Being that I’m a college teenage girl (I know I just turned 20, please leave me alone I’m still mourning), I have a three tier cart right next to my bed. Which means, my very girl, very messy, very necessary bedside table is multiplied by literally a thousand. In this article, I will be doing an extremely introspective and philosophical analysis of what the bedside table of a 20 year old teenage girl in college looks like.
Top Tier
On the very first tier of my cart is where I store my most precious belongings: my perfumes.
The relationship between a girl and her fragrances really can only be described as a form of worship. Just like religion, with my perfumes there are rules that I blindly follow. Certain perfumes are meant for certain days, certain feelings, certain people. If the air is still and the cold burns my lungs I know it’s going to be a Fresh Cream day. When autumn finally looks like bright orange and red leaves, I always reach for Cherry Smash no.12. For moments when I want to smell like the most delicious thing on this planet, there is never a doubt that I’ll be doused in either Tropical Nights or Brazilian Crush. But for days where I wake up, and can feel in every molecule in my body that it’s going to be a good day, I wear Eau Parfumée au thé blanc.
Right next to my perfumes are all of my vitamins. A special thank you to my mom for buying them because apparently vitamins are a billion dollars. It is winter, which means that as someone who is mixed, I am literally dying. There is nothing more heartbreaking than looking at beautiful and tanned pictures of myself from two months ago, and realizing just how pale I am. I honestly look like I am being deprived of every important nutrient there is. Which is why I need my vitamins close by at all times. The first thing I do when I wake up is pop out my retainer, and pop in a vitamin or two. Please no judgment about not brushing my teeth first, I can’t handle that on top of being unbelievably pale.
Last but not least, most definitely not least, on the top of my cart I have an assortment of lip products. I have a slight lippie addiction. It is one I am not ashamed of, and will proudly say it with my chest. The three main contenders who reside at the top of the pyramid are the Burt’s bees watermelon rush squeezy tinted balm, Nivea blackberry, and my holy grail: Aquaphor. Before bed I enter snail mode, which means there isn’t an inch of skin on my face that isn’t lathered in aquaphor. Some may call this a bit much, but the divine understand the healing and mystical powers that aquaphor possesses.
Middle Tier
My middle tier is where it starts to become apparent that I am just a girl, which means that I am a mess. But, I am messy in a very chic way, so technically it’s okay. Just ask my dad! One of the more necessary items on my middle tier is a pair of giant fluffy socks. This isn’t because I wear socks to bed. This is because I am a monster who scratches her skin raw while she sleeps. I don’t know what it is in my dreams that had me fighting for my life, but I would appreciate it if it left me alone. It also might be because I unfortunately never grew out of having eczema. To all my baddies with eczema out there, I see you, I know you, I am you.
Also on my middle tier is a bag of chocolate almonds. My dad is an immigrant and a dad, which means one of his favorite things to do is carry a handful of nuts in his hands and chew with his mouth wide open so everyone knows what he’s doing. I’m slowly starting to realize just how much I’m my father’s daughter. If I am in the dorm, I will have a handful of chocolate almonds, and chew as loud as I’d like.
Next to the chocolate almonds is a giant thing of non iodized salt. There isn’t much to tell about this one, I have a nose piercing, and also used to have a very annoying and stubborn piercing bump. If anyone reading this is also struggling with this terrible ailment, I was able to get rid of mine for good by mixing a teaspoon of salt and warm water together, and then putting the paste on the bump. Good luck!
The middle tier of my cart is where my first aid kit resides. Apparently even at my age of 20, I still have no control over my own body. I’ve tripped and lost so much of my dignity this semester. The result of falling pretty much everywhere on campus is legs covered in bandaids.
The last thing on my middle tier that isn’t a random hairband are my cardamom tea packets. Being at school means no longer having the luxury of my dad making chai for me. And while they’re definitely not as great as my papa’s chai, they still make me feel warm inside, something I desperately need during this winter season.
Final Tier
Located at the very bottom of my cart is where you will find some of my most prized possessions.
First being my nail polish collection. During my first week as a freshman, I went into town to the rite aid and bought a pink Essie nail polish. Ever since then, when I’ve had a particularly rough week, I let myself pick out a new nail polish. Retail therapy is real, and I am living proof of it.
Next to my giant jar filled with nail polish are my books. I am an English major, which means that yes, I do read for fun. Some of my current reads located on my cart include: Normal People by Sally Rooney, Lapvona by Otessa Moshfegh, and Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare.
Normal People stirs a lot of different emotions in me, mainly anger, so it’s taking me a while to finish.
Finally, the last item on this list: my light, my life, my nintendo switch. There is nothing better than spending a Sunday morning rotting in my bed with my switch. Right now I’m obsessed with a game called Spiritfarer. It follows “death,” as they help lost spirits move on. It’s a very cozy and simple, yet unbelievably beautiful game.
Random Miscellaneous
Some things on my cart are so useless that I saved them for this special category. For some reason the walls in my room refuse to hold command hooks, so all of the fallen soldiers live in my top tier.
Also on the top tier is a sticky note that says “don’t forget to do math quiz.” I really hope I remembered to do that.
Next to the sticky note is my old debit card. I am a girl, which means I am trusting and good and filled with so much light and love that it can’t help but pour out of me. It also means that I am very susceptible to scams. I fell for a UPS scam a couple weeks ago and had to get a new one.
So….yeah. It’s no surprise, but there’s a million hair ties scattered all over my cart. Girlhood!
And that brings us to the end of this extremely scholarly and intelligent and Pulitzer Prize worthy analysis article. I hope you loved reading it as much as I loved writing it! The baddest and most beautiful girls have messy bedside tables, AND THAT IS NOT A CRIME. I’m just the universe experiencing itself for the first time, leave me alone!