How to look after your hair at a festival
It’s no secret that festivals aren’t the sort of events you would attend if you were expecting cleanliness, hygiene and luxury for a weekend. With showers few and far between, the only attention your hair is going to end up getting is a dousing by the occasional cup of warm beer. Obviously, your hair is not your main priority at a festival, when you’d rather be stuffing your face with burgers, jumping around to bands and, ahem, maybe having the odd tipple. So how can you make sure you’re still looking after your locks with the most minimal effort possible? We’ve done the research for you- here’s everything you need to know:
Pre-festival prep
First thing’s first, you’ve got to give your hair an extra bit of lovin’ before you cut it off from everything familiar for so many days in a row. This should include working in a hair treatment or mask between your shampoo and conditioner. If you want to keep your hair extra smooth and protected, try an overnight hair mask the day before you head off to the fields. This will work as a sort-of high-powered conditioner that will add moisture to your hair and give it the nourishment it needs before it inevitably gets bombarded with hairspray, beer, spray-on hair colour, glitter and whatever else you and your mates will think is a good idea at the time. You’re best washing your hair at the last possible minute (note: not two days before you leave) in order for it to look its best while you’re there. You know how many pictures you’re going to be included in; don’t let your hair ruin your outfit.
When you’re there
If you can make yourself do it, bring a hat to wear for when you’re watching the live bands. We know it’s not very cool, but there’s always a festival hat trend every year, so do your research and find something that you will at least see other people wearing too while you’re there. If you’d rather keep your pride and endure the occasional beer shower (and occasionally worse than beer- yes, it’s not just a festival myth that people wee in cups), go hatless, but don’t say you weren’t warned. Dry shampoo is your best friend for the inevitable build-up of grease. The ingredients inside it soak up the excess oil and grease in your hair, giving it a cleaner, fresher appearance. Just spray a little on in the morning and you’ll be good to go. Other than that, try not to touch your hair too much, as every time you do, you’ll be transferring all the dirt and oil from your, let’s face it, not-so-clean festival hands onto your ‘do.
If you don’t want to have to bother combing out the knots once your hair is sticky with things best left to the imagination, braids are the answer. Plait your hair in two tight braids over your head, and you’ll be good to leave it like that for the rest of the week. Luckily, braids are always the ‘in’ festival hairdo every year, so you only need to do a quick browse on Instagram for inspiration. If you ever reach the point of feeling so disgusting that you need a shower immediately, you can always improvise outside your tent with a bottle of water. It’s not ideal, but even if you can just get your fringe wet and combed out, it’s better than nothing.
Post-festival restoration
Phew, you’ve made it back home, and your poor hair is feeling rattier than a horse’s mane. It’s time to treat it with some of the best detangling spray and give it a brush through. We recommend doing this before you shower, or you risk getting it even more knotty once the water hits it. When you finally experience the bliss of warm water again, make sure you do two shampoos- one to wash all the nasty substances away, and one to clean your hair. If you want to go all-out, after your conditioner, apply another hair mask. Your hair should then be back to its normal state. Sort of.