Beauty Tips for Glastonbury Festival

One of the main and few problems with going to a festival is keeping clean and staying fresh for the 5+ days. I stayed at Glastonbury Festival for 5 nights and 6 days – this is a long time for anyone to go without washing. Add to that the fact that you’re sleeping in a tent, weeing in a Portaloo and sharing the ground with 100,000+ more people and you’ll soon realise things can get pretty dirty out there on Worthy Farm.

For me, this is something to enjoy. Getting dirty with the rest of them and being in it together means that you’ll soon become oblivious to how filthy you and your new festival friends are. This doesn’t mean that you should give up all together though, and so, here are my top beauty tips for Glastonbury Festival.

Errm, the rule didn’t quite work for us. It was just so muddy!

Keeping clean at Glasto

• Always take your wellies off when you get to your tent. If possible take an extra groundsheet to put outside your tent specifically for sitting on and taking your wellies off.
• If the top of your welly warmer long socks are dirty, roll them down before you go in your tent.
• Take as little as possible to keep your tent tidy.
• Have some old flip flops ready for late night/early morning toilet runs.
• Take a cheapo solar-powered shower between you and your friends, and then a bikini/good underwear too. Where I camped there was a little woods where you could go and rinse off, if I’d have thought to take one.
• Take baby wipes by the hundreds.
• And extra knickers so you can change at night to stay fresh.
• Pack extra carrier bags to deal with the rubbish and filthy baby wipes.
• Carry anti-bacterial handwash at all times.
• Take a bottle to fill with water to help you clean your teeth.

Festival hair

• Some people swear by dry shampoo to keep their hair looking good at Glastonbury. Personally I don’t get it, but it’s a good tip if it works for you.
• When I went to Glastonbury for the first time I actually got my hair washed at one of the on-site salons on the Saturday. I was dubious at first, but went with one of my friends and it livened me up no end. It was ridiculously expensive, and you could achieve the same with the solar-powered shower I mentioned above, but it did the job.
• A hat, or a bandana wrapped around your greasy roots is always a cool and practical idea.
• Also flowers, hearts, clips, will all brighten up your hair and make you feel a bit better about life.
• Just give up and go with it. Trust me, by Sunday you’ll be beyond caring. Just break through that barrier.

I felt like a new woman after my hair wash and face paint on the Saturday…

Festival make-up

• Again, like with your hair, there are on site beauty bars at Glastonbury where you can get makeovers done. Be warned that the queues for these places are quite long though, and you might waste quite a bit of your festival experience waiting to get it done.
• Glitter and face paint can cover tired eyes, deathly skin and spotty faces. Use excessively.
• I think you should either go all out, like the previous point, or just wear the same make up you do every day. Faffing around with fake eyelashes and any out of the ordinary make up is far too much effort when you need to make the most of the music and atmosphere.
• Having said that you will look back on your photos of Glastonbury for years to come so make sure you’re looking as good as possible.
• It’s always a good idea to take a decent-sized hand mirror for the tent and a little compact mirror to carry around too. Not all the Portaloos have mirrors on the back door, and even when they do you probably want to get out of there asap not spend extra time in there checking your lipstick looks right.

Glastonbury toilets

• Yes, they are as grim as they say. Monitor which ones are quietest at the start, and opt for trailer ones instead of the standalone Portaloos. Not all Portaloos were created equal so if you’re not happy with the first option, look again. If you’re not happy with the  first three, you probably need to lower your standards.
• Always have a supply of toilet roll with you.
• A few weeks before you go to Glastonbury practice squatting and toughen up those thigh muscles. You don’t want to have to sit down on those toilet seats, trust me.
• If you need a poo on the last day, just suck it up and save it for when you get home. This is when the toilets are at their worst.
• Being on your period at any festival is grim, but you’re just going to have to deal with it. You might want to invest in some of those Femfresh tissues, and carry some baby wipes around with you too. Just to keep extra fresh.

Super enthusiastic by the poo collecting tractor at the portaloos

Festival beauty kit list

1. Extra groundsheet
2. Baby wipes
3. Flip flops
4. Sun powered shower
5. Bikini
6. Extra knickers
7. Carrier bags
8. Anti-bacterial wash
9. Dry shampoo
10. Hat or bandana
11. Glitter
12. Facepaint
13. Hand mirror
14. Toilet roll

Click through for the entire kit list for Glastonbury Festival – I’ve thought of everything.

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