Early Starts..

Working from home gives you all kinds of luxuries that one can take for granted. For instance, even if you’re out of bed and already on emails by 7:00am, chances are you aren’t fully washed, breakfasted, dressed and made up. Instead, things fall (for me at least) into “as much as I can get done pre coffee” and then a real supersonic “post coffee woohoo let’s do this”. I’ll reply to emails and draft a post, then potter off for some coffee and eggs and return re energised to get on with the day. That’s when the getting ready usually comes into play – around 9:30 – 10:00am, when I start to truly get into gear and start getting ready to either head out to a day of meetings and events, or get ready to film a video or two.

So you can imagine what a spanner in the works it is when a last minute 8:30am breakfast meeting arises at 10:00pm the previous night. Especially when that early morning breakfast falls on dum dum dum….hair wash day. Here are my tips for getting out early and quickly without the extra faff I’m used to on a day to day basis, most are still in place from my school and subsequent interning days so I can revert back to them. I also find these tips helpful when dealing with really early starts – read ‘7:40am Easyjet flight’ wake up time approx 3:30am!

If it is a hair wash day, I find that the best solution is the “attack with dry shampoo” method. It actually works. I use two – The Garnier Dry Shampoo and Charles Worthington Texturising Spray all over the roots and then tie my hair in a messy ballerina bun (not using a brush at all) before I jump in the shower. I then apply my makeup using really easily blended products that don’t require too much brush work, this is where cream things are your friends – blushes, eyeshadows, CC Creams etc. I like to apply a kohl pencil (no time for a feline flick!) just to the outer corners of my eyes to wake them up.

Once makeup is all done, I then go back and take out the bun and brush through all of the dry shampoo. By allowing the dry shampoo 10 minutes or so to really work in before brushing, it should eliminate all grease and oiliness. My third day hair looked as good as new! Now as my ends are usually a little frazzled looking, I like to go in with a tong (Diva big hot wand) and just curl big sections. The end result looks as though you’ve had a professional blow dry!

Next up, instead of perfume which can make me a little queazy too early in the morning, I like to put on a scented moisturiser or body spray. An amazing mix is the Victoria’s Secret Party in Paradise moisturiser and the Charlie Body Spray (addicted to that scent). I feel fresh and ready to go!

As a last minute step, I drink two to three glasses of water before I leave the house. It really helps to kick start your system and means that your food is better digested later, it also decreases bloating – win!