OOTN: Detonate Festival

 

Hello my lovelies

A quick outfit posting from me today. I went to a festival this Saturday with the lovely Amanda from Amanda in a Teacup, so I thought I’d do a quick post on my look for the day/night.

It wasn't a camping sort of a festival (or I wouldn’t be going…me and tents will never be friends. I need electicity and running water, call me stupid). It’s just a day and night of partying and drinking too much! I haven’t been to a festival for literally years at this point. The last one was Creamfields in 2009!

One of my favourite nights out a few years ago was Detonate. It’s a dubstep and drum and bass/jungle night, originally held the last Friday of every month. 

At one point, me, Seb and our friends were fanatic about going because there was a brilliant atmosphere, the music was great and you’d get to see some pretty big name artists in that world performing. 

Now the Detonate brand has grown and they run nights all over the country, but we’ve long since stopped going – in fact, its been years since I went to one of their nights, although I still like the music. So when I heard they were running their first ever ‘proper’ festival (they’ve been running ‘indoor festivals’ or an event across several different clubs, for years), I had to put my name down.

 

The only (literal) cloud on the horizon was that it was forecast to be torrential rain and thunderstorms on the day....and when the morning started off with rainclouds I wasn't sure what I thought about raving in a rainstorm! But the weatherman couldn't have been more wrong in the end, the whole afternoon turned out to be glorious sunshine and there wasn't a drop of rain that night, amazingly.

 

We had a great time and got to see some top artists like Wilkinson, Noisia, Redlight, David Rodigan (who brought Maverick Sabre on stage as a surprise guest), Shy FX and Gorgon City. If you like that kind of music it was definitely the place to be!

 

Of course, Amanda and I are grown-ups now (at least our driving licences say we are!) so we paced ourselves really well and the day was a nice mix of sitting in the sunshine soaking up some tunes and then getting into a bit of dancing later on.

 

The night ended with Andy C on the main stage, who actually was the first DJ I saw at Detonate all those years ago - how fitting! The crowd were so into it and we met some really nice people. The final flourish was a surprise fireworks display that started going off at the end of Andy C's set which was the perfect finish to a fantastic evening.

And here's the lowdown on the outfit I chose to rave away the night in: 

 

With the festival running from lunchtime to midnight and plenty of afterparties, I felt like I had to be versatile with my outfit choice and also cover a few different eventualities with the weather and possible venues! So I layered the heck out of things:

 

 Black lace playsuit -  Topshop
'Lovefool' boyfriend t-shirt - Primark

Grey cropped leather jacket – All Saints

Grey knee-length socks - American Apparel

Navy 'Evedon' wellies with yellow ribbons - Joules

 

Quartz crystal pendant – Chrysalism at Etsy

Bronze pyramid necklace – H&M

 

Metal links and neon cord bracelet - Topshop

Lilac suede bracelet with mirrored studs - H&M

 

Peach ombre lens aviators - Primark 

Handmade Bolivian woven and leather rucksack - The Painted Bird 

 

The base of my outfit was a gorgeous black lace insert playsuit, I actually picked this up in the January sales at Topshop, but I haven’t worn it since. It was waiting for its debut! Because of my apple shaped figure I can struggle to find playsuits that are flattering, but this one has a lovely drape to it and the shorts are sort of like culottes. It’s an easy and comfortable piece that’s still stylish -  definitely a good buy!

I agonised about whether or not to wear wellies. I was originally planning on some sandals, but with the clouds looking menacing I did go for the rain boots!

In the event, it didn't actually rain, but the ground in places was quite muddy as it had earlier that day, so they were a good choice. My wellies are from Joules and they look like a sober navy blue until you turn around and there's these fancy yellow ribbons! Business in the front, party in the back! The style is called Evedon and they come in different colours.

Over the top of my playsuit, I layered this 'Lovefool' t-shirt from Primark. The Cardigans were a favourite band of mine when I was younger, so when I spotted this t-shirt it was a must-buy.

On top I layered this grey leather jacket from All Saints. I’ve had this for literally years and its fairly battered, but I like that in a leather jacket -  it makes it feel authentic! This jacket has panels under the belt that you can zip on and off, so you can make it a regular jacket or a cropped one. Here I’m wearing it cropped to suit the high waisted playsuit.

I did also pack a blue raincoat with a big hood in case the rain came, but I actually never needed it!

Accessory wise, I wore in a couple of necklaces. The rough cut clear quartz pendant is from a seller called Chrysalism on Etsy.com. She does a lovely range of natural looking crystal jewellery. Then I also added the bronze pyramid necklace that I got in Birmingham when I went down for the blogmeet, which was from H&M. On my arms were a random pile of bracelets from H&M and Topshop.

To carry all my stuff around, I used this woven fabric and leather rucksack. This was a gift from my mum and its from a little boutique in Cornwall called The Painted Bird. It’s actually beautifully hand made. This summer the shops have been full of rucksacks like this so it was quite funny to be in on the trend ages ago. This is actually a bit too bohemian for my usual style but it came in really handy for a festival.

Hair Notes

 

Lately, I’ve been wearing my hair curly or wavy more than ever. But my hair is quite heavy and it falls out of style easily - so curls can be hard work to maintain. And if there was any humidity or rain forget it – my hair would turn into a matted mess. So I decided on a straight style as being far easier to look after and keep fresh all day.

 I washed and conditioned with Herbal Essences Dazzling Shine and then just ran through some VO5 Volume Thickening Spray before blow drying. I followed up with my GHDs to get the hair sleek and then ran a little L’Oreal Professional Mythic Oil through to get some shine goin on - since dying my hair darker this has been so much easier.

 I backcombed the top section using my Andrew Barton Dressing Brush and a lot of Tigi Catwalk Session Series hairspray, and pushed and pinned the top section into a rough sort of volume – a little like a ‘faux-hawk’ but not so severe at the sides. I like this style because it keeps hair out of your face, which becomes more important when you're partying inside a sweaty tent!

Makeup Notes

 

At a festival, its key to get something long lasting that can also be easily touched up on the go. And of course I was really keen to use some of the new products I got on my recent trip to Birmingham.

My base was a smear of Benefit The Porefessional paired with Mac Studio Sculpt foundation, as its high coverage and long lasting.

I sculpted my cheeks using a powder eyeshadow from Makeup Revolution in the shade 'Mocha Love' - this actually achieves a better contour than a lot of the usual powders, for a start its less orange and the pigment is longer lasting.

 

For looks that need longevity, I find it better to go with eyes for impact – they’re much more durable than using a high coloured lip and expecting it to last, and you can top up the drama with a simple swipe of khol pencil on the go.

I had a chance to test out my Charlotte Tilbury Colour Chameleon Eyeshadow Pencil in the shade ‘Dark Pearl’ -  I scribbled it all over the lid and under my lower lashline, before blending in some black powder shadow at the outer wing – this was a shade from the Makeup Revolution Iconic 3 palette.

I then added a sweep of black liner with Urban Decay Ink for Eyes in ‘Zero’. Of course I popped on a pair of falsies for a long lasting flutter as well, Eyelure Naturalites in number 307 which were brilliant and stayed put very well. 

Lips were sorted with a simple sweep of my new Mac PatentPolish in ‘Innocent’ – a one step, low maintenance hit of colour and gloss.    

And that was it, a fairly simple look but it lasted very well, all the products really performed. And just as well with all the dancing we did!

I had a brilliant time and thanks go to Amanda for being a really good festival buddy! Let's hope its the first of many.