Makeup Must-Haves for College

It’s about that time of year again where high school grads are leaving for their first semester of college! This is a fun, if incredibly stressful, process and part of the craziness is trying to figure out what to pack. Thankfully when I left for college, my mom kept me from going nuts and taking everything possible. But one of the things I had the hardest time with was figuring out what makeup to pack, as I’d been collecting makeup for a few years at that point. (A collection I purged at one point and built back up, but that’s a post for another time).

Here’s the thing about packing for college: you don’t want to overpack, especially if you’re going to be living in a dorm. And you don’t want to pack too much, because if you want to buy more makeup or anything really, you’re going to want extra room. Plus, for your first semester at least, you’re likely to be busy or stressed, and until you get settled into a routine you won’t necessarily be devoting a ton of time to doing your makeup. And a lot of folks start out wearing a lot at first, but wear less and less as the year goes on. But for that party or special function (I did a semester with my SGA senate), you may want to jazz it up a little bit. And definitely if you’re going Greek.

There are a lot of different things that people will say you need, and honestly a lot of what you should bring depends on your personality. Are you more minimal, or do you love to do full face all the time? I’ll be giving a pretty full list, breaking down by what I consider to be the essentials, to a more extensive list for the makeup mavens out there, plus a few recommendations here and there. So, what makeup do you need for college?

Minimal Makeup (everyday and any day)

This is good for everyday, and is a pretty solid guideline to build up any makeup collection. This will get you from lecture, to dinner with friends, and any function you need to look polished for. Also, this is a good idea of what makes a great minimal makeup look!
-A face powder (translucent or your skin tone). You can try ELF High Definition Powder
-BB cream, CC cream, or tinted moisturizer. Physician’s Formula Super BB Cream is worth a try!
-Concealer (matched to your skin tone). I like NYX Conceal Correct Contour Palette, which does double duty for contouring!
-Mascara. I don’t have any particular preferences at the moment!
-Brow pencil or powder. Colourpop has some inexpensive pencils!
-Lip gloss (clear or nude). NYX Butter Gloss is a good option!
-Beautyblender (or dupe). Seriously these sponges are so versatile. I use the original BeautyBlender, but Real Techniques has their own version that’s bomb.
-Powder brush. ELF and Real Techniques both have affordable and high quality options.

For When You Want That Little Extra

If you want to look a bit more put together, or if you like to do just a little bit extra makeup without going over the top! Effortless, easy makeup for almost every occasion you may have, from parties to interviews to class and everything in between. Going through sorority recruitment? You’ll definitely want these.
-Nude and/or red lipstick. Milani Color Statement are great traditional lipsticks and Colourpop Ultra Matte are wonderful for liquid lipsticks!
-Bronzer. ELF has options for lots of skin tones
-Highlighter Wet n Wild Mega Glo Highlighting Powder are a hit.
-Foundation. I recommend Urban Decay Naked Skin Foundation.
-Primer. Too Faced Hangover Primer is the one I use.
-Fan brush
-Angled blush brush

When You Want to Go All Out

This is for the makeup enthusiasts. College is busy, so you may not have two hours to get ready for a party. This is if you want a great makeup collection for anything and everything.
-Neutral blush. The Morphe 9N Blush Palette has lots of colors!
-Neutral eyeshadow palette. The Urban Decay Naked Basics and Urban Decay Naked2 Basics are my go tos.
-Contour shade. Try out the NYX Conceal Correct Contour Palette as well!
-Liquid eyeliner. NYC Liquid Eyeliner is my personal favorite.
-Basic eye brushes (shader, blender, and pencil brush)
-Blush brush

There you have it! My list of college makeup essentials for anyone and everyone. These are just my suggestions for what to bring, so if you want to bring everything or nothing, that’s up to you. College packing is a crazy process, and I hope this makes things a little bit easier for you guys.

Let me know in the comments what you’re bringing to college, or what you wish you’d brought! And take a look at some of my other posts, like How to Improve Your Makeup!