Finals Week Beauty: How to Stay Gorgeous ’til Winter Break
I don’t know about you guys, but in the next eight days, I have two papers due and four exams to complete. And that’s on top of packing to go home for winter break, attempting to have some semblance of a social life, and still keeping my sanity in-tact. Yes, ladies and gents, finals weeks is upon us.
While the next week of my life will be (un)happily spent schlepping to and from the library, coffee tumbler in hand, I’m determined not to let my beauty regimen slip up. Here are my tips on how to stay cute during finals week:
Skin
One of the most important things you can do to save your skin during finals week is to not stray from your usual skincare routine. Doing so will only stress your skin out more (yes, even more than those pesky neon lights) to the point of multiple breakouts.
I always carry extra moisturizer with me during the day so my skin doesn’t get too dry, and I always remember to wash my face and apply my skincare products at night. I know that after a four hour study session, no one wants to do their skin routine, but I promise you’ll be pimple-free on the plane ride home for break!
Hair
The one mistake I’m guilty of making during finals week is not paying attention to my hair. I know how easy it is to stick it under a baseball cap in a ponytail, but let’s all take a cue from Gossip Girl with this one and rock the headband.
There are so many different types out there, from the delicate gold metal ones to the big, black Goody ones, so I don’t want to hear any “my-head-looks-weird-with-headbands” excuses. Not only do they do a fabulous job of camouflaging dirty hair, they also make the sweats and tee shirt combo look more presentable and put-together.
Makeup
It’s basically college law that no one gets enough sleep during finals week. Even so, it’s easy to fake those eight hours you didn’t get by keeping the focus on clean features.
Eyeliner and eyeshadow are time-consuming to put on, so I’ll usually skip both of those until the Welcome Home/Christmas parties. Colleen recently profiled my favorite final’s week beauty trick, Benefit’s Ooh La La Lift ($22) which literally wakes me up when I put it under my eyes. Curl your lashes and use your favorite lengthening mascara to automatically open up your eyes.
In for a long day? Carry a few Q-Tips around with you to periodically swipe flake-y mascara out from under your eyes. If you’re feeling extra daring, run a dab of your favorite lip gloss or lipstick (I’m a fan of Stila’s Lip Glaze in Cranberry – $22) over your lips. All in all, this takes me approximately 3 minutes and instantly makes it look as if I’ve gotten a full night’s sleep… When I really stayed up till 4 a.m. cramming for Gov!
What do you guys think?
How do you all stay beautiful during finals week? Do you have any tips for staying gorgeous and still passing your exams? Tell me in the comments!
Posted on on December 9, 2009 / Filed Under: Beauty & Hair / Tags: Beauty, college, Exams, Finals, Hair, Makeup, Skin, Stress
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Christina
I carry tinted moisturizer with me and face wipes to feel refreshed during a all-nighter of studying…LIKE RIGHT NOW. Tinted lipbalm or a light lipstick plus mascara are also a must to make me feel pulled together. My trick is to just dab my finger (no fussing with brushes) in a light shadow ( I usually use a sheer gold or a light light shimmery pink) and dab the inner corners of my eyes to make them look more awake.
Nina Aquino
I’m in architecture, so we spend a lot of nights working late hours in studio. I use concealer under my eyes before putting on bronzer to give my eyes a lifting look. Also, I carry around baby powder for my hair when it gets greasy early in the morning. (Remember to lightly dust it and brush it through or else you’ll end up with white blotches everywhere, dry shampoo also works well too.) Also, drinking a lot of water and eating apples helps keep you awake better than coffee or any energy drink and it’s healthy for you :)
Cynthia
This post is so timely! Love all the tips, I have just a few more:
1. To prevent bringing out your dark circles/bags keep all your eye makeup above your eyelashes. (So don’t line the bottom of your eyes w/ eyeliner.)
2. Shimmer = life! Dust shimmery eyeshadow in the corners of your eyes and the frosty shimmer will make your eyes look super bright, I swear by this!
Sara
Great article!
My tip for staying beautiful during Finals week is simple: take your routine shower!
Nothing makes me feel worse then not getting any sleep AND not being clean =) Plus, showers always wake me up so I’m better prepared during exam time.
Honestly, cramming those 10-15 minutes before is not going to help so might as well be clean!
Hilary
Love this article!! The soaps in the picture smell sooo good :)
stephanie
lets see. My finals are now over….YAY ME ::) but with being an art major most of us in my department spend about 3-4 days with getting NO sleep. Since I work at the school as a work study i have to look some one presentable and sweats dont work :(. I like to carry some brownzer in my bag along with some neutral shades of eyeshawdow and of course some gloss. If i have the time I will throw on some mascara.
Jess
Great tips. Trust me you are not alone with staying up ’till 4am for Gov. :)
One tip I can give:
set your alarm for a 20 minute resting/getting “ready to bed” break. I usually set my alarm for 9pm-ish and for the next 20 minutes I do my night routine: removing my make-up, taking my contacts of, night creams, body lotion, brushing and flossing teeth. I then go back to studying/doing papers. And plus, if you have time, make some tea or coffee.
This always helps me relax and keep my daily routine during finals week.
Karin
Great post! I’m sure it is going to be a stressful week for everyone and these tips are great. I just have one question. What do you guys recommend for a moisturizer? Right now I’m using one by Clean & Clear, but my chin was so dry this morning I had to put it on twice before I even went outside into the windy 25 degree weather! Do you guys know of one which might work better? Thanks and good luck with finals!
Elizabeth - University of Missouri
Karin- I have dry skin also, and I SWEAR by Clinique’s Dramatic Different Moisturizing Lotion. It’s a little pricey at $22, but it’ll last you at least 6 months!
Karin
Thanks so much I’ll look into it :)
terri14
My head looks weird with a big headband like The mean girls wear in gossipgirl. And tiny headbands hurt my head :D you know what i mean..when I put them behind my ears it starts to hurt afterwards…. but I love them