I’m writing this post from New Orleans, but more specifically, my brother’s room. He graduated from college this week, so you can imagine he’s been pretty busy with festivities—I watched the ceremony, went to the dinners, but now I’m plopped in here to work, with a pastry from a local bakery in case I get hungry and a glass of water hand-delivered by the bed-headed boy down the hall. Of course, all this time alone means… I’ve done a little snooping.

Rather than following in my footsteps in any way, my brother seemed to march to his own drummer. But now that I’m sitting here, I see my influence more than I anticipated: the art print I bought three years ago, the book I must have mentioned in passing, and the beauty products. I can almost perfectly parse together his routine based on what’s lying around. In the morning he washes his face with Milky Jelly Cleanser, then applies either Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Moisturizer or Priming Moisturizer Rich. He treats his bumps with tea tree oil, styles his hair with Public Goods Pomade, showers with eucalyptus Dr. Bronner’s, soothes with Gossamer CBD, and hydrates his lips with the tube of mint Balm Dotcom by the side of his bed. Every so often he lights a candle (I count five) and masks with Glossier’s Moisturizing Moon. Am I missing anything? I’d ask him when he gets back, but I know he’ll deny using any of this stuff—and that, dear reader, is the only indication of collegiate silliness I can find. Well, and the Mardi Gras beads.

Unlike my younger brother, I do not have a wise older sister paving my way to better decisions. So when I think about my college beauty routine, I shudder a little. I left college with a degree and the knowledge that I can’t clear my breakouts with stripping gel cleansers or smooth my flaky patches with spiky scrubs. Of course, I also didn’t use sunscreen, over masked and constantly picked, slept in my makeup… Just thinking about my bad habits makes me feel like a regretful hookup is making eye contact from across the campus. Ugh.

Before my brother returns from his graduation merriment, answer me this: what beauty habit did you have in college that’s hard to ‘fes up to now? Let’s make sure this year’s graduates don’t take any of them into adulthood.

—Ali Oshinsky

Photo via ITG