As festival season approaches I know there's a lot of panic amongst first timers about what they need to pack for a weekend in a (often rainy) field and a lot of discussion over how anybody manages to stay looking good when there's British weather, all day drinking and excessive amounts of mud to contend with! So as a bit of a seasoned festival goer now I thought I'd share with you some of my must haves over the next few weeks. If anyone has any requests about what to take to a certain festival or for certain situations at festivals or even just to ask some general festival based questions feel free to comment or email me, I'm pretty open to options here! I spent about an hour on the phone yesterday trying to describe to my Aunty what a Kings Of Leon gig would be like! No, you're not allowed to take food in. And yes, there will be a lot of people!
Today I'm going to focus on hair at festivals. After all, who hasn't stared wistfully at Gillian Zinser's surf style waves these past few months whilst watching 90210 willing Summer to come quicker so we can rock our own beachy waves?! However festivals don't exactly proffer prime conditions for your beauty regime, so hair and skin is often the first to take a beating. Particularly when you have humidity, sweaty crowds, the will to spend hours in the sun topping up the tan and no showers on your hands! I think hair can often go limp, lifeless, even greasy at festivals if it isn't properly looked after. A far cry away from the desired sexy volumized waves!
The first festival must have in terms of hair care is obviously the old faithful dry shampoo. There's lots of dry shampoos on the market but I think the classic Batiste is the best, at only £2 a bottle it's a bargain too. Whilst Batiste do travel size alternatives I'd suggest plumping for the bigger bottle. If you're going to a lot of festivals this summer make sure you buy it at the start and take it round with you, or if you're only going to one or two purchase with friends to make it even cheaper. After all, you only need a little bit of the product for results. Note: whenever you're dry shampooing outside the tent a desperate girl who forgot to pack some will always approach asking to borrow some! Lend, and have a drink with them - the best of festival friends are always made under such circumstances! Dry shampoo is great though, it gives instant body and pick-me-up and is often a much easier and quicker alternative even at festivals where showers are on offer. (By the way if you're going to Benicassim Festival and staying at BeniCamp there are proper toilet blocks that even have plug sockets meaning shampoos/straighteners and all your normal hair care favourites can be taken - be warned though the showers are FREEZING - but the queues are super long and the temperatures so hot it almost renders them pointless!) I would suggest waiting as long as possible before using dry shampoo though! And don't expect miracle results, whilst it improves what your hair looks like it doesn't really make you feel any better the way a proper shampoo does! But have a drink and enjoy the music and it won't matter too much!
One of the beauty items that always makes it into my backpack/case/beach bag is Garnier Fructis Surf Spray, the past few Summer's this product has saved my hair, particularly whilst at Benicassim Festival or in Ibiza. The heat plays havoc with your hair and when you're dipping in and out of the sea you're not going to get the beach waves seen on advertising campaigns automatically! A few sprays of this product though and you're not far off! And it smells amazing too! When I worked in Ibiza last year I took three bottles of this with me in fear that I'd run out! It's great too because the application works really well if you use it then tie your hair up in a top knot, which I always tend to do when applying make up in the heat, so it's easy to incorporate into a getting ready routine. The product also tends to dry hair out a bit which is perfect for getting rid of some of the grease/beer that your hair's been exposed to over the course of the festival. Bumble and Bumble surf spray is probably more effective but it's priced from £15 whilst Garnier Fructis Surf Spray is roughly £3 a bottle making it the much more affordable option. More money for shady burger vans and noodle counters!
I'd also suggest investing in some Moroccan Oil hair products to use both before and after the festival. They really strengthen and revitalise hair at a much needed time. Using them before will add a better resistance to the extreme conditions and using them after will combat all the nasty things your hair's been exposed too! You can get a Moroccan Oil hair treatment for around £12 and I've found them to be really effective and worthy of the money in the past.
If all else fails; topknots, hats and hair accessories were invented with Summer Festivals in mind, just see Coachella for inspiration. I'd suggest Topshop, Crown & Glory and Rock n Rose for some great festival headwear. After watching excessive amounts of Paris Hilton's Dubai BFF (cringe!) I'm loving tikkas and head chains at the moment.
