Being a busy collegiette, you probably don’t have as much time as you’d like in your day to spend on your beauty routine. Some mornings you might only have time to brush your hair and swipe on some lip balm before running out the door. Wouldn’t it be great to just wake up looking refreshed and ready to go? Well, we spoke to a few collegiettes to talk about five beauty tips you can add to your nightly routine in order to wake up looking and feeling #flawless every morning, because they don’t call it beauty sleep for nothing!
1. Give your skin some daily TLC
Skin is very delicate, especially on your face. Think about it; our faces battle a lot every day, whether it be harsh winds, harmful rays from the sun or pollution. Before you hit the sheets, be sure to spend time on cleansing your skin and ridding it of all the dirt and gunk that can get caught up in your pores. Emily Schmidt, a freshman at Stanford University, offers up her tips on keeping her skin feeling fresh and clean by the AM.
“I’ve found that my skin is the best after I wash it, use a clay mask, then moisturize the night before,” says Emily. “If I don’t follow that routine, I tend to break out or have dry skin.” Washing your skin at night allows you to rid your face of everything your skin encountered through the day. You wouldn’t sleep in the clothes you wore all day, would you? Fighting breakouts and preventing dry skin while you catch up on Zs sounds like a win-win to us.
And please, whatever you do, don’t fall sleep in your makeup! Your skin needs time at night to breathe, and falling asleep with your makeup on can clog your pores. Following your own cleansing routine will ensure that all traces of makeup are removed and you can wake up in the morning with refreshed, beautiful skin. And moisturize, moisturize, moisturize! Whether you have oily or dry skin, moisturizing keeps your skin looking soft and healthy. You’ll thank us later.
2. Change your pillowcase often
Even though it’s probably the last thing on your to-do list, you should probably change your pillowcase tonight. Why? Because any dirt or oil from your hair and skin comes into contact with that pillowcase, as well as dead skin cells and sweat. All of that nastiness can build up and come into contact with your freshly-washed face, sabotaging your beauty sleep. *Shudders*
Changing your pillowcase every week (or at least flipping it to the other side in-between washes) before bed is a simple trick to waking up with better skin. Kaylie VanOrd, a junior at Carthage College, says she noticed a huge difference when she started cleaning her pillowcase more often. “I have several pillowcases with me at school, so I always have a clean one in rotation,” says Kaylie. “After changing mine at least once a week for a few weeks, I started to notice less breakouts on the sides of my face.” Simple tricks before bed can lead to drastic beauty results, and this one is so easy, you have no excuses.
3. Add some coconut oil to your routine
There’s a reason why coconut oil is all the rage right now. It’s a fantastic smelling and inexpensive tool that can play so many roles in beautifying yourself. Chelsea Jackson, a junior at Iowa State University, suggests adding the miracle oil to your nightly beauty routine to wake up with gorgeous, shiny hair.
“When I had longer hair, I used to lather my hair with a healthy amount of coconut oil before bed,” says Chelsea. “I’d wrap my hair in an old t-shirt so I didn’t coat my hair in coconut oil while I slept, but it helped make my hair smoother and shinier in the morning,” Chelsea explains. “When I’d wake up and shower, I would just rinse it out (no shampoo or conditioner until the next day).”
Coconut oil has been known to add some extreme shine to your locks, so adding it to your hair before bedtime and finding out which way coconut oil works best for you is a fantastic way to wake up with selfie-worthy hair!
Related: I Woke Up Like This: Beauty Products that Work Overnight
4. Hydrate your bod and your skin
Sometimes all it takes is the little things! Tessa McKenna, a junior at Carthage College, shares her tips on the little things she does before bed to ensure a better morning.
“At night I always make sure to put on Chapstick and drink a full glass of water,” says Tessa. “Staying hydrated and taking care of my lips helps me feel prettier in the morning because my lips look fuller and less dry. Making sure I’m hydrated is especially important because of all the hours I’m not getting water while I sleep.”
Although these tips may seem like little fixes at first, they can add up to some great results over time.
5. Catch some major ZZZs
This is perhaps the simplest beauty trick of them all, and yet it’s so difficult to come by. All-nighters full of cram sessions, papers and other responsibilities are pretty typical for collegiettes, but they rob us of precious sleep that is necessary for not only functioning like a normal human being, but also looking your best. Lauryn Higgins, a graduate student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, stresses her tip on getting enough rest at night to wake up feeling gorgeous.
“I know it’s simple, but I’ve found when I get at least eight hours of sleep, I just look better,” explains Lauryn. “My skin glows, my eyes are brighter and I just feel more beautiful.” A lack of sleep can cause a number of bad things for your appearance, including bags under your eyes (which unfortunately are not designer). Sleep is essential to handle all that we do in college and beyond, so it’s not only important to make sure you’re getting sleep, but that you’re also getting enough.
With these simple yet effective tips implemented in your bedtime beauty routine, you can take your beauty sleep to the next level and wake up looking like your best, gorgeous self every day!