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My Daily Beauty Routine

What is a daily beauty routine? Who has time for a daily beauty routine? Everyone. My daily beauty routine can take five minutes if I want it to be that. Give yourself the time for you. You need it. Being a new-ish mom of two young children, every second to myself counts. Trust me.

My husband tells me I spend 20 minutes in the bathroom every morning. I wish. This is both untrue and unnecessary. I can put on a full face in ten minutes or less. Can I use more product and take more time? Yes, but five or ten minutes is all I need to be out the door.

Daily Maintenance

What exactly is my daily beauty routine? I do the daily hygiene thing. Brush my teeth, floss and wash my face. Sometimes I have time to run a wide-tooth comb through my hair. Sometimes I pluck a few stray hairs from my eyebrows. What do I wash my face with? Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser. Not, the Cetaphil Daily Cleanser. The latter has soap. I don’t need that, I like to keep my skin moisturized. I follow with a serum and then a moisturizer. Lately, I’ve been switching between serums. Right now, I’m using a K-beauty one I found at Marshalls. Usually, I go back and forth between one from Caudalie and Vichy Mineral 89 Serum. The Vichy Mineral 89 is an amazing find and such a good value if you play the CVS Extrabucks game.

As far as moisturizer goes, I use Darphin Ideal Resource Smoothing Fluid. It is pricey, but worth it. I started using it because I was 21 and on Semester at Sea and my roommate used something from this French brand. Something she said about having a beauty routine early and looking younger forever stuck with me. Later, when I saw this brand again in France, I bought it and have been using it ever since.

The Five Minute Daily Beauty Routine Face

Once my skin is prepped, I’m ready to add some color back into my life. I LOVE Nars products. The Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer is my absolute favorite. I started applying it with a brush and it’s life changing. I use e.l.f. Ultimate Blending Brush. You can use this for everything, but I use it to apply foundation and tinted moisturizer. Most of the e.l.f brushes I try feel luxe and are so soft. I find that the e.l.f. brushes are BETTER than most expensive brushes.

After applying the tinted moisturizer, I use the multiple sticks in G-spot as blush and Copacabana on my eyes and as a highlighter. These three products allow me to be out the door in five minutes (all the time I have sometimes) with a fresh face. I finish with Lancome mascara and I’m really done.

The Ten Minute Daily Beauty Routine Face

Sometimes, I get a little more time in the morning. The ten minute face is my sweet spot. I use the Nars Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer first. Then I use Tarte’s clay play eye and cheek palette volume 2. (It’s on sale at Sephora right now! Click here to buy.) The blush is intense. My advice, use it sparingly. The highlighter is a gem and similar to Makeup Revolution Glow Splendour Highlighter in So Glazed. I found this $6 gem on a drugstore beauty haul. Check out the post here.

I love Tarte’s palette because it’s a versatile palette with both matte and shimmery shades. I’m able to mix and match colors for extremely wearable every day looks. Same finish as the five minute face, a few swipes of Lancome mascara and I’m out.

The 20 Minute Daily Beauty Routine Face

The 20 minute face is reserved for special occasions. In addition to taking more time to apply my eyeshadow and blush, the 20 minute face includes adding eyeliner, bronzer and lipstick. I like using Nars Velvet Shadow Stick as eyeliner, but it’s not for everyone. The line is thicker, but it works for me because my eyelids swallow half the eyeliner I put on. I also like the ease of application. It’s smooth and I don’t need a sharpener. Another favorite of mine to use as eyeliner is e.l.f. Everyday Smoky Eyeshadow Palette. I’m obsessed with this palette. This has everything you need and more for an every day look or a glam smoky eye for a night out. The darker colors are perfect as a liner. AND the whole palette is $10!

Bronzer, I skip or use whatever’s around. I know. Not my thing, I guess.

Lipstick, I use Nars Audacious Lipstick in Anita. It’s the perfect rose color and an amazing neutral. For a glossier look, I like NYX Shine Loud High Shine Lip Color. Why? Because I watch Bethenny Frankel and she turned me onto it. Sometimes we all need a little help.

Nighttime Routine

What happens at the end of the night? Wash everything off. I use Cetaphil again and sometimes throw in an exfoliator. I use Ole Henriksen’s Walnut Scrub, but this has been discontinued so I will need to find a new one eventually. I’m living on borrowed time with the tubes I have left (I obviously stocked up when they were on sale). After I was my face, I apply serum, moisturize and use eye cream. Done.

Conclusion

Do you have to have a daily beauty routine? The short answer is no. The long answer, you should. My daily beauty routine streamlines my life. It gives me time for myself to do something for myself. And the end product is something that makes me feel good for the rest of my day. A daily beauty routine is worth having or at least worth trying.

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