YOU SHOULD BE BRINGING PERFUME TO RAVES

You should be bringing perfume with you to raves (and clubs) for one obvious reason: it can get kind of smelly. Yes, hopefully, everyone is wearing deodorant, but even then it is pretty hard not to get a little stinky. Hours of sweating because of dancing to amazing music and walking around to see all of the cool installations and photo ops can make even the most sweat proof outfits a little grow. This is where having perfume on hand is a wonderful idea. It won’t stop you sweating and it isn’t a replacement for deodorant, but it does enhance your experience. Perfume is also a great idea if you are camping. Though there are showers and ways to keep yourself clean, when you are spending most of your time outside in the great outdoors, it is hard not to start smelling just a little bit.

Amusingly enough the idea to carry perfume in with you to events was not one that had ever really occurred to me until I started going to events with an old friend and veteran raver (@angelicanaia) and saw her stuffing something into the insanely high Demonia platforms she was wearing before we went through security at escape. I asked her what she was doing, expecting the mystery tube to be lipgloss or some other makeup without a close factory seal. When she told me she was bringing in perfume I was momentarily confused, and then immediately after, mad at myself for not having the idea first.

Now if you decide you are going to bring perfume with you to events, there are some things you should probably keep in mind. The first thing is that if you are trying to do this all above board and follow festival rules, you won’t be able to bring one in where the factory seal hasn’t been broken. This basically means that you will need to buy a new one for every festival, which depending on how much you use might not be a problem for you. If you are camping, it will be a little easier as you can always return to your tent (with in-and-out privileges) and reapply.

I would recommend purchasing a travel size bottle over bringing a larger one with you for obvious reasons. Travel sizes perfumes are easy to find and pretty inexpensive, which brings me to my next suggestion: don’t pay for something expensive. I lose things at festivals all the time. It is almost impossible to make it through one without losing at least one thing, if not a bunch of them. This is why I would suggest that you opt for a cheaper perfume that will get the job done but won’t break the bank if it goes missing. Finally, if you have the option of spray or rollerball for your travel size bottle, I would suggest that you opt for rollerball. Rollerball bottles are typically a little bit smaller, and if someone does try to stop you from bringing it in they are more likely to let them slide because, well how on earth can you change the contenders of a roller ball bottle.

While I will do a separate post on how to keep yourself clean and pleasant smelling as possible while camping and raving, it is just important to note that it goes beyond smelling nice for others, bad hygiene and poor practices can actually end up making you more susceptible to sickness. Festivals are hard on your body, and post-festival sickness is a real thing. When you mix a tired body and stressed immune system with poor, you are setting yourself up for all sorts of problems.

I know it should go without saying, but I wanted to just put it out there, or this post wouldn’t have felt quite complete. You should be wearing deodorant and bringing it with you to events. Yes, even if the shower situation isn’t great or you think it won’t matter because everyone else is going to be sweaty and smelly, you should still be wearing deodorant. It is just a point of respect. It isn’t going to be the end of the world if you’re a little stinky, but that doesn’t mean you should completely let yourself go on this point. Think about it this way, everyone sweats a bit, but do you want to be right next to someone who smells like hot garbage while you are trying to enjoy your favorite headliner's set? Probably not.