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How to Look Like You Have It Together During Finals

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UFL chapter.

It’s that time of year. The week (or if you are one of the unlucky ones: *weeks*) of all your finals. You probably are consuming too much caffeine, sneaking fast food into the library, sleeping in unconventional places and trying not to have a breakdown at least three times a day.

I may not be able to help you ace those finals, but I have five ways you can make yourself look like you aren’t one breakdown away from crying in the middle of campus.

Perfect the messy bun

So, you have three finals in one day? You probably don’t want to be spending time on your hair when you’re trying to cram. That is where you can introduce your new best friend: the messy bun.

I couldn’t make a messy bun to save my life and looked more like a founding father than a fashion blogger. But after a couple of YouTube tutorials, the messy bun is one of my favorite tricks. Did you just get done taking pics at a cute coffee shop downtown?

Maybe. Did you just run from one side of campus to the other to get to your exam on time? Who knows!

The messy bun is the perfect way to throw your hair up and convince people the only thing messy about you is your hairstyle. So, get some bobby pins and make people think your hiding secrets in that magnificent bun of yours.

Adopt Comfy-Casual

One of the best fashion trends to date is the concept of COMFORTABLE. Free People is one of the most notable brands of making cozy look so dang fashionable. So, when you want to curl up and take a 17 minute nap, you don’t need to change your clothes!

Is it chilly in the library? Oh well! You’re currently sporting a three-sizes too big cardigan because you’re stylish. Maybe you have a slouchy hoodie with snacks hidden in the pocket? No one will know. They’ll think you’re doing it on purpose and not for functionality.

So, throw on those joggers, that comfy sweatshirt that you stole from your dad, or take some inspiration from boho brands. Comfy is the new norm!

Two words: hair accessories

Nothing is better than distracting people from your lack of sleep than with fun hair accessories. They can’t see the pain in your eyes when they’re looking at the cactus printed scrunchie on your head.

This is such a useful thing during finals week. You don’t have time to worry about making sure every part of your life is together when you’ve got a GPA to maintain. Fun headbands, scarves that can tie your hair up, trendy bobby pins – anything and everything is encouraged.

These double to keep the hair out of your face when you’re outlining 16 chapters in 12 hours AND show people “Hey, I am cute, trendy and I can still find time to tie this bandana in my hair for style purposes.” People on campus will notice how cute your style is and not the coffee stain on the front of your jacket from one too many trips to Starbucks.

Wear glasses

This is my favorite tip because I am optically challenged and any excuse to wear my glasses is fine by me. You need to be giving your eyes a rest (and I can never sleep in contacts, so napping is prime with glasses), so go ahead and wear those glasses.

No prescription? No problem! Get trendy non-prescription glasses to wear during finals week. You’ll look cute and scholarly and like everything is alright (when you know that you are drowning in quizlets.)

Or invest in some blue lens glasses to wear! They protect your eyeballs from the glare on your computer. So long, headaches!

Trendy hats > dry shampoo

You are probably relying on dry shampoo to carry you through until you actually have time to wash your hair. I religiously use dry shampoo too but give your hair a break and wear fun hats instead.

Like with fun scrunchies, hats can say a whole lot more than a blank stare in the library. You’ll give your hair a rest and look super stylish while doing it.

So, there you have it — five ways that you can look your best during finals weeks without much effort. Go ace those finals and projects!

Hi I'm Bailey! I'm a Jesus loving, coffee drinking 20 something year old college student. I love the Florida Gators, the color navy, and carbs. Follow along while I try to balance school and my love of fashion!