How to glow up before school — this is the kind of thing I wish someone had walked me through before I wasted half my summers doing nothing and then panicking the last week of August.
A glow up doesn’t have to be dramatic. Most of the time it’s just a bunch of small things that stack up, and by the time the first day hits, you look and feel like a different version of yourself.
Here’s what I’d go through if you and I were sitting down and planning this out together.
Skin, hair, the low-effort makeup situation, outfits, and some habits that sound boring but show up on your face whether you want them to or not.
Start With Your Skin (It Makes Everything Else Easier)
Skin is the one thing that makes everything else look better without adding any extra steps to your morning.
When your skin is in a good place, makeup goes on smoother, you need less of it, and you just look more awake.
I didn’t figure this out until embarrassingly late, and nothing else on this list even comes close.
1. Keep Your Routine Simple
Cleanser, moisturizer, SPF, and maybe one serum. Four steps, max.
The 10-step routine girlies make it look fun in videos, and then two weeks later they’re back to washing their face with body wash. Simple wins. Every time.
2. Give It Time to Work
This is the one nobody wants to hear — most skincare takes four to six weeks to show results.
Swapping products every few days because nothing’s happening yet is the fastest way to stay stuck. Pick something, commit through the summer, and let it do its thing.
The results show up right when you stop checking for them.
3. Ice Roller in the Morning
An ice roller was the last thing I expected to like. Two minutes across your face in the morning and the puffiness just goes away.
I bought mine as a joke and now it’s the first thing I reach for. Cold water does the same thing — the roller is just more satisfying.
4. Fix Your Tan Situation
Weird tan lines going into the first day of school is such a specific kind of stress. A body exfoliant and daily lotion will even things out faster than just waiting.
And if self-tanner is your thing, start practicing now — showing up streaky on day one is the kind of thing you don’t live down quickly.
The Everything Shower
There’s a reason this trend won’t die. The everything shower — where you do literally all of it in one session — is the closest thing to a reset button for your whole body.
Once or twice a week is plenty, and the difference the next morning is hard to overstate.
5. Scrub Down
The scrub is what makes the everything shower feel like a reset. Sugar or salt, your whole body — legs, elbows, back of your arms.
I’m not gonna lie, the first time I did this properly I was mad I hadn’t started sooner. Your skin feels like it belongs to someone else. In a good way.
6. Hair Mask While You Work
Clip a hair mask up and let it sit while you do the rest of the shower. By the time you rinse it out at the end, your hair got a full deep conditioning treatment and you didn’t lose any extra time.
This is my favorite part of the whole routine — lazy and effective is the best combo.
7. Shave With Intent
After the scrub, not before — exfoliating first means fewer ingrown hairs and a closer result.
This alone changed things for me. Oh, and a fresh razor. The one that’s been sitting in your shower since June is working against you.
8. Moisturize While Still Damp
Here’s a small thing that made a huge difference for my skin — lotion or body oil while your skin is still slightly damp. Locks in moisture so much better.
Next morning, your skin feels completely different. Once I started doing this I never went back.
9. Castor Oil on Lashes and Nails
Before bed — castor oil on your lashes with a clean spoolie, a little rubbed into your cuticles.
Took a few weeks before I noticed anything, and then one day my lashes looked fuller and my nails stopped snapping.
It’s like five dollars and does more than half the expensive stuff out there.
Do Something With Your Hair
If you want people to notice a glow up, your hair is where to start. A new cut, a different style — even something small changes how your whole face looks.
The trick is doing something intentional — it doesn’t have to be big.
10. Get a Trim
Even half an inch. Dead ends make everything look dull and stringy, and getting rid of them is the easiest fix.
Every single time I’ve gotten a trim, I’ve regretted not doing it sooner. Your hair looks thicker and moves differently right away.
11. Try Heatless Overnight Styling
The curling rod thing — wrap damp hair around it before bed, wake up with soft waves that hold all day.
It takes a couple tries to nail the technique, and then it becomes your new default. So much less damage than a curling iron at 6 in the morning, so much less effort.
12. The Slick Back
Gel, a brush, two minutes. Looks intentional even when it’s pure survival mode — those mornings when you woke up too late to do anything else.
I relied on this so much during school and it never once looked lazy. More like “she meant to do that.”
13. Don’t Forget Your Scalp
Flat hair that gets oily by noon is usually a scalp issue, not a hair issue.
A scalp scrub once a week clears out product buildup and the volume difference is immediate.
A scalp massager brush in the shower does the same thing if you don’t want a separate product.
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Brows, Lips, and Nails Go a Long Way
Full makeup for school was never realistic — not for me, not for most people.
For a back to school glow up, brows, lips, and nails are the three that make a bare face look finished. Least effort, biggest impact.
14. Groom Your Brows
Brows were the last thing on my radar for way too long. A clear or tinted brow gel brushed upward takes five seconds and it changes your whole face.
If you want more definition, a pencil adds 30 seconds. Groomed and natural is the move for everyday school life — trust me on this one.
15. Always Have Something on Your Lips
Dry lips make everything else look off. A tinted balm, a gloss, a lip oil — keep one in your bag, one in your locker, one in your jacket.
Lip oil is my personal favorite because it feels like nothing and looks like something. That balance is hard to find.
16. Clean Nails, That’s It
No need for a full set. A clean shape and one coat of clear or nude is enough — instant “she has her life together” energy.
Press-ons are great too, just keep them short for school. Long nails and locker combinations are a bad combo. Learned that one firsthand.
17. The 5-Minute School Face
Mascara, brow gel, lip balm — done. Anything longer than five minutes is too much for a school day.
There was a time I’d spend 20 minutes before class and no one could tell the difference. Kind of humbling. Save the full look for the weekend.
Build a Few Outfits That Actually Work
A glow up before school doesn’t mean buying a whole new wardrobe — it’s about removing decisions. When you already know what works, Monday mornings stop being stressful.
I figured this out way later than I should have, and once I did, getting dressed became the easiest part of my morning.
18. Lock In Your Go-To Combos
Three to five full outfits that you know look good — top, bottom, shoes, done. Rotate through them.
Nobody notices you’re rewearing the same combos when they’re styled well. Closest thing to a cheat code for getting dressed.
19. Invest in the Basics
Jeans that fit well. Clean sneakers — this matters more than people think. Dirty shoes pull the whole outfit down no matter how cute the rest is.
A couple layering pieces like a button-down or a good zip-up. Not glamorous, but these are the pieces you’ll reach for every single morning.
20. Dainty Jewelry Ties It Together
One thin necklace, a couple of rings stacked, small hoops or studs. This is what turns a plain outfit into a look.
Nothing expensive, just a few pieces you throw on every day without thinking about it.
Same clothes, completely different energy with jewelry on — I noticed this during school and never stopped.
21. Make a Pinterest Mood Board
Before shopping, spend an hour saving outfits that catch your eye. You’re not copying anything — you’re figuring out what you’re drawn to.
After a while the patterns become obvious. Same colors, same silhouettes.
Shopping gets ten times more focused once you know your vibe instead of wandering around the mall grabbing random stuff.
22. Prep the Night Before
Outfit laid out, bag packed, room picked up. Total mom advice, I know.
A frantic morning versus a calm one usually comes down to just 10 minutes of prep the night before. That’s it. Future you will be grateful.
Small Habits That Change How You Feel
Nobody makes Pinterest boards about these. They’re not cute.
But this is the part of any glow up that hits the hardest — your face and your energy level change more from these than from any product.
23. Reset Your Sleep Schedule Early
Not the night before school — at least a week or two ahead. Your body can’t just flip from 2 AM bedtimes to early mornings overnight. Push it back 30 minutes every few days.
By the first week of school, waking up early feels doable instead of painful. I learned this the hard way more than once.
24. Drink Your Water
I know. The most boring tip on this list. Skin looks noticeably different when you’re hydrated versus running on iced coffee alone.
Not dramatic, just… brighter. More awake. It’s annoying how simple this one is.
25. Move Your Body
Walk, dance in your room, 20-minute YouTube workout — whatever feels good. I don’t even do anything intense.
On the days I move, my mood is just better. My posture is better. My skin looks better from the circulation. I hate how well this works because it means I can’t skip it anymore.
26. Brighten Your Smile
This one flies under the radar. A couple weeks of an at-home LED whitening kit — like the AuraGlow system you clip in while you scroll at night — before school starts, and the difference is way more noticeable than people expect.
I used one over a summer and genuinely didn’t think much of it at first, but the amount of “your teeth look brighter” comments caught me off guard.
Your smile is the first thing people notice, even when you don’t think they’re looking.
27. Find Your Scent
This is the fun one. I’ve been wearing the same scent since last fall and people associate it with me now, which I love.
A perfume oil, a proper perfume, or a body mist — whatever fits your budget — but something from Sol de Janeiro has been that easy go-to lately. That kind of scent people notice when you walk past without being able to place exactly what it is.
Layer it with a matching lotion to lock it in so it actually lasts through the day.
28. Build a Getting-Ready Playlist
A playlist specifically for getting ready in the morning changes the whole energy. I’m not being dramatic — the right music puts you in a good mood before you even leave the house.
Journaling is another one. Even just writing down three things you’re looking forward to shifts something in your head.
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That’s my whole glow up before school game plan. What are you starting with first? Pin this so you don’t lose it when summer motivation finally kicks in.
