As a college student, change happens on a daily basis so much so you often don’t realize it’s occurring into you step back and reflect. (And by reflect, I mean look at old pictures and audibly gasp at your questionable outfit choices of yesteryear.)
Just as you grow wiser and more fashionable throughout your four years of college, so does your beauty routine. In fact, your beauty routine as a “wise old” senior serves a totally different purposes than it did as a wide-eyed freshman just trying to survive the dorm bathroom situation. To illustrate the differences, we asked four college students to share how their year in school impacts their own beauty routines.
Freshman:
“Prior to my first year of college, I never really worried about my skincare routine because I did not wear makeup that often, I got plenty of sleep, and I maintained a healthy diet. As a freshman, however, I started to notice that my skin had started to change once college began. Although I took extra care of my skin, I noticed that the stress of classwork and late nights spent doing school work were starting to take a toll. After turning to YouTube and watching videos of what other people my age like to use, I placed a mass order online and tried out products that have since helped me to maintain my skin. Although I am very busy at school, I always take the time to spend a few extra minutes each morning when I wake up and each evening before I go to bed to completely clean my skin. My top two go-to products are the Mario Badescu Rose Hips Nourishing Oil, an amazing facial oil that fights any and every troublesome spot that may appear on my face overnight, and the Benefit Cosmetics Moisture Prep Toning Lotion. As far as makeup, I usually stick to lightweight CC creams because I am lucky enough to not need anything full coverage. My all time favorite is the It Cosmetics! Your Skin But Better CC+ Cream, it is a game changer. As far as hair, mine is thick, long, and tangles easily. This past school year I have discovered the Carol’s Daughter Hair Milk Original Leave In Moisturizer and it helps to keep my hair smooth, shiny and free of knots!” —Shannon
Sophomore:
“High school me would spend almost an hour every single day doing my makeup before heading off to school. Sophomore-in-college Alexa? Twenty minutes max. This semester, I decided to enroll in morning classes in order to have free afternoons, but with that decision came the drastic cut I had to make to my daily beauty/skincare morning routine, as I definitely still wanted to get as much sleep as possible. Oddly enough, there was such a positive outcome; I have kept my full skincare routine because, let’s be honest, hydrated skin is a must. I ended up cutting out plenty of products from my normal makeup routine (liquid eyeliner, eyeshadow, heavy mascara) and realized that I actually liked myself without the enormous amount of makeup on.
Makeup will always be something I absolutely adore, and maybe sometimes I will still find myself applying way too many products on my face from time to time. However, I know that I will be doing it because it’s something I enjoy, not because it’s something I need. Meeting positive, self-loving individuals in college definitely also helped me accept my imperfections.” —Alexa
Junior:
“I’m not even going to lie, I was the girl with the orange face in middle school-early high school. I had absolutely no knowledge about make-up and I hardly ever wore it. When I started to follow blogs and YouTube channels my freshman year of college, I became much more educated and excited about the beauty realm. As a junior in college now, I’m constantly on the go, so I like to use products that are easy to apply and long lasting. My everyday make-up routine is pretty minimal and natural, mostly because I’m usually in a rush to class, but also because I’ve found that less is more when it comes to make-up. My make-up bag consists of my tried and true, holy grail products that I use daily. When I find products I love, I stick with those and rarely try new ones. However, the winners of the CF Beauty Awards are tempting me!”—Maddy
Senior:
“When I started college, I was self-admittedly a mess. I hadn’t yet found my personal style (I cringe at some of the outfits I wore), I had no idea what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, was adjusting to attending a university in New York City, and my skincare was totally inconsistent. I wore makeup pretty much everyday, but whether or not I took it off at night depended on how tired I was. Even when I did take it off, I usually only used a makeup wipe. Throughout college, I experimented with every skincare routine: Proactiv, Dermalogica, Biore, etc. Now, as a senior, graduating in less than three weeks, I have a skincare routine I stick to. I wake up every morning and wash my face with Mario Badescu enzyme cleanser, follow with MB toner, and moisturize with MB aloe moisturizer and Glossier Priming moisturizer. Every night before I go to bed, I follow the same steps, except I start by taking off my makeup with Garnier Micellar water and in between my toner and moisturizer applications, I use either Glossier Super Pure or Super Glow, depending on how my skin is acting. As for my makeup routine, my staples are Glossier Boy Brow, Milk Makeup Weekend Lash Stain, It Cosmetics Bye Bye Pores translucent powder, and Glossier Haloscope in Moonstone.”—Megan
How does your year in school impact your beauty routine? Let us know in the comments below!
