We’ve all had the desire to dress to impress. Whether you want to catch the eye of your ex, friends, or just general peers, the struggle of perfecting a morning routine is universal. Some wake up 30 minutes before the first period bell rings, and some a little earlier. But no one’s morning routine is as familiar as Cassie Howard’s. 

The popular TV show, “Euphoria” aired in 2019 and maintained a high position in pop culture. Cassie Howard, a character who embodies the life of a mentally ill high school student, feels the need to wake up at 4 in the morning to get extra ready. She desires the attention of her best friend’s ex, Nate Jacobs. The complicated love triangle between the three gets more chaotic as the season goes on, while Nate is more focused on his father’s affairs than how good Cassie looks. I decided to try this as more of a social experiment. I wanted to know if getting ready like this is really worth it.

Cassie starts her routine by doing heatless curls, ice rolling, extensive skin care, and makeup. I started my routine using the cold roller just like she did, (which is a wake up call at 4 a.m.) and applied a face mask. I did most of my prep the night before, doing an “everything” shower and planning out my outfit down to the socks. 

After her skincare, the makeup began. Cassie went with a baby blue eyeshadow to match her outfit. Cassie has never done anything like this for her makeup. She usually wears a base with a more natural eye look. I went with sharp eyeliner and a red lip. I’ve never incorporated lipstick into my makeup at school, so this was a new look for me as well. While Cassie and I may have different views of what a cute matching look is, we both incorporated qualities of our outfits into our makeup. 

When Cassie finishes her routine and gets to school, she is inevitably made fun of. While I was never teased about my outfit, throughout the day I did receive sly looks followed by snickering. None of this bothered me because I, like Cassie, knew I looked good. 

I loved receiving compliments throughout the day, as anyone does, but I do have to say that waking up at 4 a.m. was not worth it. Waking up an hour earlier than you usually do would be more reasonable, considering I didn’t have modeling companies calling me when the day was over. All I was left with was raw ankles from my Doc Martens. 

No matter what your reason is to dress up a little extra on a random Wednesday, there is absolutely no reason to go to the extent that Cassie and I went. I believe that I could’ve recreated the look that I did without having to wake up over three hours before school starts.