       |
I make fun of my husband because on some days it takes him longer to do his hair than it takes me to work in some gel into mine. My morning get-ready routine is optimized to be as efficient as possible and in total takes about 15 minutes, including shower, makeup, hair and getting dressed. If I could make it shorter, I would — I see it as a chore that takes up valuable time.
It turns out that I am not alone in that. According to a recent survey, only 1/3 of women enjoy the time they spend getting ready. But the same survey also found that, on average, women spend 1/2 hour doing their hair, 20 minutes applying makeup and 15 minutes putting on nail polish (I hope the latter is not daily). As I read this I thanked my lucky stars that I happen to like my extremely short hair which takes 30 seconds to wash and 30 seconds to “do”.
A while back we asked the question about your morning routine here on Work It, Mom! and members who responded all shared their own super-fast get-ready tactics. So I am curious, anyone out there spend a long time getting ready? What about when you’re going out for a glamorous night out (people still do that, right? — I wouldn’t know.)
This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 at 9:00 am and is filed under Your life.
Tags: makeup, morning routine
August 20th, 2008 at 11:28 am
I am getting faster the older I get, for whatever reason. I don’t know if that means I don’t care about perfection as much, or I’m just better at application. I can be ready from shower to walking out the door in about 45 minutes, depending on what I do with my hair. Right now it takes a little longer, but I’m growing out a cut, so the styling is a bit more than I would normally do.
I love my mineral makeup, and it’s a breeze to get on. I have come to love quick things. One eyeshadow color instead of three or four. Bronzer and lip gloss instead of things that require a more exact touch. And I would not do my nails in the morning unless it were urgent and I was meeting someone uber-important in the day.
August 20th, 2008 at 11:54 am
15 minutes! wow. i dont think i can even do that if i just roll out of bed and throw clothes on.
my routine is about 45 min to an hour depending on my decisive abilities that morning. ok sometimes it takes more than an hour if my favorite clothes are dirty and i dont like anything in my closet. having clothes picked out and decided on is definitly a must when trying to speed up the routine!
Having long hair alone takes 15 minutes to dry and i do minimal styling (it wouldnt stay anyway!) and then probably spend 5 min. on make up. so 15 minute shower/teeth brushing, etc (if i am speedy) and 10 minutes to dress leaves me at 45 min minimum for morning ritual!
August 20th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
I’m impressed with your 15 minutes. I spend about 1 1/2 hours every day getting out of the house, but that includes getting two children out of the house, breakfast, etc. I’d say my time on myself is about 45 minutes, and I’d also have to say I enjoy it. I like showering, doing skincare and makeup, hair (I can’t imagine taking 30 minutes to do just my hair!) and getting dressed. The 45 minutes are not uninterrupted by any means, and that is one of my frustrations, along with the feeling of being rushed. A morning spent getting ready alone is one of the only consolations of business travel.
August 20th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
your blog is getting shorter too. ha ha
I could never spend hours doing my hair or make up. I have curly hair and it does not always look perfect. Whenever I see people with those perfectly blow dried hair and perfect curls in the morning on my way to work it makes me sick. How do they have the time to spend on their hair and make up. I would rather slip the extra time then spend it on make up or hair.
I will dress really nice because the clothes are ready for wearing, (not too time consuming). For the hair it is just moose and scrunch, air dry on the way to work. I do make a few minutes to apply eyeshadow and eye liner/mascara, lip gloss, and some blush.
For a glamorous night out I will take extra time to get ready because I am not rushing to work or to get the kids ready for school.
August 20th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
ok, error.
That’s “I would rather ’sleep’ not ’slip’ the extra time.”
August 21st, 2008 at 10:36 am
I think my record was about 8 minutes, but I like to spend a lot more time than that.
Mainly because I really like a warm shower. It is basically my one and only luxury.
I am so NOT a morning person, and I hate rushing at any time, but especially in the morning. When I have the time, I like to include yoga, reading, and whatever else feels good and helps me gradually ease into the day.
So. On days when I don’t wash my long hair (I do so only once in 3 or 4 days), I brush teeth for maybe 3 minutes, take a 10-ish minute shower, apply face creams and such, throw some clothes on and comb my hair. I don’t use make-up. So I guess I techincally take about 20 minutes to get myself presentable, but I mix in a lot of other stuff so it drags out. On days when I wash my hair, it takes probably 20 minutes longer.
My routine including my kids is like this: get the kids up and on the potties, brush teeth, give the kids their milk, make my coffee, give the kids their snack, get on the internet, take the kids outside, do yoga, take the kids for a backyard hike, sip coffee, etc., usually for about 1.5 hours until the nanny comes, then transition to the nanny for about 20 minutes, eat my breakfast, and then I’m ready to dive into the work day. I take a shower sometime while the nanny is here.
August 21st, 2008 at 11:17 am
Well, I will say it takes me about 30 minutes at the most. LOL. I get up, shower, turn the curling irons on, iron my clothes, feed the little one, get dressed (he can dress himself and get together in 8 minutes…I taught him well…LOL) grab a natures valley bar, fill my water bottle, curl my hair, grab purse and messenger bag. That is about 30 minutes. on a good day, 20 minutes. I am only 28 and I can only hope once I get more weight off of me that it will get easier and faster. LOL.
August 22nd, 2008 at 12:19 am
I have about 45 min from waking up to walking out the door. This includes, shower, throw on my work clothes (jeans & polo shirt) brush teeth, grab newspaper from driveway, eat cereal or other quick breakfast, pack kid lunch, gather my lunch or snacks, wake kid, move kid towards being dressed, and leaving the house. In this time my DH wakes up and showers, usually by the time I leave he is in the middle of dressing (not a morning person) and then he handles the rest of kid wrangling and transport to school. What I don’t do - makeup, anything to my hair except combing it, and fancy clothes.
August 24th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Takes me about 30 minutes to get ready — shower / hair / make-up / getting dressed. But this is only when I am not interrupted by the Hubs or kids with “Mom…where is….[fill in the blank]“
August 29th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Ha! I can get ready in 15 minutes! Compared to a few years back when my hair was halfway down my back & took literally 25 minutes to dry everyday. My hair keeps getting shorter & shorter & I love your cut and am sure I will be at that length by the time I have my 2nd Baby!
September 9th, 2008 at 8:49 am
My three kids and I can get up and out of the house in 45 minutes. We are not morning people, so we try to do most things before bed the night before. I take my shower the night before which cuts out a lot of time. I get up, stat the coffee pot, dress in nice clothes, makeup (full foundation, eyeshadow, mascara, lipstick, etc.). Not much messing with my hair which is on the short side. The kids already have their clothes laid out. I shew them out of bed, they get dressed, grab their backpacks and out we go. It helps that the kids eat breakfast at school.