Kamryn Renae on Getting Glam to Hike the Pacific Crest Trail

“No, I’m legit in the wilderness every day,” Kamryn Renae tells me through a crackling Zoom call on one bar of data in the middle of the Californian mountains. A month in to her five-month-long journey, Renae has gained over 100k followers on Instagram as the hot blonde documenting her days solo hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. She’s living out the classic hypothetical “What would you bring to a deserted island?” scenario, except her island is a 2,650-mile hiking trail across three states. With a pink hiking backpack, booty shorts, and Clinique Pink Honey lipstick, Kamryn is unquestionably the princess of the PCT. We wanted to learn all about her trail beauty secrets so, over a choppy call last week, we chatted about acne hacks, trail culture, and why she loves her feet.

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LUCIA BROWN: Hi! 

KAMRYN RENAE: Hi! Can you hear me? I’m literally on a mountain right now. Because of my service, I was like, “I’m just going to keep hiking until I find a spot with the best service.” I have one bar. 

BROWN: Oh my god. You’re literally in the thick of it. Where are you right now?

RENAE: Well, okay. I just finished the LA Aqueduct. So I guess near LA. I’m about to approach a town, which is really good because I’ll get a zero day. Last night, I night-hiked 25 miles and I stopped at like 5:00 AM, and then I slept for three hours and then I woke up, and now I have 18 miles to the next town. 

BROWN: That’s crazy.

RENAE: I’ve been on a stretch of doing hard miles, but today I’m about to chill. But yeah, I’m almost done with the southern part. It’s about a total of five months.

BROWN: I like camping in small increments. I can’t imagine doing it for that long, but it’s so cool. I love watching your videos and living vicariously through you.

RENAE: Thank you. No, it’s definitely a very niche thing. There are some days I wake up and I’m like, “Why do I enjoy this so much?” 

BROWN: Totally. You’re a different breed. I love that through and through you stay looking so cute. You’re doing your nails, you have your cute hiking outfits. 

RENAE: Oh, girl. I don’t think I could make it through the hike if my nails weren’t pink and I wasn’t wearing my outfits because I’d be depressed. I literally would be depressed. There’s no longevity in that. And if I’m happier, I hike so much better. For me, it’s more just about enjoying my days. I want to finish and that’s my goal, but at the same time I also really like to emphasize the journey. 

BROWN: Totally. I work out so much harder when I’m in a cute outfit. And who knows who you’re seeing on the hiking trail? There might be some cuties.

RENAE: No, literally. I’m like, “What if I find love?” You never know. Also, you think about how people who go to 9-5 jobs typically get ready in the morning. It’s the same when I’m going on a hike. I’m going to be hiking 20, 25 miles. It’s a hard thing, and so I want to set myself up for success. But everyone on the trail is very intrigued. They’re like, “This girl’s painting her nails on the trail,” and I’m talking about my skincare routine with them.

BROWN: So what is your skincare routine like, and how has it changed? I’m sure you have to be conservative with what you bring and keep it to the basics.

RENAE: Yeah. So honestly, I really didn’t think much about actual camping gear. I didn’t plan much. But the things I did spend time thinking about…“I can only bring one nail polish, which is that?” It’s like the question, “If you’re going to an island, what are you bringing?”

BROWN: You’re literally on the island. You’re on the mountain.

RENAE: Yeah. So with skincare, it’s something I’ve struggled with. I’ve been on Accutane, and even after Accutane I still struggled with acne. Right now, I take spironolactone, which helps with hormonal acne. Recently I figured out that I had perioral dermatitis, so I do an antibiotic topical cream. Right before I started my hike, I talked to my dermatologist because I really wanted to prioritize having good skin while I’m hiking.

BROWN: Yeah, it’s one less thing to worry about.

RENAE: It really affects the quality of my life, and I just want to be able to wake up and feel like I don’t need to do so much stuff. So I try to keep it simple. Every morning and every night I use a wipe. I’ll just do the basic hand wipes, whatever’s available at the small towns that I go through. The options are limited for these wipes.

BROWN: There’s no Sephora at every stop.

RENAE: There’s not even grocery stores half the time! Sometimes it’s just a gas station, and so you do what you can. And then I do my perioral dermatitis cream. I also started doing tretinoin, it’s a prescription one. It’s the lowest [dose], I think it’s really helped with the texture of my skin. 

BROWN: I’ve heard that tretinoin’s really good.

RENAE: Yeah. So I started doing that morning and night. I just keep it super simple and easy. And then I love hyaluronic acid. It just makes my skin feel so good and hydrated.

BROWN: Yeah, and glow.

RENAE: I’ve been obsessed with hyaluronic acid for years.

BROWN: What brand do you use? 

RENAE: I do Neutrogena, just the basic one. I typically just try to keep everything simple but as effective as possible. Also, for me to actually know something’s working, I can’t do five million products at once because I won’t know which ones work and which ones don’t. So I think skincare is such a slow process because to really know what actually works takes time.

BROWN: Totally.

RENAE: And the one other thing I do is I try every morning, especially right now in the desert, to put on sunscreen. Today I’ve been reapplying. That’s the one thing with the tretinoin, I try to do sunscreen on top of that because my skin will just burn. So that’s really been my skincare combo.

BROWN: Do you not use a moisturizer?

RENAE: Well, I use hyaluronic acid for moisturizer and I found that that’s pretty good. 

[Hiker walks by]

Oh, my friend, Powder, she’s passing by…Good luck hiking!

BROWN: That’s so cute.

RENAE: I love Powder because there aren’t many girls who are young. I just turned 22 and she’s 23. She’s also kind of girly as well.

BROWN: That’s the coolest name, Powder.

RENAE: Yeah, we all have different names. It’s weird because my whole life on the trail, everyone knows me as Flamingo. That’s my trail name. I don’t go by Kamryn on the trail. 

BROWN: Why is that? Why do you have trail names?

RENAE: I don’t know. I think it’s just because we meet a lot of people, and I think it’s just like, one, it’s trail culture. There’s a whole culture to the PCT, which is kind of interesting. But also, I think it’s just easier to remember. 

BROWN: Can you talk me through your makeup essentials? What are your favorite products?

RENAE: Yeah, it’s super simple. I have the Clinique lip liner, and recently I’ve been into Crushed Berry. I just found it and I was like, “Oh, this is cute.”

BROWN: Do you like their Black Honey? It’s so good.

RENAE: I have the Black Honey and I like it, but I think the Pink Honey is better for me. 

BROWN: It’s the same formula?

RENAE: Yeah, it’s the same formula. But for me, I think the Pink Honey fits better with my skin tone, my hair color, my eyes, because it’s just a little bit lighter and my skin’s a bit more pale. And I’ll do lip liner in the morning, it’s just a nice berry, then I’ll reapply the Pink Honey all the time. 

BROWN: I want to check that out now. I’ve only used the dark one.

RENAE: No, girl, the Pink Honey. I’m super in to it. I love lips, and then eyebrows, and then just good skin. That’s what I can do right now. For eyebrows, I’m really in to Anastasia Beverly Hills. I feel like everyone’s in to this.

BROWN: The clear one?

RENAE: Yeah, the Brow Freeze Gel. So I do that, and it genuinely makes such a difference. 

BROWN: Totally. It frames your face. I got my brows done yesterday and I feel like a new woman. I feel like myself again.

RENAE: Literally. I just think having nice, groomed eyebrows is great. And then, I also bring a pink little razor that I’ll use to shape my eyebrows a bit. 

Since I was really young, I got really into foundation and concealer when I had really bad acne because it just helped me feel better going out in public. I’ve always been obsessed with Bare Minerals powder. It’s a loose powder foundation with SPF 15. I don’t like anything that’s super cakey or intense, but it also gives me coverage. 

BROWN: It’s probably better as well for when you’re moving around, exercising and sweating.

RENAE: Yeah, exactly. It doesn’t clog my pores as much and it just blends into my skin tone really well. Also, if I need more coverage, I’ll dab my finger in it and then I’ll just use that as a concealer. I’ve literally always gone back to it. Always. I just haven’t found anything better. 

BROWN: Is there anything that you loved and you had to leave behind on your trip?

RENAE: I like when I do mascara and eyeshadow. But, for me, I think I look best when I look as natural as possible. I just feel like it looks more youthful, healthy, and glowy. That’s what I really try to aim for. 

BROWN: Keeping it au naturel.

RENAE: Yeah, exactly. Even with my nails. I’m obsessed with short nails. I think that they look so good.

BROWN: I agree. What color do you use?

RENAE: Okay. So I actually really put a lot of thought in to my nail polish. I just think it’s fun to be in my tent in the middle of the wilderness painting my nails pink after hiking 30 miles. And I love [wearing] flip-flops. Anything where my feet are out. I really love my feet.

BROWN: Totally.

RENAE: I found it’s very difficult to find a good shade of pink, actually. I found that the Sally Hansen, I really like. My favorite color is Pink Cloud Sheer. I love it. I think it really compliments my skin tone and my nails. It’s hard to find a pink that’s not super bright and intense. I like a nice, pale pastel pink because I think it really compliments my outfits, especially when I’m wearing a sports bra, basketball shorts. I love having the pink nails to balance it all out and the cute hair and the little makeup. It keeps it all balanced.

BROWN: So cute.

RENAE: Just accentuating my natural features. But one thing I do really want to try is brown mascara. I’ve never tried that. 

BROWN: Oh, you should. I think it’s good for fair skin and blonde hair.

RENAE: Yeah, exactly. Because I love how when I do mascara, it really accentuates my eyelashes. I do think that might be one thing I do miss. 

BROWN: Are you into a skinny brow?

RENAE: A little. When I use my razor, it really helps my face shape. I do a little bit under my eyebrows. I’ll thin out the ends a tiny bit, but then thicker closer to the center of my face. But it’s so subtle. 

BROWN: Okay, love that.

RENAE: I never get to talk about cute, girly stuff. I’m always just talking about water sources and where we’re going to get food and how the elevation is and stuff. So it’s really nice to actually have a conversation about this because it’s stuff that I love.

BROWN: I’m so glad. Thank you for chatting with me in the wilderness. Good luck with the rest of the hike.

RENAE: It was so fun.