I used to be the kind of girl who hit snooze at least three times, stumbled out of bed for some coffee, and jumped into the shower, only to find myself racing to work, feeling underprepared for a long day of teaching. A couple of years ago I changed all that, and with a few important tools in my beauty arsenal, I’m able to tame my mane quicker, and feel a bit more relaxed in the AM. Lately I’ve been getting a lot of questions about how I manage to control my crazy hair every morning, so I thought I’d share some of my best tips and tools in a rundown of my morning routine.
A Rundown of My Morning Routine
A couple of years ago I totally changed my morning routine to better prepare myself for busy days teaching, and I must say, I don’t know how I ever survived before! A few simple changes have made for big results in my happiness. I hope by sharing them, you might be inspired to adjust some aspects of your morning routine to better serve you, too!
- Get Up Earlier | First things first, I get up a lot earlier than I used to. But really, that all starts with going to bed earlier, too. I put my electronics to bed at about 9:30 most nights, plugging them in in the kitchen so that I am not tempted to scroll through Instagram all night and blow through bedtime. I try to go to bed by 10:00 each night so that I can feel rested when my alarm sounds at 5:45 AM. With my phone plugged in next to the coffeemaker I have to walk to the kitchen to turn it off, and once I’m there I usually figure, “Hmmm…I could get up for a cup of coffee…” and so I do.
- Eat Breakfast | I’m one of those nuts that has to have breakfast in the morning to feel sane, and for me that’s some form of eggs. I make a simple breakfast sandwich most mornings consisting of a whole wheat English muffin, one egg over medium, and two strips of turkey bacon. Then I do something totally crazy – I sit down to eat it. Starting my day in this relaxing way leaves me feeling more satisfied and much calmer than when I used to race around with coffee only. Plus, I try to drink at least 16 ounces of water with my breakfast to start the day more hydrated. This has cut down significantly on mid-morning headaches I used to have due to too much coffee intake.
3. Set Multiple Alarms to Stay on Track | Since I know I can be a bit of a zombie in the morning, I began outsmarting myself with multiple alarms to guide me through my morning routine. I have my get up early alarm, and then a backup alarm that tells me I MUST be up by that point. Once I get up I do the coffee/breakfast thing, then I have another alarm that alerts me to when it’s time to get in the shower. Finally, I have an alarm alerting me to the time I must leave the apartment to get to work at my intended arrival time. It’s not infallible and I’m not perfect by any means, but for someone who has a tendency to lose track of time, this helps me a ton.
4. The Right Hair Tools Save Tons of Time | Another thing to keep in mind about my morning routine? I have a ton of long, thick hair. I used to buy hair dryers and flat irons at the drugstore, that is, until my hairstylist sister Michelle had a little intervention with me about professional tools and their ability to do better hair and save some serious time in the morning. Through her influence I bought the BaBylissPRO Nano Titanium Portofino hair dryer. It’s been a total workhorse for me. I’ve had it just over a year and love it so much I bought one for my mama, too. It’s powerful enough to get my wet hair completely dry and blown out in about 15 minutes. Not too shabby!
But the tool I really want to share with you is the amazing Irresistible Me Diamond flat iron. I received it from the company back in the summer months and and have been using it regularly ever since. It’s a dream! It’s honestly one of the best flat irons I have ever tried. It’s a digital smart flat iron with a prominent display of the temperature for ease of use. It heats up to 450 degrees in just 15 seconds, which is the fastest I’ve ever seen in a flat iron. This is perfect for busy gals on the go like me! It’s also super lightweight, making it easy to whip through a ton of hair quickly without fatigue to your hand or wrist. Plus, it shuts off automatically after 30 minutes of non-use, which is a lifesaver if you’re living alone. No more racing back to the apartment to double-check that you turned it off.
The Irresistible Me Diamond Flat Iron‘s smooth tourmaline plates glide over hair and if you pull it slowly it perfectly flat irons hair with one pass. I usually use it from about my ears down all around my coarse, thick hair. The 1” floating plate self-adjusts, eliminating any pressure points, so that the iron can work through your hair smoothly without pulling. My hair is naturally curly, so when you see it straight I’ve put a fair amount of work into it. This flat iron makes that job a lot simpler and more time efficient, and allows me to achieve the straight look I want without the insane time commitment I used to put into achieving it. My favorite feature of this flat iron is the placement of the buttons, though. They’re on the inside of the hinge, so that you can’t possibly bump them and accidently turn off the flat iron during use, a serious problem for me in the past. You can pick up your own Irresistible Me Diamond Flat Iron on their website, and enjoy 20% off when you use the code GET20OFF on your first order!
5. Makeup in Minutes | Always in a rush before I revamped my morning routine, I used to put my makeup on in the car while driving to work. Let me just say, putting on liquid liner at a stoplight just isn’t as satisfying (not to mention safe!) as doing it in the comfort of your own home. I cut out this bad habit entirely and now do my makeup in about five minutes before I leave the apartment. My best advice is to find your basic face that you can do in five minutes or less. For me this includes primer, powder foundation, rosy blush, tinted eyelid primer, two colors of shadow, liquid liner, and mascara. For days when I’m in a rush I skip the liquid liner and wear my glasses instead to cut a little bit of time.
I’ve written about my makeup routine in the past, but I think it’s time for an update! For this post, I was excited to try out a few beauty products that Irresistible Me sent along with the flat iron. This included white eyeliner, which I hadn’t tried since high school! Since the 90s are so totally back, it was fun to revisit this trend and brighten my eyes. I think it’s a really fun look for summer. I also love this berry lip colour. It’s smooth and subtle, yet totally feminine.
6. Remixable Wardrobe | We’ve all heard the old advice that you should lay out your outfit the night before to save yourself some time in the morning. Although I do this every once in awhile, I have found that the best way to save minutes in the morning is to have an organized closet full of clothing that fits and remixes easily into endless outfit options. I spend time every 3-6 months trying on everything in my closet and selling and donating items that no longer fit my body or style. In my closet I hang like items together and keep all of my shoes visible so I can quickly pull together an outfit in a moment when needed.
Well, there you have it! A basic rundown of my morning routine. Please let me know if you have more questions and don’t forget to check out the amazing tools at Irresistible Me and get your chance at 20% off using the code GET20OFF today!
Disclosure: I was provided with the Irresistible Me Diamond Flat Iron by Irresistible Me for use and review. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that support Lindsay Living.