Festival Hair Survival Guide

How do you keep your hair looking fab and fresh?

This is one of the most common questions I get asked. I have put together a survival guide on how I fight the festival filth and keep my hair looking fresh and healthy at a festival. 
 
Pre-Festival Prep

Fight the urge to wash your hair and do it as late in the day as possible before you leave. I do two cycles of shampoo and then one of conditioner, making sure to brush it thoroughly while the conditioner is in to get rid of any tangles. When applying the conditioner, make sure that you put the majority of the conditioner on the ends of your hair and not the roots. Applying too much at the roots can make your hair get greasy more quickly. 

Right before a festival, avoid using too much heat when drying it. I let mine dry naturally as much as possible as the heat can dry it out and damage the hair. Plus, you are likely to be outside in the sun or the snow being at one with the elements during the festival which will undoubtedly dry out your hair even more.

Try to avoid using lots of products in your hair, it’s a sure way to reduce the oils which make hair look greasy. This includes; heat protective spray, mouses, hairspray, and hair masks etc. 

At The Festival

Day one your hair will be looking at its best, but as it’s clean, doing fancy up-dos and styling isn’t really an option as clean hair doesn’t hold styles well. Keep it loose and down if possible. If it’s really hot at the festival, opt for a big butterfly clip to tie it up loosely rather than a tight hairband this will stop you getting kinks and tons of knots. 

What about your fringe/bangs? Rather than constantly touching or readjusting your fringe, use a bandana or headband to keep your fringe at bay. Constantly touching your fringe will make your hair greasy very quickly as your fingers will be dirty and oily. 

By day three, the heat, snow, ski helmet and all that dancing, glitter, and sun cream has taken its toll on your hair and it’s starting to need a freshen up. Dry shampoo is your new best friend at this point. Spray it a the roots of your hair and use a brush to brush it through or alternatively, you can use your fingertips to massage it into the scalp.  It will give you an instant volume boost as well as absorb and reduce the oils in your hair. Be careful though, especially if you are a brunette like me, most dry shampoo is actually white, so on dark hair, it can make your hair go a funny grey colour if you spray too much! There now is (halleluiah) is a dry shampoo for brown hair which has a brown pigment in, this will stop any white streaks. 

Or just wash it!

Washing my hair is the best way to make me feel clean and refreshed and I am not too proud to say that when it’s really hot, I wash my hair with a bucket.  So many festivals these days have proper showers so take advantage of them if they do! Wilderness Festival, for example, had fantastic shower facilities at the campsite. However, sometimes the showers are miles away, cost money to use or are non-existent in some cases, so in a time of need, just throw pride and decorum out the window and wash it with a washing up bowl, Jerrycan or bucket. 
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So there you go, a little guide to how you can fight the festival filth and keep your hair looking at its best all festival long! ​

This article from That Festival Blogger was from October but still full of great information.