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  1. #1

    Default Skin care on the trail

    So, I'm not looking to bring the whole bathroom cabinet with me on my thru hike, but I do breakout if I don't care for my skin. Does anyone have any good tips for skin care while backpacking? Good biodegradable face wash maybe? Thanks!!
    "I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out til sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in." -John Muir

  2. #2

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    I usually have left over boiled water and use it to wash my face at night with a small washcloth. When I get home I give myself a honey mask and haven't had any problems

  3. #3
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    I have shockingly found that when I am on the trail my skin is better than at home despite the dirt and oil. I guess it's being away from soaps and cleansers, whatever I eat at home, stress, pollution, a/c, etc. On the trail, I just wet my pack towel and wash my face at night and in the morning.


    "Your comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there.
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  4. #4

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    That's good news! Maybe I'll luck out then.
    "I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out til sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in." -John Muir

  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by slbirdnerd View Post
    I have shockingly found that when I am on the trail my skin is better than at home despite the dirt and oil. I guess it's being away from soaps and cleansers, whatever I eat at home, stress, pollution, a/c, etc. On the trail, I just wet my pack towel and wash my face at night and in the morning.
    I agree and I have pretty sketchy, sensitive skin. Drinking all that water and sweating helps!
    One thing I did pay special attention to is getting as good a sunblock I could find without all sorts of crap ingredients knowing that it was basically going to be my moisturizer.

  6. #6

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    I'm a male but I wash my face with water and a clean bandannna often very often while directly on the trail, watch my diet(I avoid fried food, dairy, and some oils which make my skin break out and not just on my face), don't pick/scrtach at my face, shave regularly about every 20 days but keep a neat goatee even when I hike( I wash off the grime BEFORE I shave using Dr Bronners as a shaving lather), and when I do wash up it's with Basic Antibacterial Bar Soap or Dr Bronners liquid Peppermint. On the AT, which is largely a shaded trail, I avoided putting anything on my skin. Southern PCT and CDT it was a different story. I do mail myself resupply boxes with these items: good triple blade razors, Dr Bronners/Basic Soap, and a exfoliating sponge which I use only one time on my whole body starting on my face. For a woman, I would assume your facial skin would need to adjust if you regularly apply pore clogging make in your non hiking life. I would also think some of those oils are protecting your skin but that's my non dermatologist perspective.

  7. #7

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    Yeah, clean water water water(CLEAN back country spring or creek water) and sweating helps not only my skin but all of me.

  8. #8
    Registered User Dogtra's Avatar
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    Agree with other posters.
    You'd be surprised just how well your body will respond after awhile with lots of clean water and good exercise, even with the poor diet many of us have on our thru-hikes. Now if you decide to bring something just for your skin, or even a multi-purpose type of item like a wet wipe, I'd safely wager you would drop it somewhere along the trail. Don't get me wrong though... Many of us carry personal, emotional, and/or luxury items at times. But a thru-hike usually forces us to pare down to necessities.

    It will be up to you alone to make that call. Happy trails.

  9. #9

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    Don't make the mistake of thinking caring for your skin solely in terms about what occurs to it from the outside! Your skin is also being highly affected from the inside - what you put into your body.

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    So what beauty regime do you use to counter the free radicals ??

  11. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by squeezebox View Post
    So what beauty regime do you use to counter the free radicals ??
    I'm no profound expert but I have been making better lifestyle choices that reduce free radical triggers or damage like eliminating heavy alcohol use, smoking, burning up in the sun, consuming a largely organic fresh vegetarian anti-inflammatory diet high in a wide range of antioxidants, avoiding highly refined/processed foods, drink plenty of fresh unadulterated unfluoridated spring water, etc

  12. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by squeezebox View Post
    So what beauty regime do you use to counter the free radicals ??
    Not sure if serious :\

  13. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dogwood View Post
    Don't make the mistake of thinking caring for your skin solely in terms about what occurs to it from the outside! Your skin is also being highly affected from the inside - what you put into your body.
    I agree. I don't eat much junk food now and I don't plan to eat any more poorly than necessary while hiking. I don't want to neglect my nutrition even if I can get away with it without gaining weight. If I start eating chocolate all the time I'll break out.

    I do find that being away from home (and the stress here) generally helps my skin after even a few days. I am hoping that with the lack of stress (at least the usual kind) and my system constantly being flushed (with the increased water intake and increased sweating) I won't need anything extra to keep it under control. I won't mind a mild breakout, but if it starts to get uncomfortable it's going to bug me.
    "I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out til sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in." -John Muir

  14. #14

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    Squeezebox's comment may have been on the less serious side but I felt it still valid enough that it deserved a serious response. Taking care of our skin on trail, no natter what flak I may receive, is definitely NOT solely a beauty or cleaning or female issue, despite this thread being in the female forum, but a HEALTH issue. And, in my view, it is too often a largely neglected issue/part of our bodies particularly among male hikers who wish to exhibit a mistaken macho male bravado mentality.

    My current perspective has evolved from someone who has experienced skin damage in the past due to ignorant neglect while in the outdoors.

  15. #15

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    totally agree! The only face washing I do on the trail is with a baby wipe at night. My skin is so much more awesome on the trail with the oil and dirt than any clean day off the trail!

  16. #16

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    I've always had problem skin, but after I went on a long-distance hike and all I used was baby wipes to clean my face at night, I discovered all those soaps and cleansers and whatnot were the CAUSE of my problem skin! To this day I still just use a baby wipe at night and my skin has been better than ever. In the morning when hiking I used a tinted sunscreen + moisturizer combo. Best thing that ever happened to my face. It wasn't even a special type of baby wipe, just the generic Target brand ones.

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    Garnier makes an awesome facial cleansing cloth that I use. Even after one day on the trail, my face starts getting nasty. If you want to save weight you can let them dry out and add a little water, but that may defeat their purpose. I carry one for every day I plan on being out. Like Gidgetgirl said- baby wipes tend to have a lot of "extra" stuff mainly for protecting a baby's bottom- they leave a residue that I can't stand.
    "The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
    But I have promises to keep,
    And miles to go before I sleep,
    And miles to go before I sleep."

  18. #18
    Registered User Just Bill's Avatar
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    Doc Bronners peppermint soap does a pretty good job at general cleaning.

    Fels Naptha laundry soap is a general good choice and old school treatment for poison ivy exposure. It comes in a bar, you can cut it with a bread knife or hacksaw to make small "trail size" slivers. It is excellent for striping oils, likely works just as well for acne. Not sure about biodegradability though and getting harder to find. Technu wash for poison ivy and similar are easy enough to find.

    I would avoid the alcohol based cleaners as they will strip you of good oils- plain soap and water is more effective than the hand sanitizer gels anyway.

    Trader Joes sells some "Kitchen Clothes" that make good camp towels. As others mentioned, simply using clean cloths is a big help. You can boil these cloths (and your bandana) once a week or as needed to ensure they are good and clean. Bandana's are great washcloths in general but can get funky in their own right. A separate scrap of towel is generally nice to have. After you boil them, it can be nice to toss a hot towel on your face too.

    Coconut oil- you can eat it and use it for skin care.

    Also- I don't have acne issues, but nearly all hikers have some type of chafe issue. All these tricks, including the hot towel, work well for chafing. Clean, strip oils, hot towel, coconut oil or other lotion if needed. The peppermint oil in Dr. Bronners seems to be more effective in general for this stuff and leaves the area feeling cooler.

    To the OP- if you have a severe issue- dermatologist and prescription cream may be your best bet for flare ups, as would taking a BC pill that gives you the side effect/benefit of better skin.

  19. #19

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    I wish the rxs worked for me. I've been taking a BC pill for about 6 months now and it's actually gotten worse. I've been on any and all rxs through my teen years and into my 20s. No luck. When I travel or camp my skin is generally a little better as a result of reduced stress (I think). I just feel like, over the course of days, my skin would start to flare up from not being clean enough. I don't go crazy with skin care because the more I do to my skin the worse it gets. I do have to wash it regularly or it gets worse than usual.
    "I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out til sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in." -John Muir

  20. #20
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    I was wondering about this, too. My skin dries out a lot in winter and I want a good protectant. I usually use Olay daily moisturizer. Would just straight up coconut oil work?

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