What’s your skin type?
This will help us personalize your experience.

Short on Time? Here’s How to Get Ready Fast in the Mornings

how-to-get-ready-fast-thumbnail
Photo by Peter Dazeley/Getty Images

Time is precious, especially when it comes to the morning. You may hit the snooze button on your alarm clock one too many times, sleep through your alarm, or just not be a morning person. Whichever camp you fall into, chances are, you need a little extra help when it comes to figuring out how to get ready faster in the mornings. We’ve been there ourselves, which is why we wanted to share our morning routine tips and tricks to help you discover how to get ready fast. Hint: It’s all about simplicity.

Simple Hacks to Help You Get Ready Faster

1. Plan Your Look the Night Before

This is a classic tip, and it does help speed up the getting-ready process in the mornings. By choosing what you want to wear, how you plan to do your hair, and the makeup look you’re hoping to achieve the night before, you can cut down a ton of time. We’ve implemented this into our daily routine and have noticed such a difference. We can sleep in later, meditate, eat breakfast at home—the point is, we’ve gotten back quite a bit of time by planning out our outfits, hair, and makeup the night before. Try this for yourself, and we bet you too will spend less time stressing over the amount of time it takes you to get ready in the mornings and more time doing things you actually want to do.

2. Lay Out Everything You’ll Need for Your Morning Routine

Apart from figuring out what you’ll wear and how you’ll do your hair and makeup, it’s important to lay out your clothes and ensure your skincare, makeup, and hair-care products are all set out to streamline the process in the morning. We’ve noticed that when everything is set out for us, we save time and don’t drag our feet to get ready. That’s why we’ve been utilizing this BOXYCHARM Makeup Organizer with LED Mirror to set aside our go-to products in the morning. Plus, since it comes with a mirror, we have everything we need all in one place.

3. Skip Washing Your Hair in the Morning

We tend to shower at night to save time, but if you absolutely must shower in the morning, avoid washing your hair. Depending on your hair type, this can take up way too much of your getting-ready time. This is especially true for those of us who can’t air-dry our hair and need to stick to blow-drying; that can take forever if you have thicker, longer hair. This is where a dry shampoo can come in handy if your hair is feeling greasy and you want to freshen it up without washing it before you head out the door. If you need a recommendation, we’ve been using the LIVING PROOF Perfect hair Day™ Advanced Clean Dry Shampoo for years and it has never let us down. Our hair feels like it’s freshly washed after a few spritzes of this product on our strands.

4. Opt for an Easy Hairstyle

When you need an extra bit of time to beat the morning rush, the last thing you should try is a new hairstyle you’ve never done before. Instead, go for something you know how to do or something that will take less time to pull off, like putting your hair up for the day. We love these hairstyles for long hair types and these ones for shorter hair lengths. For natural hair, try one of these 18 easy styles. If you need a style for straight hair, we recommend these. The options are out there, and we’ve got you covered with all the inspo you need.

You can also help set yourself up for success the next day with an overnight hairstyle. We use this ARIA BEAUTY Heatless Curl Set often throughout the week to set our style the night before. All we have to do is take it out in the morning and we’re good to go.

5. Minimize Your Skincare Routine

You do not need to follow a 10-step skincare routine in the mornings. We promise you can still have an effective routine if you cut it down to two to three products. All you really need to do in the mornings is splash your face with water, apply a serum, some eye cream, and then finish with a moisturizer and SPF. For a serum, we like something that contains multiple skin-loving ingredients, so we often reach for the LYS BEAUTY Think Bright Glow + Hydrate Serum With Vitamin C & Hyaluronic Acid to hydrate and brighten our skin. The BEYOU. Caffeine Eye Cream is another must in the mornings so our eyes don’t give away how tired we actually are. And to finish, we opt for the KEYS SOULCARE Protect Your Light SPF 30 Daily Moisturizer. This multitasking sunscreen not only protects our complexion from UV rays but also contains squalane and niacinamide to promote a healthy skin barrier.

6. Simplify Your Makeup Routine

Again, less is more when it comes to your morning routine. So doing a full face that requires foundation, concealer, contour, bronzer, blush, and a complete eye look that makes eyeshadow, eyeliner, false lashes, and mascara a necessity isn’t going to help you cut down on time. Instead of doing the most, do the least by using multitasking makeup products. The IT COSMETICS Bye Bye Foundation Full Coverage Moisturizer™ With SPF 50+ is a foundation, moisturizer, and sunscreen all in one that quickly covers any imperfections and protects your skin from the sun throughout the day. It also doesn’t feel like we’re even wearing makeup when we put it on because of how lightweight the formula is. We then add a pop of color to our lips and cheeks with the LUCKY CHICK Lip & Cheek Multi Stick and finish our morning beauty routine with the BEAUTY CREATIONS COSMETICS Lengthening Mascara to give our lashes some extra length.

7. Keep Deodorant Handy

It’s easy to forget things when you’re in a rush—but don’t forget to put on deodorant. Sometimes we like to keep an extra stick in our bag or car in case we run out of the house without swiping some on our pits. This is why we love the NEZ Bright Blend Collection: 3-Pack Mini Deodorant Set, because it features a deodorant you can keep at home, one to put in your bag, and one to keep in your car so you never have an excuse to not put it on.

8. Eat Breakfast on the Go

Sometimes you don’t have the luxury of sitting down to eat a full breakfast before you head out the door. Still, it’s important to eat something for breakfast, even if that’s a bar or some fruit. Pack something in your bag so you can eat on the go. Obviously, a nutrition bar is easier to eat than a breakfast burrito, but we won’t stop you if you can find a way to consume the latter on the way to your destination. We love to stock up on bars, put them in our purse, and enjoy them as we’re going about our day. This hack hasn’t failed us yet!

Want to make getting ready faster even easier? Take our Beauty Quiz now to get started with your own IPSY beauty subscription and get personalized products that level up your routine. Already an IPSY member? Refer your friends to earn points, which you can use toward products. Either way, don’t forget to check us out on Instagram and TikTok @IPSY.

Like this article? Share it with your friends by clicking the icons below!

About the author
ashley-locke-headshot
Ashley Locke
Ashley is a Long Beach-based freelance writer who loves sharing beauty and skincare hacks with her fellow “lazy girls” out there. When she isn’t writing, you can find her crying while listening to The Maine or watching "The Office".
Share Article
Article Last Updated October 9, 2024 12:00 AM