University Beauty Essentials

Late nights and early mornings can take its tole on your skin at university. Late nights partying or studying followed by early lectures can give you little time for you to carry out your normal morning and evening skincare routines or morning make up routine.

 Here are the beauty essentials I would recommend you use at uni. 

All of these products are drugstore products and under £10 so really affordable for students. 

Eye Cream

An eye cream is an essential item for students. Late nights during freshers week, early mornings for classes can cause you to become extremely tired which can be shown through your eyes. Dark circles and bags under your eyes are tell tale signs that you are tired. This can be prevented or minimised by using an eye cream. 

The B. Energised eye cream from Superdrug's B. range is the perfect eye cream to help soothe your eyes and reduce puffiness. It is a gel consistency which soaks into your skin instantly refreshing them. If you put the eye cream into the fridge it chills it so that the cream feels cooler and more soothing for your morning eyes. 

Moisturiser

It is essential to keep your skin hydrated. On nights out you may wear heavier make up to last all night therefore keeping your skin hydrated before and after you wear your make up is essential so your skin does not dry out and gives you a smooth base to apply your make up.

If you don't like wearing foundation to university then having glowing, hydrated skin is the perfect alternative. 

Vaseline Intensive Care Advanced Repair Lotion is a thick creamy moisturiser that keeps at bay whist keeping it hydrated. This product states that it 'heals very dry skin in 5 days' and I 100% agree with this statement. This moisturiser is one to pick up.

BB Cream

BB cream is a perfect alternative to foundation. If you don't want to wear foundation to classes at university but also don't want to go bare faced then this product gives your skin a light coverage. BB cream is a thinner consistency so is perfect to quickly pop on your skin before class when you don't want to go fully made up. 

This B. BB cream is a light whipped formula that evens out your skin tone and brightens your skin. It gives a good coverage and can be worn alone or with a light layer of powder on top to set it in place. 

Lip Balm

A lip balm is a must have product. There is nothing worse than having dry chapped lips. Air conditioning in university classrooms can really effect your lips and dry them out. If you pop a lip balm into your pencil case then  it is at hand if you feel you need it during class. 

Blistex Raspberry Lemonade Blast lip balm is an extremely moisturising lip balm that provides a protective barrier to your lips. It also smells so good i could eat it.

Mascara

A mascara can easily wake up tired eyes and make you look more awake than you actually feel. If you wear no other make up to university wearing mascara can really change the look of a bare face. Mascara can really open up your eyes and is quick and easy to apply before you run out the door to class. 

Barry M Show Girl mascara separates lashes well giving you natural looking lashes. This mascara is perfect for during the day or on a night out. 

Concealer

Concealer is a life saver! Again another essential for those early mornings and late nights to cover up dark circles. It is also great for covering up any breakouts you get throughout your time at university.

The Collection Lasting Perfection concealer is a product i cannot live without. It covers up blemishes well and is easy to blend into the skin using a brush or your finger. The tube is small enough for you to take with you to touch up any parts of your face throughout the day. 

Dry Shampoo

If you wake up late or miss your alarm and don't have time to shower before running out the door to class then a quick spritz of dry shampoo can your saviour. It can instantly revitalize your hair. 

Batiste dry shampoo is an essential to have. The Batiste range consists of various products for different hair types and in different scents. It also comes in travel sizes so you can pop it in your bag and take it with you to use throughout the day.

Make Up Wipes

Make up wipes are an easy way to remove all of you make up and cleanse your skin at the same time. There is nothing worse than getting in from a night out and having to do a full night time make up removal and skincare routine when you just want to go to bed. Therefore grabbing a make up wipe to remove all make up is a quick alternative to your usual routine to keep your skin  clear and save you sleeping in your make up. 

Garnier Micellar Water make up wipes remove all make up in one sweep with little or no rubbing. Holding the wipe over your eye make up for a few seconds will break down the products and let you wipe it away easily. These wipes have all of the same benefits as the Garnier Micellar Water i reviewed here.

Spot Treatment

We all get those annoying spots that appear at the most inconvenient times. They can appear due to a stressful assignment, essay, group work, exams etc.

 Clearasil Rapid Action Treatment Cream reduces the size and redness of spots in a couple of hours. This spot cream is in a small tube so you can pop it into your bag and take it to university with you as it can be applied above and under make up. The light cooling gel cream works instantly to give you relief. 

These are a few recommendations of beauty essentials for use at university. They are all affordable products and available in Superdrug or Boots so easy to find. If you have any university beauty essentials let me know in the comments. 

Next Post: University Stationery Essentials.

10 Tips For University Freshers

Image

Starting university can be a hectic and nerve-racking time. You may be moving away from home, meeting new people, making friends are just a few things you have to deal with. Here are my top 10 tips for starting university. 

This post is number one in a series of university posts that i will be posting throughout September

1. Budget 

If you save money from the beginning you will have money for those spontaneous nights out and a decent food shop. You wont need to be stuck eating super noodles for the rest of the month because you have spent all of your money. Write out a list of all of the things you need to spend money on during the month rent, food shopping etc. Then when you have a total of money that you need to spend you know how much you have to yourself. Also keep money back so you have money to go and visit your friends who are at different universities. 

2. Go to all of the university induction sessions 

Although the induction sessions may sound like your worst nightmare after a night out for freshers week they ARE important. You will find out about your course and the modules you will be studying. Although lecture notes and tutorial activities may be online, you will not be able to get the induction sessions online. Equally as important you will meet people on your degree course and make friends! It is an easy way to meet people on your course so that come day one of classes you have someone you know as your flat mates may not be on your course or if you live at home whilst studying then this will help put you at ease.

3. Go to Fresher Week events

I am sure everyone knows what freshers week is and are really looking forward to it. Parties, pub crawls, celebrity experiences etc. It breaks you into university life and breaks the ice between you and your new friends and flatmates. It is the perfect opportunity to make the most of starting university. However freshers week is not all about the parties and nights out. There are plenty of daytime activities to be a part of. Both aspects of freshers week are perfect for you to meet other people at university and really get to know your friends and flatmates.

4. Don’t take anything to university that you don’t mind being broken, ruined or lost.

One thing you have to remember is that not everyone is going to be as careful with your things as you are. Don’t take that mug or wine glass that you love and would hate if someone chipped or smashed it. Similarly with make up products or clothing. Don’t take that MAC lipstick that you cannot live without or other high end make up products or dresses that you love. As someone may ask to borrow them and spill something on the dress or lose the make up product on a night out. There are lots of dupe make up products you can take and are cheaper to replace if they get lost.

5. Go to class prepared.

You can NEVER have enough stationery. University is very different to school. If you don’t go to class prepared with pens, notebooks, lecture notes etc then the lecturer will assume you don’t want to be there. They don’t have time to hand out pens and paper. It is totally understandable if you forget once but try to lay everything out the night before. There is so much stationery in shops so stock up so you are always prepared.

6. Don’t turn up late to tutorials or lectures.

There is nothing worse than walking into a lecture theater that seats 250-300 people late and everyone turns and looks at the person who came in late. The lecturer may not know everyone’s names however they will always remember your face if you come in late.

7. Know your limits

Don’t be afraid to say no. If you don’t want to go on a night out then you  DO NOT need to go. You will not be the only person who does not go out every night for freshers week and some people are under 18 so can’t go out, you don’t need to worry about it!

8. Take some homely things to decorate your new room. 

Student accommodation bedrooms are very plain and basic so take some things with you to decorate your room and make it feel more homely. Framed pictures of memories with family and friends and fairy lights are perfect to put your stamp on your new room. You may not feel as home sick if you decorate your uni room like your room at home. 

9. Learn to put up with other people's mess. 

You may be a very clean and tidy person however your flatmates may not be. Therefore you need to make allowances for this. Create a cleaning rota where one person does the cleaning each day is fair. That way it is not left to one person. Your flat will be a nicer place to stay in if it is kept clean and tidy. 

10. Have fun 

The number one thing to remember whilst you are at university is to have fun. As well as being at university to learn and study you will have a great time and a lot of fun. Meeting new people, new friends, new experiences. It is something completely different so make the most of it as the time flies by.

Image

Those are my top 10 tips for freshers. Keep these in mind (especially number 10) when you are settling in. It wont be too long until you are fully settled in and you will be wondering what you were so nervous about. Good luck and enjoy your first day!

Next Post: University Beauty Essentials