3-day music festival - what to do with hair

[milque]

I am going to an edm festival in two weeks time. I'll be camping there so access to showers and running water will be limited. I know I have to sacrifice my usual routine but for a period of 3 days I am willing. I can use lots of wet wipes for my body, but I'm at a loss as to how to keep my hair reasonably non-greasy looking at most.

Any advice? I'm thinking dry shampoo or baby powder but that only works for a few hours before my hair actually look worse than it started especially since I'll be dancing and sweating a lot. I considered headbands but don't know if they'll stay on when jostled about.

Any suggestions will be much appreciated! :)

[stachelbeere]

ah, music festivals! I was stewarding for Oxfam at Glastonbury last year and it was amazing... luckily we had the possibility to take unlimited hot showers at the Oxfam camp site. It was great actually :D

Anyway, here are my suggestions:
- things to cover up head + hair. hats, headbands, head wraps and such. it'd also be reasonable to wear these if the sun if out. use hair grips to keep them in place
- lots of dry shampoo
- there are probably going to be showers (possibly cold ones) but there are always queues in late mornings. To beat the queues you could rise early. If you really need to wash your hair then you can do that under a faucet.

I have two hairstyle suggestions for you: dry shampoo + crown braid and dry shampoo + sock bun. it hides greasy roots reasonably well...
basically create a secure and comfortable hairstyle when you start the day and then just don't think about it.

You could also wash your hair right before you head off to the festival which will increase the amount of time when you have non-greasy roots.

But above all have fun and don't think about it too much, everyone will be in the same situations as you so it's okay not to have super fresh hair ;)

[Wildcat Diva]

Wear a paranda in a braided bun. Very secure and protective and I find the yarn soaks up grease. Also rooibos tea spray for roots of hair might give an antiseptic effect. This would go bad though unrefrigerated. It might be ok on day 2?

[truepeacenik]

How often do you wash now?
I'm 2 or 3 x a week, so I arrive with freshly washed hair.
I also take every opportunity to rinse at least the scalp.
Since I'm in deserts, it's also for heat relief.

By the fourth day (vendors have set up- I vend until the village closes and dance into the night), braids are the only option.

On long hauls home, I will wash under a faucet in a rest stop. Just can't deal in the van.

[Climber]

I just came back from three days camping, with lots of day hikes. I put my hair into french braids, and either scrunchied the braids to get them out of the way, or wore a Buff. French braids are a great way of keeping things out of the way. Hair taping might work, too.

Edited to clarify: I didn't have to fuss with my hair at all, since I kept the braids in the whole time. They're still in now!

[milque]

ah, music festivals! I was stewarding for Oxfam at Glastonbury last year and it was amazing... luckily we had the possibility to take unlimited hot showers at the Oxfam camp site. It was great actually :D

Anyway, here are my suggestions:
- things to cover up head + hair. hats, headbands, head wraps and such. it'd also be reasonable to wear these if the sun if out. use hair grips to keep them in place
- lots of dry shampoo
- there are probably going to be showers (possibly cold ones) but there are always queues in late mornings. To beat the queues you could rise early. If you really need to wash your hair then you can do that under a faucet.

I have two hairstyle suggestions for you: dry shampoo + crown braid and dry shampoo + sock bun. it hides greasy roots reasonably well...
basically create a secure and comfortable hairstyle when you start the day and then just don't think about it.

You could also wash your hair right before you head off to the festival which will increase the amount of time when you have non-greasy roots.

But above all have fun and don't think about it too much, everyone will be in the same situations as you so it's okay not to have super fresh hair ;)

Great advice! Love the hair grip advice to keep things in place. I am a bit iffy about dry shampoos coz mixed with sweat and grease it can only become worse as time goes on? Correct me if I am wrong though. Also what dry shampoo would you recommend?


Wear a paranda in a braided bun. Very secure and protective and I find the yarn soaks up grease. Also rooibos tea spray for roots of hair might give an antiseptic effect. This would go bad though unrefrigerated. It might be ok on day 2?

Thanks! I'll look into the rooibos tea spray. I don't have a paranda though :/

[milque]

How often do you wash now?
I'm 2 or 3 x a week, so I arrive with freshly washed hair.
I also take every opportunity to rinse at least the scalp.
Since I'm in deserts, it's also for heat relief.

By the fourth day (vendors have set up- I vend until the village closes and dance into the night), braids are the only option.

On long hauls home, I will wash under a faucet in a rest stop. Just can't deal in the van.

I wash 2/3 times a week so I plan to wash right before I get there. That way I can maybe last at least a day or two before needing a rinse. DBF suggested bringing one of those solar shower things should I desperately need a rinse. Looks nifty and doesn't seem too expensive!



I just came back from three days camping, with lots of day hikes. I put my hair into french braids, and either scrunchied the braids to get them out of the way, or wore a Buff. French braids are a great way of keeping things out of the way. Hair taping might work, too.

Edited to clarify: I didn't have to fuss with my hair at all, since I kept the braids in the whole time. They're still in now!

Thank you! French and Dutch braids hide greasies well too. That is an option. :)

[truepeacenik]

Just call the oil "conditioning" and get the scalp freshened up.

Festivals are the only time I actively miss my dreads.

[clioariane]

Dry shampoo is definitely your best friend at festivals!

[Paranda Belle]

I would amish braid or crown braid and just leave them in for the whole time. Spray some nice smelling leave in/hair mist over the top if you want to freshen up.

[stachelbeere]

Great advice! Love the hair grip advice to keep things in place. I am a bit iffy about dry shampoos coz mixed with sweat and grease it can only become worse as time goes on? Correct me if I am wrong though. Also what dry shampoo would you recommend?

Yeah, hair grips are really helpful in those situations. As for the dry shampoo - I use Batiste and it works quiet well. I also sometimes use a blend of corn starch + talcum powder + EO of my choice (which would be mint) for lightly greasy hair. The most important thing is to brush it out! So when your hair and scalp is not damp anymore (as in the sweat has dried) and it's a bit oily apply dry shampoo, let it soak up the oils and then brush it out. It'd be ideal to wash the hair the following day, especially when it's Batiste...but if you skip it it shouldn't be too bad...? if you get an itchy scalp you could rinse your scalp under a faucet and shampoo.

Maybe you could do a dry run before leave for the festival?

[milque]

So I tried Batiste, the Cool & Crisp one, on a wash day. The greasies pretty much unnoticeable and I was able to push washing another day back, so that's good. But like stachelbeere said by the next day my scalp felt really gunky and I had to wash my hair. So for the festival I'm gonna use a headband on the second day and dry shampoo on the third. Also I'm gonna keep my hair fairly contained in braids whenever I can.

Thank you all for the helpful suggestions!

[Fericera]

I don't know if this has been said before, but you can do two really snug/tight french braids on either side of your head. Then wrap them up to halve the length and tie them with a hair band. I always had my sister do my hair that way before going camping and I didn't take it out or wash it for three days. The fact that it's two braids makes it easy to sleep on, and since I didn't have to touch my hair it wasn't even that oily.