By: Sarah Kester
When it comes to getting ready in the morning, most of us don’t have an endless supply of time or a glam squad to do the work for us. This leaves us with no choice but to get crafty with our morning skincare routines.
Enter: these beauty hacks, straight from the beauty experts themselves! The following hair and skin tips will help you streamline your beauty routine, so you can save time in the morning. Here’s what they had to say.
How to Streamline Your Morning Beauty Routine
Use Wipes for a Quick Shower
Skipping a shower doesn’t have to be gross — not when you can take your shower on the go with facial and body wipes. If you don’t have any on hand though, Kerry Yates, founder of Colour Collective, says that baby powder is the next best thing.
“Just add a little powder to your hands, blend it together then do a quick sweep over your body,” she explains to Lively. “The powder takes away that no fresh feeling and on warm days it gives you a bit of extra protection against sweat.”
Take Advantage of Nighttime Beauty Treatments
Make the most out of your beauty sleep by adding overnight beauty treatments to your nighttime routine.
After you remove your makeup and cleanse your skin, Gillian Hanson, beauty expert and founder of Honeycomb Salon, says to pat your face dry and apply a drop or two of beauty oil (she likes Lira Clinical iLuminating Beauty Oil).
Next, apply a serum for your individual skin type. For example, “Vitamin C is optimal for younger skin while Hyaluronic Acid is ideal for more mature skin,” she explains.
As it turns out, there’s a really good reason for using serum before bed. “What you are essentially doing is strengthening your skin’s lipid barrier and allowing the products to work their magic while you sleep,” she says. “Additionally, your skin produces its own perfect moisturizer overnight, otherwise scientifically known as ‘sebum.’”
If you didn’t know, sebum is oil that is naturally produced by the skin. So, unless your skin is very oily, there’s no need to wash it again in the morning. “Just rinse, spritz some toner and apply your daytime moisturizer with SPF, of course!”
Sip Your Collagen
One of the easiest (and most delicious!) ways to save time on your morning beauty routine is by incorporating collagen to your day. We recommend taking a shot at elevating your day-to-day with our Glow Collagen Shot, which contains 7g of collagen peptides, 60mg of Hyaluronic Acid, Vitamin C and biotin. Hello, happy skin!
Use Makeup Sponges Instead of Brushes
“One sponge can help you blend your foundation, your blush and help you create gorgeously defined eyes,” says Yates.
If that doesn’t have you convinced, this might: “One sponge versus four beauty brushes will help cut down on your beauty routine time by decreasing the shear number of tools you have to use and clean after application.”
The Beauty Products You Need
When you’re rushing out the door, it’s easy to forget about your 10-step beauty routine. Instead, focus on the areas that frame your face the most.
This means never skipping on the concealer, mascara or doing up your brows. “Those three things frame the face and are a quick 90 seconds if you’re super pressed for time,” says Irwin. “A bright lip also makes you immediately look more polished if you’re in a hurry.”
Spot Treat to Quickly Cover Blemishes
Hanson’s hack involves using a green-toned corrector, an opaque concealer that matches your skin tone and setting powder.
“Using the tip of your ring finger (it’s the weakest finger, so you’re less likely to over blend with it) press the green concealer onto the blemish, then layer the skin tone concealer on top. Set with powder.”
Stick concealer is another quick fix. “Just dab it on and blend with your fingers,” says celebrity makeup artist Mary Irwin. “It’s so quick and easy, you could even do it during your morning commute.”
Have a Weekly Beauty Maintenance Night
For self-care that also saves time, consider indulging in a beauty maintenance night each week.
You can start with a weekly hair and face mask or take things up a notch by devoting 30 minutes up to an hour.
For instance, Hanson has a truly restorative ritual, which starts with a sugar scrub in the shower to remove any dead skin cells. From there, she’ll run a bath with bath salts and essential oils.
While the tub is filling up, she’ll apply a face mask. Hanson is a fan of clay ones since they’re great for pulling out the skin’s impurities. Then, she’ll finish the routine off with a rich hair treatment.
She even offers up this piece of advice: If you’re doing a deep-conditioning treatment or hair mask, don’t let it stay on for too long! That’s because the hair stops absorbing conditioner at about 20 minutes.
RELATED: Do These 4 Things Before Bed for Stronger, Healthier Hair
Try This Hair Hack
Avoid the bed head and wake up with a gorgeous mane by wrapping your hair at night. “Use a silk scarf for shorter or curly styles. For long hair, twist your hair into a high bun and secure with a scrunchie,” says Hanson.
“In the morning when you remove the scarf or scrunchie, you should have well-behaved frizz-free hair. You can use a dry shampoo or a light spray shine if needed.”
You should also consider sleeping on a silk pillowcase. If you move around a lot while sleeping, this is ideal since it will reduce friction.
Make Dry Shampoo Your BFF
You might not like the idea of skipping a shower in the morning but think of it as a good thing. Second or third day hair is typically more textured, making it easier to style. If things are too greasy though, make dry shampoo your BFF, says Gina Rivera, founder and president of Phoenix Salons. It will even help things more textured!
RELATED: Your Frequently Asked Hair Questions, Answered
Choose Products That Multitask
You may not have time to multitask in the morning, but your products definitely should be able to. For instance, Hanson does what she calls her “camping makeup routine.” For this, she’ll use a pale pink- or coral-colored lipstick for her eyes, cheeks and lips.
You can also buy products that come with the sole purpose of doing more than one function. “The Caviar Stick Eye Color from Laura Mercier are a 10-second eye, Boy Brow from Glossier is a 10-second brow, the Multiple Sticks from NARS double as shadow and lips. It’s all about quickness and convenience!” says Irwin.
For a gorgeous highlight on your lips, cheeks and eyes, Yates loves Fenty’s Match Stix Shimmer Skinstick.
Style Your Hair the Night Before
Styling your hair in the morning is tough to do when you’re too tired to even lift up your coffee cup. To solve that problem, take the time to style your hair the night before.
For waves, Rivera says to sleep with your hair twisted or in a braid. “Sometimes it behaves better because volume and texture will be added when sleeping,” she explains. “It can be fun to take down in the morning allowing for some fun waves to style.
Rivera says to also make sure that you have barrettes, clips and hats on hand: “They are easy and fast items if you don’t have time!”