23 Dorm Room Beauty Essentials | The Best Dorm Room Beauty Essentials For Awesome College Mornings
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Dorm room beauty product essentials are tricky. The tendency to overpack, especially when it comes to beauty products, is really prominent.
You’ll quickly realize that your morning beauty routine needs to be shortened by quite a bit – especially if you aren’t a morning person!
These are my personal favorites for getting ready in the morning – even when you’re running late!
Here’s 23 dorm room beauty essentials for awesome college mornings.
Dorm Room Beauty Essentials
Hair Products
1. Dry Shampoo
If you haven’t jumped on the dry shampoo train – you are seriously missing out. This saves so much time in the morning!
No, this doesn’t mean you don’t need to shower, it means you don’t need to get your hair wet – preserving your hairstyle from the day before, and saving you that much more time!
This is my tried and true favorite, and my favorite variations. A must have!
2. In-Shower Wet Brush
This changed my conditioner game so much.
Dorm water really does a number on your hair, and just slapping on some conditioner doesn’t cut it – especially in the middle of winter.
This brush is inexpensive, and I would use it to brush conditioner through my hair in the shower. This is such a game changer!
3. Hair Dryer
It’s time to ditch that hair dryer you’ve had since 8th grade. Invest in a better one! It’ll pay off in the future.
Here’s my two favorites, one is compact and one is full sized.
4. Flatiron
This, along with the hair dryer mentioned above, is another thing that is worth investing in.
Use your grad party or summer job money and invest in the things you’ll be using for more than a year. It saves you money in the long run!
I use this flatiron to curl my hair, and it works fabulously!
5. Spiral Ponytails
Since you’ll be preserving your hairstyle from day to day, if you need to put your hair up in the meantime you’ll be left with a huge ponytail bump and a ruined hairstyle.
These ponytails truly do work, and are such a game changer! One of my favorite college beauty life hacks.
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6. Wave Spray
When I know I have a busy day ahead, I throw my hair into a french braid, spray this on the braid, and I have perfect waves in the morning.
This college beauty product is a must have for a quick morning routine!
7. Revlon Protein Recharge
When I was bleaching my hair every other month, I was a frizzy dry mess. Once I started rubbing this into my wet hair after I showered, my hair kept getting better and better.
This also has heat protectant up to 450 degrees. Such a college beauty essential!
8. Flexible Hairspray
To go along with your beachy waves, top it off with a flexible hair spray! This won’t make your hair all crunchy, but will still preserve your waves all day.
This is my personal favorite!
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Makeup
1. Mascara
This is a cult favorite. You can never go wrong! I’ve tried so many mascaras, and I will never move away from this one. Even high end ones don’t come close to beating it.
2. Foundation
In the winter, I recommend wearing a full foundation opposed to a more summer like BB cream (or wear no makeup, you go glen coco)
This is my absolute favorite. It’s not too heavy, and the one for oily skin is actually wonderful at staying on oily skin without looking cakey.
3. Makeup Sponge
I used to be a die hard Beauty Blender user, but they just got too expensive. I did some research and tried this, and couldn’t believe how amazing they are!
I got four of these for the price of one Beauty Blender, and I actually think they work better. They also get a lot bigger, making application faster.
Pro Tip – remember to wet your makeup sponge completely, you’ll notice it get a lot bigger. Squeeze out the excess water and apply your makeup! Never use a dry makeup sponge, it soaks up foundation.
4. Tinted Eyebrow Gel
I used to fill in my eyebrows with a pencil every morning, but that just started to take too much time.
Tinted eyebrow gel helps a lot! When I’m in a big rush, I just curl my eyelashes and put on mascara, and then do my eyebrows. It makes a big difference!
5. Concealer
This is a tried and true favorite, year after year.
Perfect for covering under eye bags, but not too heavy. There’s a reason this is so hyped about.
Don’t let the price scare you – I used mine every day, and it lasted 6 months! (I’m pretty sure that’s past it’s expiration, but freshman year I was on a tight budget – use as long as you see fit!)
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6. Liquid Lipstick
This is such a great way to make a statement that is still very functional. I wore liquid lipstick all the time, and it was a great way to change up my look from day to night or casual to professional.
Colourpop makes my favorite! I recommend the matte and satin ones. These Nyx ones are also phenomenal, and can be found at most drug stores.
When it comes to liquid lipstick, don’t think that you need to spend a ton of money. Just go with the cult favorites! Since they’re only sold online, I would look up swatches online that are on your skin tone. This helps decision making a lot.
7. Highlight
Where would I even be without my highlight? My favorite part of the weekend is in part to me being able to wear copious amounts of highlight, with it fitting in.
These are some of my favorites, at all different price points. All are wonderful!
8. Bronzer and Blush Palette
Benefit is one of my favorite brands. They stand up for what they believe in politically (look it up) and they are really inspiring! Not to mention that, their makeup is really really good.
This is my favorite palette from them! It works for my skin tone in the summer and winter as well.
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Skincare
1. Coconut Oil
Coconut oil changed my life, especially when I started to use it to take off my makeup at night.
In the process of using it to take off my makeup, I rub it into my eyelashes. I wish I would’ve taken before and after pictures of my eyelashes since I started doing this, because oh my gosh there is a huge difference!
2. Sunscreen With Oil Control
It’s so important to put on sunscreen every day, especially in the winter! You may not get sunburnt in the winter, but your skin can still get damaged from the sun reflecting off the snow.
Adding a sunscreen component into your daily skincare routine helps to prevent this.
I use this one, due to the oil control properties! It’s so worth the price.
3. A Good Face Mask
If you’re struggling with random acne when you’re stressed at college, incorporating a face mask into your weekly skincare routine can help a lot!
This is my new favorite skin mask, and it’s pretty inexpensive.
4. Simple Face Wash
I used to get way too complicated and get the fanciest face wash I could, and I just ended up switching all the time. Try picking a simple one that works for your skin, and stick with it until it’s not working for you anymore!
Personally, I switched to the shea moisture line of African Black Soap and never plan on switching back.
Here’s the exact set that I use! I swear by every single one of these products.
5. Exfoliant
You only need to do this twice a week, and any more actually hurts your skin!
I personally use the Number 7 exfoliant, and it is the best one I have ever used. Since you only need a small amount a couple times a week, it is worth the investment hands down!
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6. Serums
Serums are a great addition to any skincare routine, even if just seasonally focused. For example, I use a lot more serums in the summer due to wearing less makeup.
I just get serums from amazon, and these ones were fantastic!
7. Moisturizer
This is a crucial step in any college beauty routine, and is something that should never be skipped! It goes hand in hand with washing your face – it needs to be done!
I personally use two different moisturizers, although both pretty plain.
I use dual action moisturizer when my skin is breaking out, and normal Cera Ve moisturizer when my skin is blemish free.
