks with Acure Organics Dry Shampoo ($12.99). Available at most local Whole Foods Market locations, it’s a powder made from cornstarch, French white clay, oat flour, and slippery-elm-bark flour that absorbs oil sans suds. Argan stem cells and CoQ10 add a keratin-boosting moisture complex. And it’s free of bug-attracting flowery scents, so mosquitoes won’t head straight for you.
• Fashion meets function in these blinged-out Band-Aids by Cynthia Rowley. The designer partnered with the brand to create limited-edition bandages ($4.25) sporting lace, gold chains, mini runway models, and sequins. They’re available at Cynthia Rowley (164 Newbury Street, Boston, 617.587.5240), which will also soon be stocking a Beach Sport Kit with the fashionable cut covers, Neosporin packets, and a waterproof pack for your cell (canoeing, anyone?).
• Problem: campground showers skeeve us out. Solution: Paper Shower. Dreamed up by an avid cyclist after a sweaty summer ride, these wet/dry towelettes ($7.50) are a shower in a packet. Start with the wet nap, an unscented towelette saturated with water, soap, aloe, and moisturizers for body and face. Then use the dry nap to absorb excess fluid without removing the moisturizing ingredients from your skin. Stock up at papershower.com.
• Outdoor outlets are tough to find, so you’ll be leaving your usual flat iron back in civilization. Lucky you,Conair’s YOU Cordless Flat Iron ($27.99) gets its 419°F heat from a replaceable Thermacellbutane cartridge that lasts for up to two months. Put it in its protective case, and then your backpack, immediately after use. No one needs to know you didn’t just roll out of the sleeping bag looking this good. Find it at Ulta(15 Mystic View Road, Everett, 617.381.0040).
• We’re pretty sure Stella McCartney and Pucci’s Peter Dundas aren’t camping fans. But you can still channel the swirling paisleys of their spring/summer 2012 runways with an ExOfficio Insect Shield bandana. Available in turquoise, purple, yellow, bone, and light olive, the paisley bandana ($15) looks carefree-chic, but usefully offers UPF 30+ sun protection and repels mosquitoes, ticks, flies, and other pests. You’ll be bug-free for up to 70 washes — not that you plan to go camping that many times. Score one from REI (401 Park Drive, Boston, 617.236.0746).
• Unless you’ve hired Sherpa guides, you can’t possibly pack a diva-grade stash of cosmetics. So opt for the do-it-all NARS The Multiple stick ($39) in peachy-pink Orgasm. The creamy color stays put, and you can use it everywhere (think eyes, cheeks, lips, and body). Applied with your fingers, it actually blends better on warm skin — so feel free to primp when you’re hot from a hike. Look for it at Sephora (800 Boylston Street, Boston, 617.262.4200).