The start of festival season [1] is here, and you've covered the basics: you've practiced putting up (and packing up) your tent, screenshot your tickets, packed your favourite festival outfit [2], and squeezed your trusty wellies into your backpack. Now, it's time to sort through your beauty collection and figure out what you absolutely need to look good in the field, come rain or shine.
Whether you're a seasoned festivalgoer, attending your seventh Glastonbury [3] in a row, or it's your first time braving the brightly dressed, music-entranced crowds, it's easy to forget something. (One of our beauty editors once packed her Stila Glitter Eye Shadow but forgot a pack of hair ties, and that's someone who thinks about beauty 24/7.) We're here to help keep that from happening. We've curated the products that will help your hair, skin, and makeup last through the scorching heat or the pouring rain, and dancing during your next musical getaway. Your skin will be protected, your hair will be frizz-free, and your lip gloss [4] will shine as bright as the artists you've come to see perform. See our essentials to surviving your next festival ahead.
— Additional reporting by Chloe Dunn
Festival Skin-Care:
Simple Kind to Skin Biodegradable Cleansing Wipes [5] (£4)
In the land of sensitive skin, Simple is considered the holy grail — and these unscented cleansing wipes will have your skin feeling like Beyoncé and JAY-Z, too.
Festival Skin-Care:
Glow Hub Gateway to Glow Travel Set [6] (£24)
This Glow Hub travel set is the easiest way to make sure you stay on top of your skin-care routine, even if you are staying in a tent. The set includes a cleanser, moisturiser, hydrating mist, and cleansing mitt, and it comes in a handy travel case which will easily fit in your backpack.
Festival Makeup:
Glossier Cloud Paint in Soar [7] (£17)
Cloud Paint is a makeup bag essential on any given day so it's definitely something you need to pack for your festival bag as well. The gel to cream blush is so pigmented and buildable, it will bring even the tiredest of cheeks back to life. The newest shade in the collection, this pop of pink would work on your lips, on your eyes, or even as a base for a sprinkling of glitter.
Festival SPF:
Supergoop! Glowscreen SPf 30 15ml [8] (£17)
A good SPF is an absolute essential for those long days in the sun, spent watching your favourite band. Not only does this sunscreen protect your skin when the sunshine hits, it also gives skin a gorgeous natural glow. See our team of editors test it out here [9].
Festival Setting Spray:
Kate Somerville Uncomplikated SPF 50 Soft Focus Makeup Setting Spray [10] (£34)
Packing this setting spray will ensure your makeup lasts through all the dancing. Whether you've kept it natural or gone for a full-on face of glitter, the ultra-fine mist glides on seamlessly and locks makeup in place all day and all night.
Festival Hair Brush:
Tangle Teezer The Mini Wet Detangler [11] (£11)
This mini detangling brush makes communal festival showers a little less daunting. Small enough to fit easily into your backpack, this brush is a must-have for keeping your hair knot-free all week long. It's perfect for touch-ups in the middle of the day, too.
Festival Makeup:
Lottie London Eye Gems [12] (£6)
Released just in time for festival season, these Lottie London gems elevate your festival glam to a whole new level. Each gem has a a skin-safe adhesive on the back which holds them in place (even on top of makeup) and when you're done, you can simply peel them off — no mirror required.
Festival Skin Care:
Aromatherapy Associates Hydration Boost Mist [13] (£35)
There are three things you can guarantee at a festival; Mud, Dirt, and Beer (perhaps a non-alcoholic [14] kind). So, after a long day in a busy crowd, this refreshing face mist is the perfect way to unwind.
Festival Hair Care:
Hair by Sam McKnight Biodegradable Dry Shampoo Hair Cleansing Cloths [15] (£17)
Chalky dry shampoo residue is a thing of the past thanks to these game-changing hair cleansing cloths. Just rub a wipe along your roots and fringe for an instant refresh, no mirror required.
Festival Makeup:
KVD Beauty Good Apple Lightweight Full-Coverage Concealer [16] (£24)
A lack of sleep is pretty much guaranteed when you're at a festival, usually thanks to your noisy tent neighbours or a deflated air mattress. Luckily, a good concealer to hide all sins, which is why this KVD Beauty concealer is an essential for your festival makeup bag.
Festival Makeup:
Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb Heat Lip Luminizer and Plumper in Glass Slipper [17] (£20)
Rihanna [18] never disappoints and Glass Slipper is the proof. This clear lip gloss levels up festival makeup and its packed full of shea butter and vitamin E to keep moisture locked in for hours.
Festival Perfume:
Floral Street Arizona Bloom Eau de Parfum [19] (£28)
Add a travel-sized perfume to your beauty lineup, like this Floral Street classic. A mix of balinese coconut, madagascan black pepper, oak moss, and salted musks, one spritz of this fragrance immediately covers any whiff of fried food or portaloos that might be lingering in the air.
Festival Makeup:
Stay All Day® Muted Neon Liquid Eye Liner [20] (£23)
Available in six muted-neon hues, this waterproof eye liner collection will be the headliner in your routine. The felt tip applicator smoothly draws a buildable, matte pigment, making your eyes pop.
Festival Body Glitter:
Barry M Biodegradable Body Glitter [21] (£4)
No festival look is complete without a layer of body glitter to finish it off. Luckily, these Barry M Body Glitters come in nine colours and they're all completely biodegradable.