The Her Campus National Editors write about products we love and think you’ll love too. Her Campus has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase. All products are in stock and all prices are accurate as of publication.
A college girl’s guide to staying warm despite your frigid dorm
As pretty as the four seasons of New England can be, when enchanting little snowflakes are not trickling through a setting sun, the winter is long, biting, and soul-sucking. I have lived in New England my entire life, and though this persistent cold is nothing new to me, being in college has made it more difficult to bear. Living on campus, you don’t have access to your entire wardrobe—and with what money are you going to buy a coat thick enough to cover your behind? It’s impossible to set your dorm’s thermostat to a temperature even resembling warm, and you can only reheat bad dining hall coffee so much before you decide it’s not worth the temporary warmth.
But! As someone with three years of experience in one of the coldest spots in New England—the very windy, very incapable of maintaining warm water city of Boston—I have found three necessities that have helped me not just to survive, but be surprised when my friends are shivering and I’m just oh so toasty.
- Heated Blanket
My heated blanket continuously revives me from a mind-numbing stupor that makes it impossible to do homework or be in touch with my body at all. For those who aren’t familiar with heated blankets, they feel like any other blanket, except inside them are hidden cords that warm up after you click a button. Every heated blanket is different, but most have a remote that lets you control the heat level and set a timer for how long you want the heat on for (so literally perfect for sleeping.)
Since discovering this gift to humankind, whenever I feel myself fading in the cold, I wrap myself in a heated blanket for a cozy shock to my system. My thoughts return to their usual, coherent speed. My body returns to being a body. I have the strength to realize I have been staring at the wall for five minutes (and I stop staring at the wall.) Life is beautiful.
- Thick headband
While hats are great, sometimes they feel a little aggressive if it’s not actively snowing or if you really can’t stand that hat hair when you take it off inside your destination. Trust me when I say, thick headbands are a two-in-one for warmth and style. My favorite is knitted on the outside and has a sherpa interior. It’s wide enough to cover a good portion of my head and go over my ears. This combination is great for warmth, but it actually looks super cute too (see below a picture of Sydney Sweeney wearing a thick headband—though you should probably get one made of warmer material.) Unlike hats, you can keep these headbands on once indoors, and then be all ready to go back out without ever once having to change your fit.
- Candle warmer
Okay, this one is more for aesthetic than warmth (but for me, looking at it makes me feel warmer, so.) Most colleges won’t let you have an open flame in your dorm, so candle warmers are a great workaround. There is no fire involved because the wick is never actually lit. Instead, the heated lamp melts the wax, still eliciting the smell of your choosing (my current one is pine needles.)
I highly recommend looking at all of the adorable options for candle warmers. Mine is shaped like a flower drooping over the candle… I’m obsessed with it. What’s even better is that you don’t have to wait for Amazon to deliver a candle warmer because they can be found in typical stores around colleges, such as Homegoods, TJ Maxx, and Target. It’s a one-stop shop where you can also sniff which candle is best for you because I really do not recommend buying candles online that you have not smelt yet.
Candle warmers aren’t about being physically warm, but mentally warm. I mean, is that big light going to make you feel like you’re sitting beside a cozy fireplace or sitting beside your doctor as they prod you with their cold hands?
For me, being cold makes me sluggish and detached without having the brainpower to realize why. These three items have made it a lot easier to keep my brain, body, and heart up and running. Make school easier on yourself by staying warm and checking out these items!