We've reached that time of year where we cherish every minute of sleep in our warm, cozy beds. We're tired and it's cold. No one wants to wake up at 7:30 a.m., when you could instead sleep an extra half hour, wake up at 8:00, throw on whatever clothes are easiest, kind of brush your hair, and unwrap a "breakfast" granola bar as you walk out the door. The sloppy outfit and inadequate breakfast seem totally worth it for that extra 30 minutes of sleep.
But, you don't have to sacrifice looking good because of sleeping-in. Here are some tips to help you quickly and easily do your hair and makeup and pull together a cute outfit, so that you can save time on your morning routine, sleep-in, look great, and have time to eat breakfast.
1. Label clothespins with each day of the week to keep track of what you've already worn.
Start by buying wooden clothespins, which you can find at Target, Walmart, some grocery stores, or on Amazon (I found a 24-pack for $1.53 on Amazon Prime). Then, use a Sharpie to write "Monday" on at least 3 clothespins, "Tuesday" on at least 3 clothespins, etc. until each day of the week has at least 3 clothespins. If you wore black jeans, a black t-shirt, and navy blue cardigan on Monday, clip a "Monday" clothespin onto the jeans and onto the hangers for the t-shirt and cardigan. This way, when you are looking through your closet deciding what to wear, you don't waste time wondering when you last wore something, and you won't risk repeating an outfit you just wore only a day or two ago.
2. Choose your outfit the night before.
After you get ready for bed every night, check the weather app on your phone to see tomorrow's forecast. Then, go to your closet and pick out tomorrow's outfit. This should be quick and easy because, if you follow tip 1 above, you will have clothespins on the clothes you've already worn in the past week or two, which will narrow down your outfit choices. Once you've figured out tomorrow's outfit, clothespin the pieces with the pins for tomorrow's day of the week -- this way, when you wake up in the morning, you don't wast time trying to remember and search for the outfit you picked out last night.
3. Figure out your go-to makeup and hairstyles.
If you don't want to just wear your hair down, other quick and easy hair options include a simple braid, a twisted low bun, a half-up bun (where the top section of your hair is pulled into a bun while the bottom rest of your hair remains down), a messy top bun, or a messy ponytail. Doing your hair in any of these styles should take you 2 minutes at most.
When you're trying to save time in the morning, there's no need for a full face of makeup including highlight, contour, winged eyeliner, or whatever -- but that also doesn't mean that you have to skip makeup all together. If you are blessed with clear skin and an even skin tone, then you can save time by skipping over foundation and only applying mascara, which takes about a minute. But, if you have blemishes or an uneven skin tone that you prefer to cover-up, you have a couple quick and easy options for makeup. You can apply a tinted BB cream for less coverage, or you can apply foundation for more coverage. Then, apply blush and mascara. You should be done with your makeup in less than 5 minutes.
By following these 3 steps, you can sleep-in, and within 10 minutes, be ready to walk out of your room looking like you're pulled-together and stylish.
