My 10 Minute Morning Beauty Routine

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Growing up, I was always fascinated by the latest beauty products. I didn't necessarily wear a lot of makeup but I certainly collected my fair share of lotions, sprays, and serums. As I packed up for college, I found myself with boxes and boxes of beauty products and samples - much of it unused. I found myself wondering how this even happened.

Before we begin, I just want to share that this is not a sponsored post. These are my actual opinions and products that I use and recommend daily.

These days I try to take a more minimal approach to my beauty products and routines. My current routine is based on a few principals:

Ingredients and practices. I like to use products that are free of toxic or harsh chemicals. The more natural the ingredients, the better. Additionally, I'll always opt for a product that doesn't test on animals.

I use EWG's Skin Deep Database to look up brands, products, and ingredients in the products I use. I avoid all products that contain random fragrances in them that aren't derived from natural products.

The reason I do this is simple. There are so many incredible and affordable makeup and skincare lines that use natural ingredients, smell delicious, work incredibly, all while not testing on animals. I'm the kind of girl who votes with her dollar and I like spending with intention.

Keep it simple. My routine needs to be simple and streamlined or I won't do it. It's that simple for me. Additionally, I like beauty routines that can easy convert into a travel bag for when I am on the road. I also don't like clutter in the bathroom and having to pack a heavy makeup bag.

My skin history. Everyone has their own unique skin journey. My acne arrived in middle school until I was quickly prescribed Differin, a topical over-the-counter retinoid which quickly wiped away my acne. My mother suffered from acne growing up and my father struggled with back acne. After a few uses of this topical gel my acne cleared up, only to come back aggressively on my chin and forehead due to high stress and poor eating habits later on. I don't recommend using Differin, although I achieved the desired results (clear skin), I exposed myself to harsh chemicals at a young age.

As an adult, I've been able to get the same affect with just using raw honey on my face as an anti-bacterial acne mask.

My take on eco-friendly beauty and skincare. The term eco-friendly to me starts and ends with packaging. Something that I am always striving to work into my routines is becoming as efficient, resourceful, and as waste free as I can be. Something that I love about this beauty routine that I'm about to share with you is that it can be made at home by mixing a few different oils together in glass bottles and besides a regular refill and cleaning, it pretty much takes little time and produces no waste.

By the way, if you'd rather watch a video, feel free to watch this:

 

Ten-minute morning beauty routine

These days, I try my best to wake up naturally. If this isn't an option for you, try to get on a regular sleep schedule where you wake up and go to bed around the same time nightly. Trust me, you'll feel incredible.

*wakes up*

I open my eyes and decide whether or not to snooze based on how my body feels and if I have anything time sensitive in the morning. I get out of bed, grab a t-shirt off my floor and head to the bathroom.

Natural and non-toxic toothpaste

Oil pull with coconut oil. Oil pulling is a natural way to detox your mouth and gums by swishing natural oils in your mouth for several minutes at a time. It's recommended you do this on an empty stomach, and to prevent plumbing issues dispose of your oil in a garbage. While this is going on, I like to take out the items I use for my morning routine, wash my hands, and pull my hair out of my face to prep to wash my face. (Estimated time: 2 minutes)

Rinse mouth with homemade mouthwash. I'll show you how I make this recipe later this month. (Estimated time: 30 seconds)

Brush teeth with a natural toothpaste. I personally think that most people start and stop their natural product journey when they start with toothpaste. To me, it was one of the more difficult things for me to adjust to when removing shitty chemicals from my daily routine. (Estimated time: 2 minutes)

As I cleaned up my diet, I kind of gagged every time I used traditional toothpaste like Crest or Colgate. After much trial and error, here are my recommendations for natural toothpaste brands:

  • My personal favorite natural toothpaste and what I'm currently using: Activated Charcoal Toothpaste for Whitening

  • Alternatively, I also recommend: Eco-dent Daily Care Tooth Powder

  • I don't recommend starting with this brand, but it's worth a shot and an incredible company: I originally started my natural toothpaste journey using use Desert Essence tea tree oil toothpaste. I'm not too crazy about the mint flavor, and found that my mouth didn't feel as clean as I wanted. I was first introduced to the brand Desert Essence a few years ago when a friend let me use her unbelievably delicious smelling face wash. This was the first product that I ever used with tea tree oil in it. I was in love with the scent and recently became hooked.

 

Cruelty Free Skincare Routine

Wash my face with an herb cleanser and apply toner. I like to start my morning with cold plain water on my face, followed by a quick wash, followed by spraying toner on my face and neck.  (Estimated time: 30 seconds)

Here's my favorite natural skincare products and what I'm currently using:

Exfoliate face with coffee scrub. As a morning wakeup boost and as a means to reduce puffy eyes, I use my very own coffee scrub recipe on my face. It smells like a treat and really gets me energized in the morning. I do this twice a week before applying toner to my face. You can learn how I make this coffee scrub here. (Estimated time: 1 minute)

Massage dark circle eraser under eyes. I like to take a few drops of my dark circle eraser formula and massage it into my eyes for a few seconds. (Estimated time: 30 seconds)

Apply facial oil onto face. Apply your moisturizer of choice here. I use Annmarie Gianni's herbal facial oil for normal and combination skin and honestly have never been more obsessed with a facial product more than this brand. (Estimated time: 60 seconds)

Here are my favorite natural facial oils:

On makeup. I don't typically wear makeup. Lately it's been as rare as 1-3x a month maximum that I actually wear it. I don't necessarily have strong opinions on makeup. I just don't wear it often as a personal preference, a way to prevent acne, and an easy way to avoid dangerous products. 

Natural mineral makeup products I love:

Drop castor oil into eyes. If you've never heard of this natural remedy, this may sound weird. But I use castor oil in my eyes daily to treat my dry itchy eyes. After the first two weeks of using castor oil daily, my eyes were no longer irritated. I still use the oil as eye drops a few times a week, but the results for me were incredibly fast and effective. I've had super irritated and bloodshot eyes for the last five years, so this recent discovery has been a life changer. (Estimated time: 30 seconds)

 

Natural hair routine

Massage dry shampoo into scalp. My favorite DIY creation is this delicious and effective natural dry shampoo. (Don't worry the recipe will be on the blog this week!) Every morning, I take 2-4 teaspoons of dry shampoo and massage it into my scalp for one minute or until it disappears. Additionally, you can also comb it through your hair. In the past, I've used canned dry shampoo and baby powder until I started to look into the ingredients and wasn't impressed with the ingredients and bottles they came in.

In the morning, when my hair looks limp, I massage dry shampoo into my scalp, comb and massage for one minute. (Estimated time: 1 minute)

Use peppermint oil to moisture scalp. Once a month, I use peppermint oil in the morning on my scalp to prevent it from becoming dry and irritated. I seriously love the smell of peppermint oil and I do anything to work it into my daily routines. I used to apply peppermint oil on my hair at night, but this can be brutal if you snuggle up with a partner too closely at night. They may breathe in a minty delight on accident.  (Estimated time: 15 seconds)

Use tea tree oil to treat scalp. If I wake up with an irritated or dry scalp, I'll add a few drops of diluted tea tree oil into my hair for instant relief. (Estimated time: 15 seconds)

Massage almond oil, leave in conditioner, or styling gel into hair. My hair routine is complete after I massage a few drops of almond oil onto my hands and into the ends of my hair for moisture. I'll also add in a leave in conditioner or styling gel depending on what I'm doing that day. I personally love heat free styling and discovered a few products that really help me get incredible results. After this point I'm usually 'feeling myself' and ready to take on the morning. (Estimated time: 30 seconds)

My favorite natural hair products:

Natural Deodorant That Actually Works

Apply deodorant. When it comes to perfume and body sprays, I pretty much stay clear of anything designed to hide my body odor. I know it sounds gross, but the reality is that weird smells and irritations on our body are typically a sign of an internal imbalance. I try to be as aware as possible of my body in its' healthy state.

For that reason, I don't typically wear deodorant, but when I do it's Schmidt's Lavender + Sage deodorant jar. I love how easy it is to apply and how simple it is to repurpose the jar once your finished with the deodorant.  (Estimated time: 15 seconds)

LifestyleDestiny Lalane