If you follow along with the celebrities and influencers' attire at Coachella, it can be intimidating as fuck. Trust me, I get it. They all look beautiful and rustically expensive. They look like sandalwood just drifts out of their tiny pores and the faint sound of wind chimes follows wherever they go. Meanwhile, they're stomping around in the literal desert, which can reach upwards of 100 on horrifically sunny days and causes whatever dust is out there to immediately fly up your nose or into your mouth or eyes. I get sweaaaa-TY. My hair also tends to tangle itself into a super cute Gordian knot after three minutes of wind and those sandstorms don't help. What I'm saying is the level of perfection achieved by these celebs is unattainable to me, particularly at a festival. But you know who else it's unattainable for? Them. Those lucky ducks have teams (or one to two people, whatever, it's more than I have) dedicated to making them look goooood for those Insta posts. They also sleep in hotels and have air conditioned transportation. At your average true down and dirty music festival, you're likely camping. That means days without running water. No electrical outlets for your straightener. No water pressure in the rare shower. But don't despair! You don't need to spend a million bucks to look a million bucks! Coming off my most recent festival, which entailed five days of dusty, sweaty, dirty camping, here is my oh so sage festival attire advice to you (ladies. Guys, if you want a piece dedicated to your clothing, hit me up in the comments!).

Outfits

I'm working on an editor's salary and living in the tristate area, where my commuting costs alone make up 13 percent of my annual salary. I don't have funds to buy a $140 pair of Doc Martens (don't get me wrong, I really debated it this year), a $220 For Love & Lemons dress and a $425 Mara Hoffman jumpsuit like Coachella kween Vanessa Hudgens. Mind you, that's only two days of outfits...screw that. I hit up Nasty Gal, Urban Outfitters, the clothes I still have from college, hi, Forever 21. Fast fashion is your best friend if you're looking for cheap festie clothes, especially if you're aiming for trendy.

Think about your favorite outfits, why are they your go-tos? Personally, I love a cinched waist or an open back or a loose top over tighter, short bottoms. I’m thinking favorite summer pieces here, mind you. I’m generally not wearing tiny shorts in January. I also prefer to be comfortable. So this year, I only brought my cushy high top sneakers because I knew my heels and knees would be killing me by day three when the crash hit so I wanted something more supportive and cushiony than cute boots or even Converse. As for outfits, number one, romper, boom, done. Rompers are so easy, all you have to do is throw on an accessory or two, if you even want to. Next, jorts because, duh, and a bodysuit. After that, it's pairing a loose top with the shorts and comfy bottoms with the bodysuit, and just making sure they all work well together. We’re aiming to pack light here. No one wants to dig through a body-size duffel for that one tiny top. You’ll never find it until you stop looking. By the way, bodysuits with snaps are best because, yes, you will be peeing in a porta potty. So if getting naked in a public bathroom bothers you, nix the romper. As I said, I like them because they're easy, but I respect that not everyone wants to drop *literally* everything and make sure not a single piece of fabric touches the floor while hovering above a gross toilet. Moving on. I also like joggers in a fun print (and not a hot fabric, obviously). Bright colors, fringe, glitter, it kind of depends on what the festival vibe is, but, most importantly, it's about what you feel best in and what YOU want. Festival Attire 101: Wear clothes you'll be comfortable dancing your heart out in. Really, no matter what you wear, I promise you'll look good. Everyone looks geewwd when they're having fun!

Comfy, cut outs and tie dye—what more could you want?

Hair and makeup

This sounds difficult, but I promise it's not. Braids, braids and more braids. Big braids, small braids, little braids, tall braids. ALL BRAIDS. They keep your wispy hairs back, protect a lot of your hair from the sun (bigger deal than you may think) and you can go a few days before having to change them, aka wash your hair. Even the greasiest of heads don't show as well when hair is all twisted up around itself! I personally don't know how girls do the whole mermaid curls down their back thing. I would love to, but there's no way my hair would stay and I like to have at least half of it up for overheating purposes. This year is actually the most I've ever had my hair down, usually I do a full braid or Miley buns, etc., but I did one day of boxer braids and then rolled with the aftermath of those for the rest of the festival. That's right. I didn't wash my hair once in five days. I also didn't bother with dry shampoo. I washed my body and left my hair as it was, besides spraying it with some color and shimmer. More on that in an upcoming Firefly looks-specific article.

As for makeup, holographic is obviously a big lewk this year. Fenty has an impressive array of colors, but Milk Makeup is possibly more well known in this area. Glitter and shimmer look good anywhere, just try to hit those key areas for maximum glowiness—bridge of the nose, Cupid’s bow, cheekbones (duh) and underneath your eyebrows. These spots are where highlighter and highlighter-esque products will make the most impact, but feel free to play around. I like the idea of shimmer on your collarbones. Make those puppies pop! Other than holographic, cool colors like purple, blue and green are also big, simply because they’re going off the holographic trend, which tends to veer toward tranquil, water-inspired shades. Dewy is another one. Glossier’s vinyl glosses play well here. As does a well-moisturized visage. My favorite thing to do is a light, nude shimmer on the eyelids, eyeliner if you so choose, basic blush and highlighter, then bam! Finish it off with an aggressively bright lip. Or aggressively dark. Literally any color as long as it stands out and it’s almost intimidating. So, break it down with me, shimmer, glitter, POP! That’s really all you need for basic festival makeup. Or go completely the opposite direction and just be bronzed and natural.

If you haven't gotten the gist by now, it honestly all comes down to you do you. Wear what you feel comfortable in, wear what you feel sexy in, wear what you feel best in. My favorite day outfit, hair and makeup-wise this past Firefly was the day I wore my pineapple romper. I rarely bring it out because it's cheap and can be a bit skimpy. However, I loved it paired with my chunky sneaks. I went with a rose-gold monochromatic look for my makeup and, honestly, my hair just looked good because it was the day after the boxer braids and it hadn’t had time to get too gross yet. It wasn't the craziest look by far—I simply felt like myself, just more glowy. Plus, how can you be upset around pineapples??