It’s the most wonderful time of the year: back to school time! Overly stressed parents will finally have an empty house, teachers can look forward to classrooms full of new students, and merchants can expect a nice little uptick in their sales — especially if they sell school supplies.
In your rush to purchase the latest in school fashion, a backpack or two, maybe some new pencils that will inevitably get lost or used by your classmate, and running shoes for gym class, be sure to include beauty products in your back-to-school shopping list.
You’re never fully dressed without a smile
One of my favorite musicals as a child was “Annie,” a classic rags-to-riches story about a plucky orphan with killer curls. I come from a family of dentists, so the song “You’re never fully dressed without a smile” really resonated with my family and me. It’s all about how it doesn’t matter what you wear, so long as you wear a smile. Why not make sure that smile looks like a million bucks when you’re heading back to school?
If you’ve been thinking of whitening your teeth, there is no better time than now. You’re headed back to school, after all. You’ll want to make sure that you dazzle when you smile at friends that you haven’t seen in a while. Best Beauty Finds is having a sale on Smile Sciences Home Teeth Whitening Kit. For $49.99, an incredible 83 percent discount, you get 20 at-home whitening treatments. No more sticky strips that don’t really stay on your teeth or heading to the dentist for a lengthy whitening procedure. Instead, brighten your smile from the comfort of your own home.
This Whitening Kit includes upper and lower teeth trays that you can custom fit to your mouth. The Kit also includes a 5mL syringe of their FDA-registered and dentist-approved whitening gel, two Vitamin E sticks to clean up any excess whitening gel left on your gums, and an LED light meant to activate the whitening gel for lightning-fast results. Worried about ruining your whitening work after enjoying your morning cup of coffee? Best Beauty Finds has you covered. The kit also includes a bonus Maintenance pen for whitening on the go, meaning you can whiten after your morning mocha.
New year, new makeup routine
Whatever your beauty goals are — nailing that winged eyeliner look, finally finding the perfect shade of lipstick, or managing to whittle your makeup routine down to five-minutes — you need to make sure that you have a clean palette to start with. That means making sure you’ve washed your face!
I know that I’m guilty of committing one of the major beauty-sins: I have fallen asleep with my makeup on more times than I can count. I blame my bed, it’s too comfy. Fortunately, the creators at Callyssee Cosmetics have us non-face-washing sleepers covered. The Better Bean Clean Face Coffee Scrub is literally an intervention for your face. This cleanser not only smells amazing, but it also works like a charm. Coffea Arabica, Citric Acid, and finely ground Apricot Seed Powder all work together to brighten your skin tone, buff away blackheads, and improve the look of your skin’s texture.
If you’re in a hurry and just want to wipe some of your makeup off before gym class, Best Beauty Finds has you covered. No need to ruin your hard makeup work with a hard workout! Use EcoWipes 100% Cotton Micellar Water Makeup Removal Wipes. These wipes are made out of 100 percent cotton, and they gently remove makeup while cleansing your skin. EcoWipes are great for people with sensitive skin since they are free of ethyl alcohol, parabens, silicone, fragrances, and chlorine. These hypoallergenic wipes are even compostable. If environmentally conscious products aren’t beautiful, I don’t know what is.
Rocking that back-to-school hair
Hair is big this Fall. And I mean literally BIG. Crimping, braids, and hair accessories so large that low-flying aircrafts are in danger of being able to see them without the use of binoculars! It’s all about the hair this Fall. So how do you incorporate these new hairstyles with your new classes? Do your beauty homework! Practice that hairstyle, practice using that new curling iron, do your schoolwork, and keep practicing with your hair.
Do not decide to try that new hair curler 30 minutes before first period. I still have nightmares about the time I tried my new hot rollers on my adorable A-line bob haircut for the first day of high school. My curls were absolutely adorable. For five minutes. Then they turned into a giant mess and it looked like I was wearing a helmet made of uncombed hair. I was like Cousin It on the “Addams Family” but not nearly as cute. Had I practiced my hairstyle, I would have known that the curlers work best on second-day hair that’s been treated with dry-shampoo and cannot be touched with a brush under any circumstances.
Which hair products should you be checking out on your back-to-school shopping spree? Invest in a good hairdryer. Make sure you have one that dries — not fries — your hair. Have you ever had your hair blown out? Yeah, me neither. This blow dryer gives you the blow out experience without the salon prices. HairRage’s Blow Out Salon Performance Hair Dryer in Rubberized Metallic is currently on sale for $42.99, and with its 1875-WATT DC motor, this hair tool is honestly one of a kind. Its lightweight design and far-infrared heat dries your hair from within, meaning a faster blow-drying, but non-damaging, experience for you.
Another great hair investment is hair serum. If you haven’t jumped on this oil bandwagon, it’s time! Serum is a great way to treat hair that’s color-treated, heat-treated, or treated to anything that isn’t its own natural way of being. Avalanche Hair Laboratory creators are the experts in caring for styled hair. If you’re like me and over-curl your hair on a regular basis, try their Professional Grade Hair Serum for Dry & Damaged Hair.
The directions say to put one pump of serum on wet hair and then comb through and style as desired. My recommendation: totally follow those instructions, but also put a light pump — a half-pump or a quarter-of-a-pea sized drop — on your fingertips and lightly comb those fingers through your recently blown dry hair. Start at the ends, and work your way to the top. This gives your hair an extra layer of protection and it also makes your hair smell amazing.
Don’t be the beauty school drop-out
In the midst of trying out new hairstyles, determining if your new eyeshadow goes with your first-day-of-school outfit, and finally perfecting your new signature hairstyle, please remember: an education is a person’s most hard-won asset. Can you slay the hallways like they’re your own personal Parisian fashion runway? Absolutely! Fashion slay away. But try to learn something about France while you’re at it. Happy back-to-school season, my beauties! Study hard, because after all, big brains are very beautiful