I might not be heading off to any festivals this year, but having been to a few in the past alongside several camping trips I felt quite equipped to take on the challenge of creating a long lasting festival makeup look with the help of Essence. The folks at Essence kindly sent over a bundle of their products, asking bloggers to use them to create a water and smudge proof look to take you from dawn to dusk…

I personally don’t like to wear heavy makeup at a festival- I’m not one for glitter and face paint because after a long day I can never be bothered to remove it and my tent ends up looking like a fairy exploded the next morning. With this in mind I opted for a fairly low maintenance, speedy look which still had some bright and fun elements to it.

I used the eye crayon as an eye makeup base negating a need for primer too- it’s such a pretty peachy/gold colour and unlike some crayons I’ve used in the past doesn’t crease or wear off over the course of the day. I added some silver eyeshadow on top of this for a subtle bit of sparkle and used the dark brown eyeshadow to fill in my brows before adding in turquoise liner to my top eyelids and silver in the corner of my eyes to brighten them up. All of these lasted the duration of the day without any smudges or streaks! The eyeshadows are £1, the crayon £2.80 and the eyeliners are £1.50 so not going to break the bank if you want to experiment with bright and bold colours.I was actually really impressed with the mascara. I’m not a fan of waterproof mascaras in general as I find they can be drying on my lashes. This one by essence isn’t like that at all and I loved it’s petite size and the effect it had on my mink lashes after just two coats. A complete bargain at only £2!

Skin wise I didn’t actually test the foundation as the shade was far too dark for me (being the English Rose that I am) but if it’s anything like previous essence foundations I’ve tried then it will live up to it’s long lasting hype. The lipliner and lipstick lasted a full six hours on me which is pretty good given that I’m constantly drinking a cup of something and had lunch and snacks in that time as well. The lipsticks are very reasonable at £2.30 each…I have several from essence and they’ve all impressed me.

Whilst I’m here I thought I’d throw in a bonus couple of tips if you are heading to a festival for the first time this year…

1. Don’t forget a mirror! I did this the first time I ever went and ended up begging a compact off of a friend which was interesting to do a full face in! Even if there are mirrors in the toilets you really don’t want to be hanging round in those longer than necessary!

2. Face wipes are you friend. A quick and easy way to freshen up during the day and to take makeup off a night. Not ideal as a long term solution but perfect for a weekend in a field!

3. Pack hard workers. Unless you’re taking a gazebo to sleep in space will be limited. 2 in 1 products and travel sizes are your best friends, as are products that don’t require an army of brushes to apply.

4. Relax. Festivals are all about having fun, you really don’t need to pack your full contour kit and high end foundation…no one will be looking at your face and by the time it’s rained for six hours straight and you’re covered in mud no one will see your makeup anyway!

Products in this post gifted to me by essence.