Let's get you festival ready with these plastic-free personal care alternatives.
Check out part 1 of our plastic-free festival guide on eating and drinking without plastic! Now it's time to get personal, with some plastic-free personal care favourites that we want to rave about!
Little reminder most festivals have a strict no glass policy including mirrors.
Oral Care
We’ve been loving these plastic-free and refillable toothpaste tablets with hydroxyapatite by Smyle. You can choose a fluoride free or with fluoride option depending on your personal preference.
Toothbrush
Choose a bamboo toothbrush with castor bean bristles instead of petroleum based bristles. Some of our favouties include: Brush With Bamboo, PÄRLA and Last Brush who all use bristles made using castor bean oil.
And when you need to rinse after all that brushing, reach for a sip of refreshing cool water from your double walled vacuum sealed Bottlecup!
Deodorant
Stay fresh and odour free with a plastic-free deodorant. We love this one by Scence which comes in a compostable cardboard tube and a wide variety of natural fragrances to choose from.
Dish Soap
A couple of ideas for you here!
- Fill a small metal bottle with your washing up liquid from home
- Bring a solid dish soap bar like this one
- A wooden bottle brush like this one is ideal for cleaning most kitchenware, including bottles…and cups!
Hair Care
Hair care is so unique to each individual, so do what works for you! Shampoo and conditioner bars are loved by some but if they’re not for you, simply bring your favourite shampoo and conditioner in small metal refill bottles. Or embrace full on festival vibes and wait until ya get home!
Loo Roll
Choose bamboo loo roll if you can, preferably wrapped in paper instead of plastic. We’re big fans of Who Gives A Crap.
SPF
Choose a plastic-free sunscreen that uses natural ingredients, packaged in a compostable cardboard tube or metal tub. Some of our favourites we use are:
Scence
SoSo Sunny
Suneeta London (choose white craft tub packaging)
Plastic Free Plasters
There’s more than one way to get plastered, plastic-free, at a festival! Choose plasters made from natural compostable materials instead of plastic! Patch have a growing collection of plastic-free band aids made from bamboo in various patterns and sizes. Alternatively, try these ones by which are similar but more affordable.
Menstrual Cup / Period Pants
Did you know that a pack of conventional pads contains up to five plastic bags worth of plastic? If your period decides it’s joining you this festival season, then try a plastic-free option instead of conventional disposable tampons and pads, most of which contain a toxic mix of hormone disrupting chemicals and plastics.
A menstrual cup can last up to a decade and is a convenient and easy-to-use option as you can easily empty contents into the porta-loo, rinse and re-insert. Try Mooncup for a silicone options or Fair Squared who make a natural rubber menstrual cup.
If plastic-free period pants are more your vibe, try the world’s only compostable and plastic-free period pants by Modi Bodi
Natracare makes 100% organic and plastic free disposable sanitary towels and tampons.
Finally, reusable cloth pads are a great alternative to disposable period pads. Even reusables can often have a plastic core, but these ones are made from 100% natural materials, no plastic… period!
Insect Repellant
Because… nature! And camping! Keep those nibbly insects at bay naturally with one of these plastic-free insect repellants from The Solid Bar Company Bar or The Solid Bar Company Roll-On.
Bimble also make an insect repellant that comes in a recyclable metal tin.
Or, you could DIY your own insect repellent using this recipe from Zero Waste Wisdom
Wet Bag
You’ll likely need a couple of wet bags for any clothes that get soaked in the rain or for things like used reusable sanitary pants or pads! This one is made from natural organic cotton with a wax coating. We actually use this as our beach wet bag most days and prior to that it was our plastic-free nappy bag wet bag for out and about. It works a treat!
