AM Routine

I am not a morning person.

It’s funny because the other day I was listening to The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins on Audible and she had a whole entire chapter dedicated to how you need to wake up early each day because that is when your brain is the most productive.

Well, no disrespect to Ms. Robbins, because I really loved that book, but no amounts of coffee or exercise can ever make me a more productive person in the morning. I’m not even hungry in the morning. I’m barely alive and it’s really all about simplicity those first few minutes after I wake up.

That’s why my morning routine is so basic. Whenever I see all these Instagram bloggers post their morning routine, I am like “Do you wake up at 3am to exfoliate?” Seriously, I wake up at 7am and only have 45 minutes to shower, put make up on, get dressed, feed the kids and get out the door so that I can have them in school by 8am and myself at work by 8:30am. And before you even suggest having me get up earlier to have more time, please save your breath. Not going to happen.

So what do I do to keep my skin looking presentable?

Not much really and I don’t mean that in a “Because my skin is naturally fabulous” kind of way, but more like, this is as good as it gets.

First off, I gently use a cotton pad to wipe off any moisturizer I put on before bed with Micellar Water. Sometimes, I look horrified at the cotton swab after I see how much of my mascara I did not wash off and the proceed to count the additional wrinkles under my eye this must have caused.

Then it’s all about the sunscreen. I use the Neutrogena Age Shield Face Oil- Free with SPF 110 and let that sink in for a while. I find that using actual sunscreen, instead of relying on the one that may already be in your moisturizer is a little thicker, so you need to give it a few minutes to settle in.

A 110 SPF , you say??? Do you live on the Sun?

No, but I’m getting up there in years and it’s taken me this long to figure out that all the tanning (sunburns) I got in my youth contribute to my perceived aging, so might as well use what they got to offer. SPF 110 is just fine for me, thank you very much!

Lastly, I put on the moisturizer. I really like the Clinique Pep-Start Hydroblur. I know it got some mixed review, but I like it. It has a primer sort of feel to it and one of the main complaints I read on Sephora was that it seems to pill under your makeup, but that has never happened to me. I have combination skin and I find that as long as I pat it on my T-Zone area and gently rub it in everywhere else, it gives me the effect I am looking for, which is a softened around the edges kind of look.

All this only really takes me about 5 minutes or so, which is perfect because, the majority of my get ready routine is dedicated to putting on my makeup and doing something presentable with my hair.

I hope you enjoyed this little slice of my morning routine and feel free to share yours in the comments below. I love hearing about new products and if you can tell me how to shave this down from 5 to 3 minutes, you will officially be my new best friend.

Till next time, my friends.

Maritza