First of all, I firmly believe it’s more important to be beautiful on the inside than the outside. However, we all have times when we want to look good. If you’re a busy person (Who isn’t?), it’s tough to find time to beautify yourself. With that in mind, here are a few things that have saved me a ton of time over the years. Most of these I started doing after I became a mom, and now that I’m older, these beauty shortcuts still serve me well. It’s always been a priority of mine to be “low-maintenance”, probably because I live in a house of guys. Read on to learn the shortcuts, busy people!
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Table of Contents
Fabulous Beauty Shortcut 1: Avoiding Blemishes
When I outgrew my teen years, I thought I was finished with breakouts. Wrong! I kept getting blemishes after I got married, and was quite irritated. It was nothing severe, just annoying. Then, about fifteen years ago I stumbled upon a great over-the-counter product that helps prevent breakouts: Noxzema Anti-Blemish Pads. Each pad contains salicylic acid, and smells very refreshing. I just rub a pad over my face at night after cleansing, and my face feels sparkling clean. This quick routine is time-saving because I haven’t had to treat my face with any blemish cream since I began using these pads. These pads are budget-friendly and have saved me from buying blemish concealer. I haven’t had to use any in a very long time. Now, instead of having to cover things up, I’m able to display the skin I have and wear less makeup.
Fabulous Beauty Shortcut 2: Avoiding Bad Hair Days
My hair is fine and tangles easily. When I was a child, my mom used to spray on hair detangler when she combed it, and that made styling it easier. It also probably saved my mom a lot of frustration. I’m not sure why I stopped using the detangler. I guess I thought it was just for kids, so it wasn’t cool anymore after I hit my teen years. When I spied some Suave Kids Detangler in a grocery store one day when I was shopping with my small children, I thought Why not? and gave it a try.
I wish I would have rediscovered the magical properties of detangler much earlier! All those wasted years of tangled hair! The benefits of using a detangler are many. The biggest advantage is that I no longer have to wash my hair every day to get it to do what I want it to do. A big time-saver! A few spritzes of the detangler and wayward strands are combed back into place. One thing I love about this particular brand is that it contains citric acid, which gives hair a natural shine.
Fabulous Beauty Shortcut 3: Avoiding the Livestock (Whaaaat?)
As a school librarian, I spend a lot of time bending over helping students at tables or computers. I need to get my hair out of the way to avoid the “livestock”, as one of my teacher friends likes to describe the critters that might be lurking about. Sorry if that grosses you out, but it’s my reality. So the next Busy Gals Beauty Shortcut is to have a reliable go-to updo, unless your hair is short. My style of choice is the easy French twist (shown here in this video). Unlike the video shows, I fasten my updo with Firm Hold bobby pins, which are perfect for my fine hair.
Guess what? Wearing an updo works best if your hair has not been freshly washed, so this works well with my every-other-day hair-washing strategy. I’ve gotten pretty swift with putting my hair up and securing it rapidly. These days, I usually wash my hair after my post-workday workout. I then put it in a braid, let it dry naturally overnight, and apply the quick updo in the morning. It saves stress on my hair and saves me time. Win win!
Fabulous Beauty Shortcut 4: Avoiding Wrinkly Eyelids
About 10 years ago I noticed that my eyelids had funny creases in them and were looking a little “crepey”. My solution? At the time, a friend was selling Mary Kay products, and I wanted to support her. She offered me two excellent products to use on my eyelids. One, the Extra Emollient Night Cream, was designed to be used on any extra-dry skin. Similar to petroleum jelly in texture, this thick cream made a huge difference and my eyelid wrinkles became much less noticeable. The other product my friend introduced me to was the Indulge Soothing Eye Gel.
This gel is amazing! I don’t use this every day, but I like to keep it in the refrigerator and put it on when I need to pamper myself and feel refreshed. It’s a wonderful gift to give to sleep-deprived new moms. My friend is no longer selling Mary Kay products, but I will be forever grateful to her for introducing me to these items. My eyelids thank her as well! How is this one of my beauty shortcuts? I just think of it as my shortcut to looking relaxed, especially around my eye area.
Fabulous Beauty Shortcut 5: Avoiding Sun Damage
Here’s another one of my beauty shortcuts. For years, I have used a daily moisturizer that doubles as a sunscreen. There are many great products to choose from, and here’s the one which has worked well for my skin:
Neutrogena Ageless Intensives Anti-Wrinkle Cream has an SPF rating of 20, and contains an impressive set of ingredients. Retinol, hyaluronic acid and glycerin work to help reduce the appearance of fine lines on my face. I appreciate the fact that this moisturizer does not cause my skin to break out. So, I keep my face moisturized, I avoid sun damage, and I avoid breakouts all at the same time. Hooray!
What Are Your Shortcuts?
I can always use more shortcuts, for beauty or otherwise. Do you have any beauty shortcuts to share? I hope you’ve gotten some good ideas from today’s post. If you give any of them a try, I’d be interested to know what you think of the results. Do you like to save time and money? If so, please consider subscribing and becoming part of the Fluxing Well tribe. You will receive fresh ideas every week, plus access to a library of free printable resources. Have a fabulous week, and thanks for visiting the Fluxing Well site.
I love the sound of the anti blemish pads. Salicylic acid works a treat on my skin. Will see if it is available in the UK 🙂
Renate,
Oh, I hope you can find some. If not, I know there are other brands that make something similar. You might be able to order some from Amazon. Thanks for your comment, and good luck finding something in the UK. Have a terrific week!
Lisa
Livestock!! To funny but soooooo true!! Great post!
Sasha,
I’m glad you liked the livestock part. I smile every time I think of the first time I heard my friend refer to the critters that way. Thanks for your comment, and have a super weekend!
Lisa
Great tips! My favorite busy gal tip would have to be always keep mitts, hats, etc in your car this time of year. Then when you’re trying to rush kids out the door, you’re not trying to find the elusive mitt or hat, because you know you have one already 😊
Margaret,
Great tip! Where I live, it’s just soggy, not snowy, so a pair of rainboots would be a good thing to add for me to keep in the car. Thanks so much for reading my post, and good luck with keeping track of all of your gloves, hats and mittens!
Lisa
Thank you for the tips. I am always looking for time saving resources.
Andrea,
I’m so glad you liked the tips, and I hope you’ll be able to use them. We busy gals have to stick together! Thanks for commenting, and may you find many resources to save you time!
Lisa
I love seeing Mary Kay on here! I am a consultant and LOVE their products!
Jessica,
I love the products from my post! I don’t wear a lot of makeup, and haven’t tried many other products, but I really have enjoyed the products I’ve used. Thanks for your comment, and good luck with your Mary Kay consulting!
Lisa
These are great tips! I personally love detangler spray for my girls, and used Noxzema products for YEARS! My own hack (such as it is) is – I don’t wash my hair more than 2x/week unless it’s the summer and it’s hot and sweaty a lot…and in the winter, I use a product on it called humectant, just a little dab, that keeps the static electricity at bay – that when I wash it, a little curl reviver in the morning if needed, and clipped back with a few hair clips so it’s out of my face, and I’m good to go most days in about 30 sec!
Flossie,
Nice tips! You are lucky to have naturally curly hair. Mine is straight, straight, straight. But we both do the best with what we have, don’t we? Hooray for the not-everyday-hair-washing club! Many thanks for your comment and for sharing your awesome tips!
Lisa
That detangler has saved so many mornings (and nights) for us! My girls love their long hair, but HATE having it brushed! Definitely a win for us!
Sarah,
I am finding so many fellow fans of hair detangler! Glad it works well for your girls. I’m a mom of boys, so hair detangling was not an issue with them (thank goodness). It’s sure a lifesaver for me, though! Thanks for your comment, and have a tangle-free day!
Lisa
Oh my… livestock 😂 our kids’ school had a lice outbreak late last year and ever since I’ve been spraying them down with misters that have tea tree oil, lavender, rosemary and citronella. I work in an office but my hair does end up in a ponytail often because I don’t know what else to do with it – I’ll have to try out your updo suggestion!
Emma,
I’d be lost (and feel very vulnerable) without my trusty updo. I should probably be more imaginative and try more than one style, but I never was very good with hair! Thank goodness I’m a mom of boys. Thanks so much for your comment, and may your kids’ school have a livestock-free year!
Lisa
I need to get me some moisturizer. I don’t wear makeup, but my skin in the “T-zone” tends to get dry, especially this time of year. Plus, I know I need some SPF protection, so I told myself months ago (as I creep deeper into my 40s) that I would get some light moisturizer with SPF. Of course, I haven’t…
I need to get some detangler for my daughter. She doesn’t have much for a 2 year old, but what she has is fine and is starting to tangle as it gets some length on it. I’ve never had that issue, but she seems to have gotten her dad’s hair instead of mine. I’ll be looking for the one you suggested!
Nicole,
I just read your comment and retrieved my favorite SPF 15 daily moisturizer, which I love. Here’s a link to it:
https://amzn.to/2FYd8Di , just so you know which one I’m referring to. I have worn an SPF 15 daily moisturizer for years, even though we don’t get as much sun in Oregon as in some other places. I don’t know if it has made a difference in the amount of wrinkles I have, but it makes me feel as if I’m doing something to protect my skin. Thanks so much for your comment. If you do try any of these shortcuts, I’d love to know what you think. Have a great day!
Lisa
These are good tips. I’m about as low maintenance as I can be, I give me hair a quick brush, toss it into a loose ponytail and I’m ready to go. I’m the type of person who hates putting anything on my face, so it helps save me time and money when getting ready. I could use that detangler some days, my hair doesn’t normally get tangled, but when it does it does so in an epic manner.
Sarah,
Hooray for being low maintenance! I’m glad you liked these tips. Thanks for commenting, and good luck with getting those tangles out. Have a super week!
Lisa
Avoid wrinkly eye lids… Im in!
Jessica,
Yes, it doesn’t seem like a very big thing, but if I can do something about it, I feel better. We all have much more important matters to think about, and wrinkly eyelids does not need to be on the list. Thanks for your comment. I hope you might be able to use some of these tips. Have a wonderful week!
Lisa