Back To School Must Haves

I go back to school tomorrow and I figured that I'd share my back to school must haves!

I realize that I'm probably among the last wave of students going back to school, so if I decide to make a post similar to this next year, I'll remember to do it sooner. Even if you're already back to school, this post might give you ideas as to what to buy or what you could've forgotten; the school year has just started!

I am going to be separating my back to school must haves by items for the classrooms, then beauty products and finally items to have during a break.

Anyway, let's get to it!

Must Haves For: The Classrooms

Starting off with the classics, pens and pencils.

I usually prefer to use pen over pencil (unless it's for a test or math), so I always like having at least two pens on me at all times during the school day.

My go-to pens are the Sharpie pens.I prefer them because there are so many colours available that I can write my notes in different colours, so I can have keywords in one colour, underline the important things in another and have the rest of my notes in another different colour. Of course you can do it with the usual red, black and blue pens, but Sharpie pens have a larger colour variety and it makes writing notes more fun.

When I do use pencils, I'll always go for a pushpen because I wasted a lot of time last year sharpening pencils until they met my standard of perfect, so a pushpen would spare me a lot of time towards the end of the year.
Next, we have notebooks.

Record notebook bought at HMV
Live Every Moment notebook bought at Target

Now, a little fact about me is that I have no problem spending money on journals that I like. I will shamelessly buy three at a time and never write anything in them because I don't want to ruin them.

This year, I'm using some journals to write my notes in for some classes. Yes, they're smaller than notebooks, but I find that that makes them easier to carry around and you can have more on you at once than the full size notebooks.

I use the notebooks where the pages easily rip out for school work. If it;s for proper work like math class, I'll use one whole notebook and leave that notebook for that class alone, but I will also take a notebook like that to all of my classes so if I have a one off in-class assignment to hand in after the class, I can easily rip out the page(s) I worked on.

That way, I don't have to carry around a binder with a ton of loose leaf in it and supply everyone else in the class with paper.


Probably most importantly, a calendar.

Most schools probably give you a calendar/agenda, but if you don't have one, you should get one.

Calendars help you so much to prioritize what work has to be done because you have all the due dates /dates for every assignment, test, quiz and project. 

I personally prefer monthly calendars/agendas because it helps me see a lot more at once and it saves me the trouble of leafing through many pages to find the date I was looking for.

Must Haves For: Beauty Products

I usually do my makeup for school, there were probably a handful of days when I went to school without any makeup on last year, so I'll share with you guys my favourite beauty products at the moment with you guys.

First up, foundation.

Foundation and brush bought at Shoppers Drug Mart (Drug Store)

I recently started using Rimmel's Lasting Finish with Comfort Serum, but I love it everytime I wear it. It's really light, I feel as though my skin can still breathe through the foundation and I love that feeling. I wear the colour 100 Ivory and I feel as though this is the first time that I've found a foundation that almost matches my skin tone completely.


Following, concealer.

Both concealers bought at Shoppers Drug Mart (Drug Store)

I haven't been using too many different types of concealers, but that ones I have been using are Maybelline New York's concealer in 15 Fair for under my eyes (top one) and 10 Light for any blemishes that I have (bottom one).

Just like the foundation, I find them light and they do their job well. They brighten up the area under my eyes and they help cover blemishes better, so I really like them.


Next, eyeliner.

Both eyeliners bought at Shoppers Drug Mart (Drug Store)

I love eyeliner, I love doing it because there are so many different ways that you can style your eyeliner and I really enjoy doing it in my beauty routine.

I've used and love two different types of eyeliner, the first one is Quo liquid liner. I love this liquid liner because I've never had it run under my eyes during the day, it stays put for the most part, but I do find that you might have to reapply it in a few areas during the day; mainly the inner corner.

The second eyeliner is Rimmel's Exaggerate Waterproof Eye Definer in black. I find it so easy and fast to apply. I've had it run down under my eye a few times, but its nothing that can't be fixed.


Then, mascara.

Mascara was bought at Shoppers Drug Mart (Drug Store)

I haven't experienced much with mascara yet, but I'm currently using Maybelline's Mega Plush Volume Express. I'm enjoying this mascara because not only does it add a lot of volume to my eyelashes, but it's also waterproof and has a dent in the brush to make it more flexible to help you reach every lash in at any angle. 

Although I am enjoying this product, I might look around a bit more before I go back to that one just to see what's out there and what does the best job for me.


Next, lip balm.

I am big on lip balm, my lips get chapped often (especially in the winter) so I love having lip balm on me. In my bag, I will have both an EOS and Burt's Bees lip balm. They're both natural and really hydrating which make them both great. Depending on which Burt's Bees you get, they can tint your lips a little bit which is great, but if you already have lipstick and/or lip gloss on, then EOS is the way to go.


Must Haves For: Breaks

Phone case bought at Target

Music helped me get through last year a lot. I listen to music when I'm stressed to help me relax or when I need to give myself a break from working.

I was aloud to listen to music in classes last year, so whenever we got to work on our own, I would always have both headphones in, listening to music, to help me stay focused on my work and not be distracted by all the sounds around me.

You can listen to music in class (if you're allowed), during lunch, during a free period or even when you're walking to a different class. 

If listening to music helps you in any way, then go for it. If you're looking for new music, you can check out my Road Trip playlist here.


Finally, books.

Books are great for when you're done work or a test before everyone else and you still have to be quiet.

Books for me are also like a little escape so their also nice to help you relax after a day at school.

I'm currently reading the book Everyday by David Levithan. I'm not far into it so I can't tell you much about it, but the plot is that this person walks up in a different body everyday and they have to discover who they are all over again. So while being themselves, this person is also someone else at the same time.

It's a really good plot and I can't wait to read more of it.

Well that's it for my Back To School Must Haves! I hope you this helped some of you guys out as to what to have for school!

Until next time!