How to have a Great Music Festivals Season
by Lottie Kimber – Studio 8 Beauty Therapist
Hurrah!! It’s that time of year again when all the Summer Music Festivals are starting to happen with a great opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors and socialise. Before you know it, you’ll be in full blown festival madness with weekends filled with outdoor music events.
Music festivals are nothing new, in fact Woodstock in the US has been running since 1969. The UK’s own version “Glastonbury”, was one of the first in the UK and has been running ever since 1970!
Since then many more festivals have started such as Creamfields, Isle of Wight Festival and VFest to name but a few. More and more people are discovering it’s a great opportunity to see and experience live bands and great acts. Despite the seemingly high price of the tickets and large crowds, the events draw the crowds year on year.
Many welcome families and range from 1 day events to whole weekends catering for all tastes in music and entertainment.
So if you’re thinking of joining the fun and excitement here’s a guide to getting the most of this Summers Festivals.
What’s the Look for Music Festivals in 2015 ?
Going to a festival is an endurance test. Your festival wardrobe should be a survival kit to help you make the most of the weekend so that you don’t miss a moment of dancing to your favourite live bands and acts. After all that’s what you’re there for!
So in a nutshell, you don’t have to wear the latest trends or latest floral headbands if it’s not your thing. The best advice is to wear what you feel comfortable in and remember, if you are festivaling in the UK, don’t forget to take something warm to wear and comfortable footwear in case it gets chilly.
However, if you do like to keep up with the trends here’s a few fashion hints and tips for this year’s festival goers.
1. Hippie nails – anything goes and the brighter the better this summer. Inspired by the bohemian carefree spirit, nails are bright this summer season. For inspiration choose between splashes of sherbet lemon tones (Jessica Yellow Flame), fabulous bright pinks (Jessica Strawberry Daiquiri) or neon shades of coral (Jessica Confident Coral) teamed with browns for a vintage 70’s feel. Try cornflower blues (Jessica True Blue) or bright greens (Jessica Teal) teamed with cheesecloth dresses for an Ibiza Balearic’s feel. Gel polish, such as Jessica GELeration is a must for long wearing, chip free nails lasting up to 2 weeks, so perfect for holidays and festivals.
2. Hair – Tousled Waves and plaits – If your hair is long, wear those locks care free and tousled loose waves for both the perfect beach and festival look.
Fishtail or herringbone plaits influenced by Frozen are already becoming popular this spring and so easy to keep hair tamed. If you don’t like a uniform look, why not create random plaits with coloured ties whatever the length of your hair.
3. Head chains – complement this summer’s latest hair styles, tamed and under control by wearing your head chains draped across your forehead for a mystic look. From flower power head garlands to delicate chains this seasons must have fashion accessories teamed with tousled loose curls is a must. For something different try a simple braided headband. If you don’t fancy the chains but like the look, why not try some body art and crystal accents to create the illusion of heads chains. The look is totally bohemian this year!
4. Natural beauty make up with a swoosh of colour – you definitely don’t want to lug around a bag of makeup and to be honest there are better things to do at this year’s festivals than spend your usual 2 hours doing your hair and makeup! Go for a naturally enhanced look with a clear and sun kissed complexion with a touch of contouring and nude lips. Finish the look by experimenting with a swoop of eye shadow to complement your nail polish.
5. Complete your look with a sun kissed look – Fake it if you need to! – A tan always gives you a lift and a spray or manual tan application is a quick sunless fix. It’s great because you get a complete all over tan without the strap marks and it lasts for 5-7 days. Tans are great to create a healthy glow, they make you appear slimmer and are safer than sunbeds or sun bathing. Most people find that they need less make up and it’s great for a natural beauty look. Go to a salon or do it yourself at home the choice is yours. At Studio 8 we use the award winning Sienna X, which has a formula for all skin types as well as a retail range available for home tanning.
Don’t forget these other useful hints & tips for an enjoyable festival experience
Protect your skin
There’s nothing worse than sun burn and festivals especially if you are camping means that you are more at risk of sun exposure. Keep your skin protected at all time with a suitable SPF. See our blog on sun facts for more details and recommended SPF and after sun products.
Keep Hydrated
No doubt you will enjoy the abundance of alcohol outlets available at this year’s festivals. If you are going to over indulge, ensure that you hydrate before and after, especially if it’s really sunny and hot otherwise your festival experience may be called short with a visit to the first aid tent. Sunstroke is not pleasant!
Festival Essentials – here are a few must haves and creature comforts for an amazing festival experience:
- Portable phone case to charge phone.
- Wet wipes.
- Antibacterial gel.
- Extra toilet roll.
- Torch.
Travel Light – only take what you need because you may have to walk a bit to your camping pitch.
Upgrade to VIP – a must if you like good washing facilities and for what you pay it’s worth every penny!
Keep your valuables safe – Space your money out in different places and set yourself a budget that way you won’t spend too quickly. If your money is stolen, hopefully it may not be all of it if you have it spread out in different parts of your bags.
Welly boots and a good rain mac – a must for all festivals in the UK because you never know when the UK weather will change its mind!! There’s great Macs in funky designs or you can always take a disposable festival plastic cape available in all good camping outlets. Invest in a good pair of walking socks because wellies will rub bare feet!
Basic First Aid Kit – take a few first aid / medical essentials such as paracetamol, plasters and sterile wipes just in case you need them.
Antibacterial gel – don’t risk it and especially before you eat. Remember that there are thousands of festival goers and not everyone washes their hands so you are more at risk of picking up bacteria on your own hands touching things before you eat.
Dermalogica Precleanse Wipes – fantastic for travelling light. These little gems tuck into the smallest of spaces. Use straight from the packet to wipe round your face, then wet the cloth with a small amount of water and wipe round again and there you have it – make up gone and skin cleansed. These face wipes even cut through waterproof mascara. If you suffer from oily skin try Dermalogica Skin Purifying Wipes to remove excess oil and impurities.
So there it is – a quick guide to get the most out of your festival experience
Other Useful links
http://www.thefestivalcalendar.co.uk/
http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/history/
Products are available from Studio 8 Beauty Dermalogica Skinbar retail area.
If you are interested in knowing more about the treatments above or would like to book a treatment please email the salon on salon@studio8beauty.co.uk or telephone us on 023 9238 0692. A booking button is available on the left hand side of this website if you prefer to book yourself online or for out of hours booking.