The big debate: Is Coachella worth the ticket price? Is it better to attend the show or the surrounding brand-centric parties? Well, if you read our latest piece on Insider.com, you may know what we think about the Influencer Olympics and the dwindling amount of live musical performances we are actually familiar with these days – making us choose the parties over the actual festival. (Sigh…we have fond memories of Sundays at Coachella in 2015)

This year, we chose the parties, as it seems impossible to do both and still have an enjoyable time. Here are our favorite Coachella Weekend One parties in 2023 – that today are mostly hosted on sprawling estates in Indio or Thermal – closer to the actual Coachella grounds.

Nylon House

To kick off the festival, Nylon was bigger and better than ever this year as Friday night the party in a Galactic Desert Metropolis started around 10:30 PM where guests danced under the stars to Carlita, Diplo, and Alesso. Sponsored by Patron, guests sucked back tequila cocktails like Palomas and wondered if Diplo would “turn up” like he does on his other shows around the world. But sadly it never seemed to elevate, as halfway through the set we were still wondering if he was DJ-ing. However, the music was still great and we looked up and comets blazed across the desert canvas, but they were brave people parachuting out of helicopters with fire flames attached to them as they whirled across the night sky. They really stepped it up this year. Do we dare say this party was better than past Neon Carnival events?

NYLON House was presented by Samsung Galaxy and in partnership with Toyota, Cheetos, Mugler, Got2b and SHEGLAM. Guests could hop around to various stations for colored hair strands or glitter hair and makeup looks from SheGlam while walking through a Cheeto fortress hanging with giant-sized Cheetos where partygoers could grab Cheeto snacks and gifts from arms. After sitting in a Toyota Prius, guests were given a token to play games to win a scarf.

Guests in attendance included Teyana Taylor, Alessandra Ambrosio, Jaden Smith, Bella Thorne, Amber Rose, Yara Shahidi, Madison Bailey, Austin North, and more.

Favorite product: Leaving with a bag full of SHEGLAM. This new affordable makeup finds that we had never heard of until the event offers some amazing liquid options for your face for contouring, blush, shimmer, and highlighting.

Get more LalaScoop by checking out our Nylon sizzle reel on Instagram.

ZOEasis

ZOEasis returned for its seventh year, hosting a midday desert oasis celebration focused on individuality, style, beauty, and wellness. The event which was at the same estate as Nylon featured an exclusive act by multi-hyphenate DJ Pamela Tick. 

The most stylish and influential artists, musicians, and talent arrived during the day Saturday, April 15th to not only savor the dreamy desert poolside property but to engage with a variety of programming moments focused on individuality, style, beauty, and wellness — the ultimate escape for festival-goers to refresh their mind and body as well as their festival beauty and fashion looks. Guests could hop from various glam stations for eyebrow treatments, hair styling, and personalized Aura readings that corresponded with a perfume and bracelet color to take home. I got a kick out of having my fashion sketch done. Everyone loved designing a custom glam festival T-shirt too while guests left with gift bags including a Rachel Zoe purse and numerous other goodies.

ZOEasis was presented in partnership with Sephora, European Wax Center, Cotton, and Sole Water (which had the sexiest glass bottles).

Guests in attendance included Rachel Zoe, Alessandra Ambrosio, Camila Morrone, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Thuso Mbedu, and more. 

Favorite product: GXVE By Gwen Stefani Mascara and Lipgloss, soft woven tie bracelets with various words like LOVE, and Rachel Zoe Sadie faux vegan brown leather crossbody

GeoJam Mansion (LA Weekly X Curlsmith) and Lucky Brand Desert Mirage

It felt like 2 mansions teamed up next to one another to bring ultimate poolside fun and gifting at the Laguna Seca Estate, from custom stitch T-shirts at Lucky Brand and bites and sips from Uncle Fluffy, Candy Pop Sour Patch Kids, and La Croix. At the Lucky Brand Desert Mirage party in Indio, guests were also treated to a performance by Gayle, with Heineken Silver, and Lovesac. Flying Embers celebrated the launch of its new Birds of Paradise hard kombucha with pickleball games on a colorful court. Surprise giveaways, pool games, and swag ensued.

LA Weekly shared Coachella prep boxes filled with products to prepare for the music fest. Curlsmith, the #1 textured hair care brand at Ulta Beauty co-hosted the Coachella pool party with LA Weekly to kick off the launch of its newest product, Effortless Waves spray. The party was hosted by Nyjah Huston (@nyjah), an award-winning professional skateboarder and influencer.

Guests drank and mingled over professional hair styling, surprise music performances, delicious beverages and bites, and tons of poolside fun! On our way out we saw beautiful fashion influencer Rocky Barnes and her husband after meeting some Canadians who flew in for the show and SOHO Desert House, one of our favorite parties last year.

Sonic Desert Party

A Mystical Oases was presented by Coca-Cola Creations at 21 Arrows Ranch, a mega pool estate in Thermal complete with horses and a lengthy palm tree studded driveway. DJ Roxy Ferrari brought the tunes while guests sipped on boozy botanical teas and cocktails from Owl’s Brew and Coca-Cola Creations featured their limited edition beverages.

Those who needed some TLC, sat down for a vitamin-infused Drip IV Therapy with blends with science-backed therapies to optimize repair, recovery, and hydration. I happily devoured crisp wood-fired pizza slices from Dang Brothers Pizza while admiring GLO Design Lab’s handcrafted healing hat creations designed with crystals sourced from all over the world. Kumo Mane hair bar station featured feathers, colored extensions, and braids to get festival ready. After, guests could post in the retro VW bus for digital photo ops!

Sonic Desert attendees got a glimpse of the future of zero-emission transportation thanks to the DriveH2 campaign, a public service initiative by environmental nonprofit EIN and its message of a hydrogen-powered future. 

Guests in attendance included Andrew Spencer (“Bachelor in Paradise”), Nayte Olukoya (“Bachelorette”), Rodney Matthews (“Bachelor in Paradise”), Joe Jenkins (“MTV’s Siesta Key”), Jennings Brower (Actor & Tik Toker), Mikey Planeta (Bachelorette), Chef Priyanka Naik

Favorite Product: Kumo Luxe Haircare with shampoo, conditioner, and thermal and blowout mists that are vegan plus color and keratin treatment safe and thus, gentle and non-drying.