Convention tips: Hot weather

I decided to do this post with all the hot weather we've been having here in the UK recently. I was reminded the other day of how hot MCM expo had been this May just gone and I wanted to share a few tips on how to survive in hot weather in cosplay or at a convention.

1. Makeup

Oh my god. This was my worse nightmare. I was walking around with my face sweating and it was horrible.

It wasn't until the second day that I discovered my saviour: Powder! I'm not one to use powder as it feels cakey to me. With powder you might want to apply it after your makeup and/or carry it around with you. I found it was great padded onto shiny patches as they were instantly mattified and I appeared less wilted and my shine was gone! You can pick powder up cheap (£5 or less) at a beauty shop and it last for a while. You don't really need an expensive one if you just wanted to remove spots of shine i.e. T-zone or chin. Experiement with them as well. I was lucky in that the powder I was using did not clog my pores. No matter how many layers I slapped on it didn't get cakey or cause irritation or acne. I just used Rimmel Stay Matte which worked a wonder. There are also blotting sheets you can use to blot excess oil off of skin.

As well as powder I would also recommend waterproof eyeliner. Unless you need to create a smoky look, stay away from Kohl. Even 'waterproof' Kohl will smudge in hot weather and you're better off using gel, liquid or felt tip.

Another way I have heard to ensure makeup stays is to apply hairspray over your face. This doesn't sound very safe though so I'd recommend picking up a proper makeup finishing spray.
If you are going out in the sun it would be a good idea to apply sun protection. Use one that protects against UVA and UVB. Face creams/bb cremes/foundations etc. that have 'spf' in them do not count as valid sun protection. They won't last as long as normal suncreams and there's no saying how much of them you actually have to apply and wether or not they protect against UVB as well. It's easy to take some non-greasy face sun cream and apply it, you might decided to use it like a moisturiser too.

2. Staying cool

Not as easy as it sounds. In a crowded convention venue it can be hard to stay cool amongst the bustling crowds of people. When we arrived at the convention my friends and I were quick to scout out the coolest places where we could go and rest once it got too hot. We also only visited the really busy crowded places for short times and drank plenty. Tiled places low down will be the coolest and if there is a nice breeze then you can just step outside. Let's not forget fans either. They sell them at the convention we usually attend and we usually end up picking one up by the end. These are good for keeping yourself cool whilst you walk around the crowded places (hand fans not massive motor ones).

We thought we had considered what we were wearing. It was suitable for cold or warm weather. But not hot. You can't really plan that far in advance but the most you can do is know that if it's in summer than you will want to cosplay something with minimal layers. It's also warmer inside due to the amounts of people, so make sure if you have a heavy/thick/furred/layered costume to keep cool and drink plenty of fluids.

Let's not forget your place of stay. You might wanna check it has more than one window, or a window which opens wider than a tiny fraction. You'll want to get as much sleep as possible to cope with trekking around the next day in the heat.

3. Staying fresh

It is hard after a long day to stay looking and smelling fresh. Make sure you apply plenty of deodorant, but during the day if you do feel you smell either spray some deodorant outside or if you're inside then use some nice body mist so as not to suffocate everyone around you. Or you could just pop to the loo and put on some roll on. As well as this, if you find you sweat then you might want to wear a vest top to absorb any sweat so it doesn't come off onto your cosplay.

Well I hope I covered most of the points. These are the important ones which I can remember, so hopefully they'll help you out too!