Festival Essentials

Over the summer I was lucky enough to go to two festivals, Latitude and the Wilderness. They were both amazing experiences and I loved the music and electric atmosphere! The highlights for me were Laura Marling, alt-J and Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros at Latitude and Benjamin Francis Leftwich at Wilderness.

I have to say though, even though festivals are so fun the one downside is camping. I actually hate it.

I don't mind so much sleeping it's more the fact that you can't shower or get ready properly at all, you have to brush your teeth with water from your bottle and try and get dressed and do your makeup in a tiny cramped little tent with a compact mirror! Its horrible!
Because of this I have learnt from my mistakes and picked up a few tips in terms of what to bring to festivals in the future.

1) Make sure to bring a mirror with you in your makeup bag, the bigger the better believe me - it is impossible to do your foundation with one of the tiny ones!
2) Denim shorts for me are just the best. It doesn't really matter if you get them dirty and they pretty much go with anything! My favourites are ripped Levi's but any will do :)
3) Knee-high socks are great for wearing with wellies. They keep you warm, stop the wellies from rubbing and look cute peeping over the top of your boots.
4) MAKEUP REMOVER WIPES! These are amazing for convience and for just quickly wiping all over your face before you go to sleep. Personally I have quite an extensive skincare routine but it really was not worth the effort of trekking to the sinks in order to use my favourite cleanser...
5) Tinted moisturisers - I hate wearing heavy makeup at festivals when I'm gonna be outside (maybe even in the sun) all day so tinted moisturisers feel lighter on your face.
6) Ear plugs. Obviously not for bringing to see the bands but for at night when you're trying to get to sleep! Normally at festivals there will be parties going on all night where they blare music through the speakers which you can hear from the campsite. Bring a pair of ear plugs to block out all the noise!
7) Small backpack/ satchel just for carrying your essentials around the arena.

And my NUMBER ONE tip for festivals is to bring a brick phone!!! You know what I mean - a little Nokia or Alcatel or something. Smartphones have terrible battery life but one of these will last all weekend ;)