Women with children are consistently busy. Whether they also balance a 9-5 job or not, the work never stops. Parenting is a 24/7/365 job. Some days, your own self care might fall by the wayside. This is to be expected as a given when you’re a mother – making small sacrifices for your children or family. Sometimes it may seem as though there’s not enough time to do everything.
However, making a few smart adjustments or eliminations here and there can streamline your beauty routine, giving you more time in the morning to focus on your tasks at hand. Here are our tried-and-tested tips:
For Clothing
- Lay out your outfits the night before, so when you wake up you can slip them on and go.
- Embrace the athleisure trend and don’t be afraid to wear chic workout gear, eliminating the need for changing before a workout.
- Order your clothes by color in your closet so that you can match things quickly.
- Eliminate clutter and adopt a capsule wardrobe – a select number of pieces in a similar color palette. It will reduce anxiety over what to wear and you can still have an endless number of combinations.
For Hair
- If you don’t really need to style your hair, wash at night, or air-dry in the morning.
- Dry shampoo is your friend. You can reduce washes per week, and therefore, time.
- Consider switching to a 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner to skip a step.
- Get creative with hair between washes to save time. Yesterday’s waves can be today’s half updo.
- Plan your hair routine (washes, styles) in advance. Almost like meal prep, but with your tresses.
For Makeup
- Use a BB or CC cream that has SPF. Then you have moisturizer, coverage, and sunscreen in one step.
- Pick your battles. Ask yourself: do I really need all that eye makeup? Do I really need to contour? If you have a big meeting, perhaps you want to look your fiercest, but a day of running errands probably only warrants the need for a swipe of mascara and lip balm.
- Keep tinted chapstick in your purse for a pop of color on the go.
- Eat healthy. It will show on your skin and you won’t need to cover much, or anything up.
- Embrace the natural look. To accomplish this without looking tired, use a sheet face mask once a week to keep skin fresh and an eye serum at night to keep eyes naturally bright.
For a Night Out
- Update makeup from the day with blotting pads and a quick flick of dark eyeliner or a red lip.
- Plan ahead. Wear an outfit that can go day-to-night quickly – like a basic dress that can be dressed down with sneakers and up with heels.
- Sometimes a quick accesory swap is all you need. Switch from a tote bag to a formal clutch and sneakers to heeled boots and your jeans-and-t-shirt look is now chic enough for evening.
Sometimes, all these tips might not be enough for those days when you need to be everywhere and doing everything at once, and that’s OK. But becoming more efficient means you will be able to accomplish a beauty routine more often, ensuring you feel confident, even on your busiest days.
