Over the years I’ve watched and read quite a few articles on festival beauty essentials. However, to me, they were never very realistic. These people go to Coachella, stay in swanky hotels and are escorted from private party to private party. Great, but that is not a ‘real’ festival experience. So when I found myself stuck in a tent on a camp site for a 3-day festival in rainy, gloomy Holland last week, I thought it would be a good opportunity to show you what I think is a more realistic beauty prep for a music festival.
Everything fit in this one make up bag. I ended up having to take make up as I had to go into work straight from the festival and do final year 1 exams. Not only did I have to look put together but for exams a little bit more effort is expected too. I did manage to keep everything to a minimum and only took the bare essentials and cheated my way around a few bits. Because a) the nearest mirror was a 5 minute walk and b) I was going to spend 3 days outdoors. No need to be faffing about with unnecessary items that you simply won’t use.
Skincare wise I kept things very minimal. I took cleansing wipes for cleaning my face and removing my make up. Where I usually use a separate eye make up remover and at least a micellar water to take off my make up and clean my face, I decided to keep it very simple. No need for pads, accidental spills all over my sleeping bag and the like. For my face cream I also kept things super simple. I took the Olay Total Effect 7 in 1 moisturizer & serum duo. Serum & a moisturizer in one: a grand slam that would suffice for both day and night.
Bodycare wise I took a shower cream and a body lotion. The body lotion was a ‘just in case’ item. This one is quite cooling so I figured it could double as after sun cream if need be, but the sun hardly came out. There were pretty good showers on the camp site, so that was nice and this Nivea shower cream mini came in handy to quickly freshen up after a long day spent in woods and on a beach.
I didn’t slow down on the deodorant part. I used the Maximum Protection kind in the morning. The Invisible Dry spray was in my bag for a quick spruce up in between. Even though the facilities to get truly clean are minimal, I didn’t want to get all smelly.
One thing I didn’t even end up using: haircare products. After taking a shower on the first night, I decided the showers wouldn’t suffice in the hair washing department. With showers only running for about 30 seconds at the time and my hair being as thick and long as it is right now, I knew I wouldn’t never get a very thorough rinse.
So I was happy I decided to chuck some dry shampoo into my bag just before I left. I used this stuff every day and it came in handy to not come to work with super greasy hair after the weekend. I tied my hair up for most of the days because that will slow down the process of my hair getting greasy. I tend to touch my hair less and thus my hair greases up less quickly.
You need to brush your teeth to I whipped out my little travel tooth brush. Unfortunately I don’t have a travel version of my tooth paste. That would have been ideal, but I cannot use any other tooth paste than this one so I was stuck with the large tube.
I also took a mini perfume with me. This deluxe sample was given to me years ago and I take it with me whenever I travel. It’s the only time I ever use so this scent is always linked to good times for me. To add to that scent memory I decided to take this with me to the festival. Only because it’s small and again: it at least makes you smell nice.
Some essentials for me are lip balm and cotton buds. Cotton buds always come in handy I find. I even keep a few in my every day bag because they are easy for removing mascara that runs down your face or correct any mistakes when you apply lip color. When you’re out and about all day a good lip balm is a must because my lips get dry and chapped quite easily.
Medication was probably highest on my list not to forget. Part of the festival’s stages were located within woods and since I am allergic to trees, I knew I wouldn’t last long without these.
Make up wise is where I also kept things simple. My initial plan was to not take any make up, but I ended up having to. The whole reason why I wear make up is to look presentable at work, so I felt I had to take some so I could look at least half decent. I took concealer, powder, liquid eyeshadow, two shades of liquid lipstick, brow products, eye primer, mascara, blush and a brush. I opted for products that a) couldn’t melt and b) I wouldn’t care about if I lost or damaged them. I took products that could easily be applied using fingers and the one brush I used for both blush and powder.
What beauty products do you take to a festival?