I Put 3 Makeup Primers to the Test During a 3-Day Music Festival

Most music lovers and festival-goers know that April marks one of the biggest and most well-known festivals in the world: Coachella. As someone who loves both music and festivals, chances are high that you can find me there in the desert every single year, sweating my butt off.

This year marked my seventh time going to Coachella (I know, I'm wild), and one thing I've learned from my many years attending is that getting my makeup to last all day (and night) is no easy feat. Number one, because you're outside in the hot sun and number two, because you're still outside all night when the temperature drops and it becomes cold and windy.

For anyone who hasn't been before, let me break down a few things for you. Unless you're staying at an Airbnb close to the Empire Polo Fields (where the festival takes place) or camping, you're most likely sleeping at a hotel an hour or so away from the main entrance. The festival opens around 1 pm, so when you put makeup on in the morning or early afternoon, it needs to last you through at least an hour car ride. From there, once you get dropped off, it takes another 20 or 25 minutes to walk to the actual entrance.

Once you're inside the festival, there are ten different stages and tents where you can see music, and they span the entire polo fields. If you're there all day and bouncing around from stage to stage, you're walking anywhere from 10 to 15 miles a day — sometimes more. Add in the fact that it's windy, hot, and dusty — it's essentially a recipe for disaster when it comes to makeup.

So, you need your products to last, which is why I decided to put three different primers to the test over the first weekend. Keep scrolling to read how they worked for me and to see some (marginally unflattering) photos of me after spending all day at the festival.

(P.S. If you need some festival-specific suggestions for setting sprays, we've got those too.)