Get Ready With Me- First Day of Junior Year (Hair, Makeup, and Outfit Idea)

Ah, the sweet smell of the First Day of School. It always seems like it’s never going to get here, but sure enough, it comes faster than we all could have ever imagined. I know many people have been in school for a few weeks now but myself and all my other Maryland pals are heading back today! After such a positive response on my Get Ready With Me for sophomore year and a desire for some closure in terms of my Back To School series, I couldn’t resist sharing with you my hair, makeup, and outfit for the very first day of junior year! Without further ado, let’s get on with it.

Hair-  I’m doing the same old same old in terms of hair which if you’ve been around here before you know is typical of me.

I’m beginning by brushing out my (surprisingly) freshly washed (and cut!) hair, before sectioning it off to begin curling. I use the ConAir one and a half-inch curling iron practically every day. The curls are nice and big and fall really nicely as the day goes on. Therefore, when it’s humid my hair doesn’t look completely ruined or drastically frizzy.

I’m curling my hair every which way before running my hands through my locks to loosen thing up a bit and then spraying my strands with some hairspray before crossing my fingers that these curls stay at least two days so I can limit the damage done to my hair and number of times I need to wake up five minutes earlier.

(Yes, when you have hair that’s on the shorter side and is incredibly thin, this little look should only take six minutes tops.)

Makeup- Moving onto the makeup I’m keeping things pretty real with you all today. Although, I don’t necessarily have problematic skin I do like to wear a decent amount of makeup to school. It makes getting up a little more enjoyable. Here’s typically how my mornings go in terms of makeup!

I’m beginning with a fresh face and applying the Nivea Men’s Shave Balm to prime my skin for a full twelve-hour day of makeup. This product works wonders, as you can probably tell by the number of times I’ve used it in makeup tutorials. I’m then going in with the Wet N Wild Photo Focus Foundation. This foundation is super light weight on the skin but applies like a dream, covering any and all imperfections + really helps even out my skin tone to (try) and match the rest of my tanned skin. As always, I’m setting my foundation with the Rimmel Stay Matte Powder to keep matte all day.

I’m then going in with the Maybelline Fit Me Concealer on my under eyes and any pesky acne that showed up just in time for the first day. I’m setting all of that with the banana powder from the Anastasia Contour Kit to brighten up those areas.

Moving onto blush which I used to despise wearing; I’m freshening up my face by adding a warmer shade from Wet N Wild called ‘Pearlescent Pink’. I’m then adding a bit of warmth to the hollows of my cheeks and temples by using the Lumene Bronzer. This product is absolutely amazing.

I’m then skipping around a bit and moving straight to the eyebrows. I’m penciling them in with the Maybellne Brow Precise for all the natural vibes considering I haven’t gotten my eyebrows done in months. I’m then applying a bit of primer to my lids to ensure that my shadows don’t crease and last all day. I always get asked the secret to my eyeshadow staying vibrant and pigmented all day and my answer will always be to use the Maybelline Color Tattoo in the color ‘Barely Branded’. This base provides an extra layer and allows your shadows to apply like a dream. There are no amount of words to do this product justice!

I’m going in with the shade ‘Half Baked’ from the Naked One palette and applying this all over my lids to really make the eyes pop. To act as a transition shade and to allow my shadows to blend a bit more seamlessly, I’m going in with the shade ‘Naked’ on a crease brush and blending away. Then to darken things up a bit and a bit more definition, I’m using the shade ‘Smog’ on a tapered crease brush. That’s all for the eyeshadow today. Something simple yet something that will still draw attention to the eyes.

Before applying mascara I’m applying a bit of highlighter to my inner corners and brow bone to make the face extra glowy when hit with the light. This really helped open my eyes a bit more. I then applied a few coats of the Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara to my upper and lower lashes.

For the finishing touches I’m highlighting the high points of my face, tip of my nose, and cupids bow with the shade ‘Precious Petals’ from Wet N Wild and then throwing on a bit of my favorite lip gloss ever. This shade is called ‘White Russian’ and is from Buxom’s Full On Lipgloss line.

And here’s a closer look at the finished product. Gorgeous, right?!

Outfit- 

I always look for something with that ‘wow‘ factor when it comes to my first day of school outfit. It needs to be something unique, different and far from what anyone else may be wearing. It needs to scream me, make me feel confident, and be trendy at the same time. As you can tell from its description, it needs to be perfect aka nearly impossible to find.

However, I stumbled upon this bad boy when strolling through TJ Maxx with my momma one afternoon not thinking much of it since it seemed rather large and too long. Sure enough, though a little loose, it met every bit of my criteria and was $17; talk about a SCORE! The best part, was that it was from Gap which was the last straw, practically screaming at me that it needed to be taken home with me.

Sure enough, it looked perfect with my new Steve Madden wedges that I picked up for under $40 while at DSW that day as well and the matching belt I came across in my moms closet one day.

I kept things simple with some gold jewels and that darn hairtie I forgot to take off my wrist when shooting these pictures (argh!!!) Part of me feels like a second grade teacher in this look but the other part of me feels like a confident, excited, (already) successful junior in high school ready to take on the world… and that my friends is how every girl should feel in their first day of school outfit.

Well, that’s a wrap for this year’s Back To School series and my first day of Junior year. I hope you all enjoyed hanging out with me today. If you have any questions, comments, or requests please leave them below; I’m always up for a little chatting. Wishing you all a happy First Day of School! With love, McKenz.

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Instagram: styledbymckenz // YouTube: McKenzie Morgan // Pinterest: mckenzmorgan