Written by: Heaven Booze

Festivals are where the artists come to life! It is the one place where self expression comes in forms of eyeliner, rhinestones, and lots of glitter. We get to bring our fantasies to life, but at what cost environmentally? We walk the grounds of the electric sky and dance all night until our lip gloss is nowhere to be found. Do we stop to think about how our lost lip balm lives the rest of its life? How does it decompose into the earth? Let’s dive into how we can still serve looks while using sustainable brands at festivals.

As of today, the beauty industry stands in a revenue of $104.10 billion dollars (bringing in 120 billion units of waste per year). Beauty products in general drive high demand for natural oils, causing deforestation and soil and water contamination from pesticides and fertilizers. Festivals have a significant amount of single use waste. We order from Amazon & SHEIN for fast delivery, cheap prices, and to stay on trend, not realizing we are contributing to the large scale of single-use makeup packaging and products discarded at music festivals. These products contribute to environmental pollution due to continuously buying non-biodegradable material. When we dispose of these products improperly, it adds onto the festival waste. How can we be more conscious of these problems, and how do we practice better habits on the festival grounds? 

If a brand is truly clean it will use sustainable, cruelty-free, and ethically sourced components.

These brands will avoid putting harmful chemicals in their products and are usually cruelty free. Vegan ingredients and organic integrity will be the focus by using plant-based oils, minerals, and plant dyes in composition. These brands can be found in normal shopping hot spots such as Ulta Beauty, Sephora, and Target.

So, what are some eco-conscious brands that already exist?

Half Magic – Biodegradable Glitter

If you have seen the show Euphoria you are no stranger to the trippy effect glitter and rhinestones have on your look. Half Magic is vegan & cruelty free. Made with clean ingredients and sustainable packaging just in case your product slips out of your fanny pack. This brand will take your look from 0-100 real quick, and it’s nice to the planet!

Ilia – Skin Rewind Complexion Stick

Ilia is one of my favorite brands all around. I love their complexion products which are great for sensitive skin. These products have been used on burn victims and contains allantoin in them. But what I love most is that they have complexion sticks which limit liquid waste and spillage. And, this line is vegan &  cruelty free. Clean through and through with buildable medium coverage and 12 hour wear – great for raving all night long! Consider this product next time you want something that’s easy to use for touch ups.

Eco Tools – Sea Gems Pearl Powder Puff Travel Case

Eco Tools is the best for earth friendly makeup tools. This product is great to put your favorite touch up powders in and is made with recycled elements. The Puff is made with 70% recycled polyester and the case itself is made with 50% ocean bound plastic.

Eco Tools – The Core Five Brush & Sponge Set

These Eco Tools brushes are made of 100% renewable bamboo and 40% recycled aluminum ferrule. These are eco friendly and FSC-certified compostable paper packaging. What I love most about these is that these are NEVER tested on animals, making them cruelty free! And this brand gives back with every purchase! 

Tower 28 – Lip Jelly

The Tower 28 Lip Jelly is my favorite way to keep my lips hydrated throughout a festival. It’s easy to use, not sticky at all, and it comes in a variety of shades! The whole brand offers a variety of complexion options, setting sprays, and other products to complete a clean full face of makeup!

Milk Makeup

Milk Makeup is a clean and conscious brand. It’s a one stop shop for all your clean and eco-friendly makeup needs! Whether it’s blush, bronzer, mascara, lipstick, face products-honestly you name it. What I love about this brand is that they have refillable options for certain products, making packaging reusable and reducing waste!

Dr. Bronner’s

Dr. Bronner’s has been a family owned business for over 75 years, and it’s my favorite post festival body wash. It’s vegan, clean, and it’s multi use. This soap can be used to wash your face and body, wash dishes, and even wash your clothes! The packaging is also biodegradable, which is great if you just so happen to forget it on the campgrounds of a festival!

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Now that we know how to identify a sustainable brand and we have a few brands to reference, it’ll now be up to us to make sure we dispose of our products correctly. We can reduce our impact by using refillable makeup containers and reusable brushes, keep a nice sized fanny pack to hold our makeup tools safely and securely, or trade in liquids for solid makeup sticks or bars to reduce spills and improve control.

When we reduce waste we also keep up the PLUR Vibes. Caring for each other is also banding together to make sure we care for our planet. Make sure your rave group stays hydrated with reusable cups and canisters, nourished with reusable forks and silverware, and that we all stay responsible for getting our waste to designated disposable posts. Never be afraid to ask festival staff where these spaces are and always make sure your items are security friendly on your festivals camping lists or websites. When we stay informed, we can better lead in eco-consciousness in our festival experiences.