WHAT'S IN MY BAG: Summer Festival Edition

by - July 11, 2014

When it comes to summertime activities, there are few things as fun to me as a really good music festival. This year, I'm really excited to be spending one day (sadly not the entire weekend) at the Winnipeg Folk Festival to see one of my absolute, all time favorite artists - Ani Difranco. So when I was thinking about what I was going to need in my bag, I decided that this would be a hell of a subject for a What's In My Bag post.

Overall, I tend to bring too many things wherever I go - whether it be on a vacation, a quick overnight, or just to work. I am a notorious overpacker and I get the feeling I'm not alone in this tendency. Fortunately, by this point I've learned one very important lesson when you're going to be walking around in a field all day with nowhere to stash your stuff (unless you convince your boyfriend to carry a backpack with a blanket and extra water, which I'm hoping to work on before we go!) you need to streamline for ease and comfort with only necessities.

Keep reading to check out my necessities... other than a blanket and water. ;)
First of all, the only kind of bag that I can get behind for pretty much any all day event is some kind of cross body. Be it a small one, like the little ROOTS one that I'm going to be sporting tomorrow, or something much larger, a cross body bag is going to free up your arms and distribute the weight a little bit better so you're not messing around with your bag all day. Very important so that you can, if you are so inclined, dance around like a fool at a moment's notice. Another good option for the type of bag to take with you would be a fabric style hobo sling bag, which is big enough to stash the blanket and extra water for yourself and has that great bohemian look that fits really nicely with festival fashion. It's all about ease when it comes to planning for a festival day, I think.

When it comes to what I need to have in my bag, it's really about staying fresh, protected, and comfortable. Again, I don't want to overpack with things that I'm unlikely to want or need. 

1. Sunglasses - I rarely leave my house without sunglasses, but when I'm going to be spending an entire day in the sun, they're a full out must have. Of doom. I'm a pretty big fan of sun protection, but I'm also a really big fan of seeing. SURPRISE. These are just a no brainer, right? One thing that I will say, though, is that for events like this I prefer to bring sunglasses that I don't care too much about. If they get lost or broken, I'm not going to be out too much money or too sad about their loss. Save the designer frames for other times and pack the cheapies for the music festival.

2. VICHY Eau Thermale - This is one of my absolute summer favorites and this little travel size is perfect for tossing in my little handbag and taking for intermittent freshening mistings throughout the day. This really is literally just volcanic water but the fine mist and the way that it feels on your skin is so refreshing and cooling that it's completely worth it.

3. Etude House Precious Mineral BB Cream Bright Fit - Are we surprised? We're not surprised. This is my holy-grail-forever-love face product. It's also fresh looking, not at all fussy, and sports an SPF 30, so it's perfect for the kind of day where you don't want to think too much about makeup - and I don't. In the morning, I'll probably apply this and a little bit of waterproof mascara and call that a makeup look. I'll keep this with me for a quick reapplication later in the day, probably, just to make sure my SPF is in full effect.

4. Hang Ten 50 Classic Sport Natural Sunscreen - Speaking of SPF... As a pale girl who only ever seems to burn before turning back to pale, making sure that I'm wearing sun protection when I'm spending a day out is really important. This is a small bottle that I'll probably share, so I'll likely apply something else at the beginning of the day and keep this in my bag for touch ups. Bonus? I have more sunscreen in my Sample Killah collection than I know what to do with, so this will definitely help me tear through some of it.


5. Fresh Sugar Berry Lip Treatment - Are we sick of hearing about SPF yet? NOPE. Lip balm is always a must, but for something like this I really like to make it a pretty, tinted lip balm that's really hydrating on my lips and has SPF in it. This lip balm, one of my favorites, has all of those things and I know that I won't regret choosing this one. This shade actually has a lot of colour to it, which I think is a nice edition when you're doing really minimal makeup. It brings a little bit of colour to the face, but isn't ever fussy. Unfussy is my theme for this, can you tell?

6. Bath & Body Works Tuscan Vineyard Pocketbac - Any event that has Porta Potties absolutely, without a doubt or question requires some kind of hand sanitizer. Let's be real, any event where you don't have ready access to a bathroom requires hand sanitizer. I think that I might throw one more of these little bottles in my bag before I leave, since there's 5 of us attending and I have the sneaking suspicion that I'll be the only one who'll think of it. HAND SANITIZER. SERIOUSLY. BE GONE, GERMIES.

7. PureSmile Powder In Refresh Sheets - I received these in my Office Essentials Memebox and I figure now's as good a time as any to put them to use. These sheets are intended to freshen your body when you're feeling and probably smelling a little less than fresh. Sounds like a good plan, right? I've used them a couple of times and they have a really light, fresh scent and actually do make me feel a little fresher and less... Well, you know. Summer does things, doesn't it?

So there you have it, my bag is packed and I'm ready to go. 

What do you put in your festival bag?


Enjoy festival season while it lasts!
XO.

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