Festival beauty: putting treatments to the test

My first festival experience was aged 16, when I romped up to Reading in my H&M vest top, 3,000 friendship bracelets and baggy jeans to enjoy some music, mud and half-cooked cup-a-soups. Needless to say, it was awesome, but even then I remember one of the highlights being a lukewarm shower at the local leisure centre, which I queued for three hours for. Nine years and a whole lot more fashion sense later (I hope), I still know the little boost that a bit of beautifying can bring at a festival. You might be sleeping in a field with a rock digging into your hip, you might be eating more cereal bars than you ever though possible, and you might have forgotten that some toilets in the world actually flush - but if you have nice nails or good hair, you can try to maintain some semblance of normality among the madness. It was with this in mind that I went out to test a few pre-festival beauty treatments before heading off to my first ever Glastonbury experience. Here's how I got on... EYELASHES I visited the Lash Perfect Lash Bar in Soho feeling slightly concerned that a) I would come out looking like a drag queen or b) I'd come out looking amazing, but all my natural eyelashes would fall out in a couple of weeks. Luckily neither of these came true - instead I got some amazing, but not over-the-top semi-permanent lashes which lasted at least a week before I noticed a few stray ones start to shed. Even better, the therapist recommended I got coloured lashes, a genius plan which hadn't even occurred to me. She told me a lot of clients had been having them pre-Ibiza, in various shades such as blue, pink and purple. I opted for a subtle touch of purple at the corner of the eyes - a nice way to introduce colour if you can't be bothered to apply eye shadow in a tent. All in all I was very impressed with the Lash Perfect lashes, especially since they managed to stay on despite my contact lens/hayfever eyes combo - not an easy task! www.lashbar.co.uk   NAILS Glo Salon in Fulham was the location for my Artistic Colour Gloss manicure, which promised to last up to three weeks without chipping or cracking. This was certainly a tempting proposition, since no matter how many base coats, top coats or layers I apply, my nails are always a mess after one day when painted at home. The nail technician at Glo had pretty incredible nails herself, so I knew I was in safe hands opting for some nail art and sparkles (above). The whole process was surprisingly quick as well, and the LED light used to dry the nails meant I didn't have to sit there for half an hour trying not to smudge them (I am really bad at that bit). It was definitely nice to have good nails at Glastonbury, particularly as - and this is gross - it meant I didn't have to see how dirty my nails were underneath. Although the finished manicure didn't last quite three weeks - more like one and a half - it was definitely worth the price to feel slightly less disgusting by the fourth day of camping without showers. www.louellabelle.co.uk SKIN Having a facial before a festival is not something I'd ever thought of before. But then, every festival I've ever been to previously has seen my skin breakout in a big way, which is certainly not great when you have a mirror the size of a chocolate hobnob with which to see yourself while applying foundation. Well, going to the Guinot salon for a 30-minute Hydraclean facial the day before Glastonbury was probably one of the wisest things I've done in a long time. The treatment involved a deep cleansing, then the therapist looking at my face through a magnifying glass - rather her than me - and assessing which areas needed the most work. After opening up the pores, she extracted the dirt from any troublesome areas (yep, basically like squeezing spots) and then applied a mask for a few minutes. Well the extraction bit might have been painful, but because my face had been unclogged before I headed down to Worthy Farm I didn't get ONE SPOT while I was there. And that's despite putting glitter, neon paint and quite a lot of Strongbow on my face. A success indeed, especially for £25. uk.guinot.com