Daily Make-up and Hair Routine + Tips And Tricks for At-home Gel Nails
Here I’ll share my daily make-up and hair routine including my at-home gel nails manicure that lasts me two weeks!
I think we all can agree that this past year was really crazy! 2020 did a great job at throwing off everybody’s routine and getting rid of the normal we used to know. What helped me keep my normalcy was finding my own morning routine. It always feels nice to start my day feeling clean, refreshed and confident. If you’re looking for some tips and tricks to spruce up your morning routine, here’s what I do!
Hair Care
I start off my day with a nice warm shower so I can feel clean and refreshed, and take care of my hair! I try and wash my hair no more than three times a week and when I do I use Kristen Ess’ The One Signature shampoo and conditioner. They are just $10 each at Target!
Once I get out of the shower, I use a heat protectant on my hair before anything else! I have my natural hair color right now, so I just use Kevin Murphy’s heated defence so that I can blow dry my hair without worrying about heat damage. I blow dry my hair with a round brush and then It’s time to do some more styling!
I put my bangs up into velcro hair rollers for about 10 minutes so that they can land just right. While my bangs are up in rollers, I take the time to curl the rest of my hair with a curling iron. I use Hot tools curling iron with 1 1/4 inch barrel.
After I’ve curled my whole head, I spray it with Kevin Murphy texturizing hair spray. My final step is to comb through all my curls and apply some Paul Mitchell super skinny shine serum!
Makeup Time!
After my hair is all done, I move on to doing my makeup. I love my makeup routine because it adds some structure to my morning routine, while also giving me a little boost of confidence! You don’t need to be a professional makeup artist to give yourself a little boost now and then, you just gotta know some beauty hacks! I love the brand Thrive Cosmetics, you’ll notice a little theme will all of my makeup products! Here is my step by step process for my makeup:
- Wash my hands – The first step is always washing your hands so that any of the product used before doesn’t get on your face!
- CC Cream – The very first thing I do is use Thrives CC cream. It protects my skin while color correcting all at once!
- Bronzer – To keep that fresh-tan look!
- Triple Threat Color Stick – I use this on my eyes, cheeks and lips because it is the perfect hydrator for my lips and skin.
- Brilliant Eye Brightener – This is a lifesaver for an easy shimmery eye or smokey-eye look without makeup brushes.
- Eyeliner – To give my eyes a little more pop!
- Liquid Lash Extension Mascara – This stuff is perfect for a fuller lash look! I love that I don’t have to go through the hassle of fake lashes.
- Eyebrows – I fill in my eyebrows with this gel to finish off the look!
Aside from my daily routine, I also have a few products I use weekly. I use Tanologist’s face and body drops to tan my face once a week, along with St. Tropez’s Self Tan Express Bronzing Mousse for my body. I apply with a mitt.
And there we have it! My makeup and hair are all set and ready for the day!
My At-Home Manicure
I also like to do my nails once every two weeks to keep up a fresh look! It can be a lot to go to a professional nail salon that often, so I found my own way to get the same look at home.
I found the Gelish Pro Kit Salon Professional Gel LED Lamp Soak Off Nail Polish Set. This kit takes a bit more than to just paint your nails with a top coat, but it’s worth it! You can follow the link for more information on how it helps with your nail and cuticle care. Basically, the gel manicure comes with all the steps needed including the LED lamp so that you can have everything you need to make it look like your gel nails are professionally done. It’s an easy and perfect way to practice some self-care!
My morning routine has been a perfect way to give myself a confidence boost, and have some me-time! When I’m finished getting myself ready, I feel like I can conquer my day!
***Update on hair care products:
I’ve since added a few other haircare products to my routine and I’ve decided to share my skin care routine as well.
For hair I’m using The Daily Cleaning shampoo from the Kristin Ess collection. It’s lightly clarifying and non stripping which is great for my color treated hair.
I’ve also picked up The Deep Treatment Mask and the Working Serum from Kristin Ess to try and bring more moisture back to my hair.
I’m a huge fan of dry shampoo but not a fan of the white powder mess it leaves behind, which is why I’m excited to try Kristin Ess’ Brunette dry shampoo.
As for Skin care: here’s the low down
I was using CeraVe’s Hydrating facial cleanser which is great for dry skin. I feel like it wasn’t doing a lot for me so I’ve recently switched to CeraVe’s Renewing SA cleanser which has salicylic acid in it. This is great for oily/acne prone skin.
In the morning I use CeraVe’s vitamin c serum with a moisturizer. I was using CervaVe’s daily moisturizer with SPF 30 but just realized it wasn’t all mineral based.
Chemical sunblocks aren’t the best… certainly not for our ocean life. Plus, I was looking for a sun block with a little more SPF. So I just switched to CeraVe’s hydrating Mineral Sunscreen. It has an SPF of 50 and It’s completely mineral based.
Since switching sunblocks it also meant switching moisturizers too. I’m trying out CeraVe’s Hydrating hyaluronic acid serum and moisturizing cream. You don’t need to use both, but together will help lock in that moisture all day.
In the Evening I repeat the wash routine from my morning routine and use a mineral water to make sure all my make up is off.
On days when I need it I use a facial steamer from Vanity Planet.
Next, I use a perscrition grade retinol – see your dermatologist friends! But if your not quite ready for that then I recommend using Differin.
Differin is actually an acne treatment, but once upon a time it was prescription only. It actually has one of the highest doses of retinol you can get for over the counter!
Lastly, I top it off with an eye cream. Hyram (skin care Guru recommends using CeraVe’s eye repair cream because its full of good ingredients and for only $7!! Oh and of course a night cream.. you guessed it from CeraVe.
You might be wondering why I’m really only using CeraVe’s products… well it’s because these are the products my dermatologist has recommended to me.
And go figure, right on the bottle it says developed with dermatologists! So you know your getting ingredients that actually work.
Thanks for reading along, pals!
Much love,
Kori ~ From The Farmhouse Life
