The Realities of a Festival

I went to T in the Park this weekend and when I was there I thought it would be interesting to make a blog post about the actual happenings of a festival and what does it actually take to get that perfect instagram worthy festival pic where the sun is setting, your decked out in UV paint enjoying the music and atmosphere? 

The band was a black, red star design it's a shame that they fastened it so tight that it hurt my wrist and had to cut it off when I got home, I'm the person who tries to keep festival bands on for as long as possible so this was quite upsetting. 

This is my sister Katie who thought her hat was the best thing ever (follow her on Instagram @katieegreenwood)

When I thought of Scotland I thought rain, cold weather i didn't plan my wardrobe for boiling sunny days so I ended up sweltering in shirts on the last day I gave up the 'fashion student status' and opted for an Alex Turner t-shirt, PJ shorts and wellies.

Ellie Goulding (pictured above) was insanely good she had the whole crowd going singing along to all her songs.

The security pissed me off so much during the festival they had no idea what was happening and didn't want to help you at all when I was in the crowd waiting for Ed Sheeran to come on my sister had a sun stroke and needed to be pulled out of the crowd just when Ed came on stage. This would have been prevented if the security at the front of the barrier were passing cups of water out to the crowd constantly but they only passed 3 cups every hour or so which obviously wasn't going to help anyone, they had barrels of water and cups they were just too lazy to hand any out. 

The atmosphere at Steve Angello was so good the crowd were up for it and with it being the first night of the acts starting everyone just wanted to party.

This was the Palm stage which played chilled house music where everyone went to after the acts finished on the night, I wish you could have seen how cringey the DJ's were they were in their 30's and taking selfies with the crowd and doing weird dance moves then one of them tried to crowd surf but the crowd wasn't having any of that.

Yes I wore completely sequinned shorts I wanted to be a shining disco queen for Calvin Harris who was brilliant although the rain absolutely soaked us it felt like someone was just chucking buckets of water at me.

I'm in love with this palm tree print shirt I got from New Look it's a soft cotton and is so comfy I think I'll do an OOTD post on it soon so look out for that...

I took these next few photos to show you the aftermath of a festival, rubbish thrown everywhere, empty cans littering the place for me, a neat freak this was really pushing my boundaries!

It's safe to say I don't want to taste cider in a very long time as that was all I drank for 3 days straight I'm sick of the sight of those cans!

When I went food and drink shopping with my friends prior to T we decided to get 8 cans of these different cocktails for a £1 each we thought it would be great but when I tasted them (cocktails being my speciality drink) it was like drinking flavoured mouthwash. This certainly isn't comparable to my favourite Peach Bellini at Dirty Martini!

A tent for £17 from Argos for a 3 day festival seemed a bargain until it was Saturday night and the torrential rain had soaked through my tent leaving puddles everywhere and soaking my clothes. I legit had a breakdown as this was my worse nightmare but I decided to go sleep in my friends tent as their's was bigger and most importantly dry. This meant for the next day and a half I only had sequinned shorts to wear (which were too big for me and kept falling down) so I opted for PJ shorts, not quite fashion icon but at least I was dry and comfortable! I think I'll try and get PJ's into wearable fashion that way everyone will be happy.

This is the guys smiling after the most stressful morning of my two friends on the left having their bag stolen in the night with their travel tickets, ID, iPhone, money etc. in for hours they done everything they could to solve the issue but 3 hours later a kind girl handed it into lost property finding it near her tent. Thankfully everything was still there except the cash so it was a HUGE relief to us all we could now manage to enjoy the last day of the festival!

Before Bastille came on stage Radio 1 DJ Greg James came on stage to get everyone to shout 'Bye Bye Balado' as it was the last year the site would be used for T in the Park and I love Greg's show so it was so exciting to see him in person (also a slight crush on him but shhhh).

Okay I'll say it, I'm in love with Alex Turner I can't help it even with his slightly ridiculous American-twinged accent and slicked back hair it makes me love him more, I normally hate arrogance in people but with him I think it works towards his charm. Arctic Monkeys were my absolute favourite act that I saw I love this band so much they were one of the main reasons I went to T in the Park so I could see them again. 

Getting back to the point of this post what you don't see in the instagram picture of festival go-ers is the hours in the burning sun, getting sun stroke and sun burn, leaking tents, littered mess, poor hygiene, vile toilets that you could smell a mile off and creepy guys going inside your tent at 5am to steal your belongings while your asleep.

After all this is it worth it to see your favourite bands, join in the festival atmosphere with a group of people who share the same love for music and escape from reality for a few days to a place where anything is accepted and youth is lived endlessly through the night?

Yes, absolutely yes.

Instagram - @stephgreenwoodx

Twitter - @stephgreenwoodx

Click here for Part One of my Festival Trilogy and here for Part Two or click the 'Festival Trilogy' tag below!

What's in my Festival Make Up Bag

Now for Part Two of my Festival Trilogy (Part One here) what I put in my festival make up bag, I think for festivals you don't want to be messing around with eye shadow palettes or perfecting your brows you just need to strip back to basics and pack whatever's the quickest and easiest to apply. If you're in your 20s or teens it will be socially acceptable to wear as much glitter and face paint to hide dark circles at festivals whereas if you're above 29 I'd recommend swapping glitter for a gold metallic eyeliner and a bronzer this Marc Jacobs liner is sophisticated yet fun. 

For nails you'll be wanting to paint them a colour that will hide any dirt that can get under your nails I'm going to use Revlon's Wintermint which has a scent of chocolate mint to it when dry and as it's a glitter it's really durable. 

Taking a sample size moisturiser will be much more beneficial than your everyday one as you can throw it out after the festival so it's less to take back with you, I'm using a Clarin's Hydra Matte Lotion sample. 

I'm going to pack an eye roll on to soothe my eyes on a morning especially when wearing face paint and glitter that could irritate my under eyes this will be a saviour to you when you've just woken up in your tent and are craving a clean shower. Packing some hair grips to keep your hair off your face will be helpful you could even jazz your hair up with headbands and flower crowns to distract away from your unwashed hair.

Lip balms will be your best beauty friend I wouldn't recommend wearing a strong coloured lip as it can dry your lips out and it's annoying when you have to reapply it try a tinted lip balm like Maybelline's Baby Lips in 'Cherry'. A tinted balm will moisten your lips while adding a soft colour to them Baby Lips is ideal as it's £2.99 so isn't too valuable incase you lose it. You can always take a clear balm too if you'd prefer above is Lip Smackers Coca Cola as it smells of cola bottle sweets and comes in a handy tin so you don't have to worry about it getting smashed. Some face paint is always good to take and join in on the fun by creating fun patterns on your face and joining in with the crowd I've got pink and blue paint.

I'm going to take a glitter stick which my friends bought me as a joke but I fully intend to wear it, this is a moisturising balm stick with glitter which you can swipe on your skin to leave a trail of glitter, as this is a balm it will hydrate your skin instead of drying it out.

For the base of my face I'm going to put some of my Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser in a sample pot as it has SPF 20 this will provide a good coverage, moisture and protection against the sun. I can't go without a brow product but for easiness I'd recommend a tinted brow gel as it's compact, tints your brows and brushes them in shape I'm using Benefit's Gimme Brow. For concealer I'm taking my Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer as it's a cheap product to replace and has amazing coverage and lasts all day I won't be taking any brushes I'm just blending this in with my fingers. I don't feel like myself unless I have eyeliner on so I'm taking my Loreal Perfect Slim Liner as I've used most of it so after the festival I can just replace it and it's my favourite liquid eyeliner. I'll probably take my Rimmel Kate Moss Mascara as it's nearly finished so I can just leave it after the festival, I would recommend just using up products for festivals don't take brand new ones or any expensive products in case you lose them.

Make up wipes are an essential after a long night partying you'll want to remove all the glitter and face paint from your face to start again the next day they're also handy to wash yourself down with. Not the most sanitary option but if you're only there a few days it shouldn't be too bad just take a long shower after! 

I'd pack some hand sanitiser to put in your bag and breath spray as after you've brushed your teeth you may want to keep your breath fresh through the day and a bobble or scrunchie is handy to keep with you incase it starts raining and you want to have your hair tied back and off your face.

What are you taking in your festival make up bag?

Instagram - @stephgreenwoodx

Twitter - @stephgreenwoodx

Easy Festival Hair Style

If you're heading to a festival this year or just want a pretty up-do I've created this simple hairstyle that I'll be wearing at T in the Park it takes less than 5 minutes to create and lasts all day. Getting your hair away from your face and hiding unwashed, slightly greasy hair and still making it look cute may seem like a bit of a challenge when you're wanting to go enjoy the festival but this style is done in no time and will have serious hair envy from onlookers. 

What you'll need for this style is hair grips and a headband if you want you can not put a hair accessory in if you want to keep it simple and sweet.

I'm going to use this flower headband that I made last year I was inspired by Millie Mackintosh's that she wore to Glastonbury 2013 so I went to a craft store and picked some ivory fake flowers, branches of fake greenery, craft wire and a simple black headband. I then placed the flowers around the centre of the headband and wrapped wire around each of the flower stems then I added the green leaves assorted through it and cut off any excess. It can take a little time to get the flowers adjusted to how you want them to be but it's so much more fun creating your own and picking the style and flowers to go on it than just buying one. 

Put the head band on your head and if it's really heavy secure it with grips either side so it will stay in place.

Next you'll need to have some hair grips ready for pinning the hair in place the more you have the more secure the hairstyle will be.

Start off by taking your largest front fringe section and sweeping it behind your head and over the headband.

Secure it in place with a hair grip.

Take a large section of your front hair and plait it behind and away from your face then wrap it around the back of your head and secure with a hair grip.

Repeat for the other side and secure drift away hair in place with a grip if you want a more sleek up-do but as this is for a festival I'm going to leave it a bit more looser and carefree.

Now take two large back sections of your hair and plait them separately then wrap them towards the other side of your head and grip in place do this for the other one too.

Now if you have a small section of centre back hair I looped this up the centre of the plaits and wrapped it in them then gripped in place.

If you're wanting a sleeker style hair spray any fly away hairs and use more grips for security but for a casual, bohemian look loosen the plaits and pull some front stands of hair out to fall beside the face.

I've finished the hairstyle off with some reflective sunglasses that I got from New Look you're all ready to party in the sun (or rain if you're in the UK) this hairstyle is really easy to do and it's always easy to distract attention from greasy hair to giant flowers on your head. 

What festival are you going to this year?

Twitter - @stephgreenwoodx

Instagram - @stephgreenwoodx

Please excuse my terrible tan lines I know they're horrendous...