It Takes a Village

Each morning, I drag myself out of bed and prepare for the “getting ready” process.  Most days, I can keep it around an hour (which I feel is a fairly reasonable amount of time). Some days I am a bit slower and push the hour and a half mark.  But even on the days that I am running late, I never skip a getting dressed step. I know that some women might consider my getting dressed ritual too long of a routine, I don’t mind it because I know how much better I look after I have washed the sleep off of my face and concealed my bags with some makeup (not to mention curl my hair into an actual style instead of a frizz bomb.)

As a personal stylist, however, one of the most frequent questions I get is, “How can I do less steps in the morning and still look like a million bucks?” The answer is simple: you can’t. Let me put it this way, leaving out a step most likely just looks like your left out a step.  There isn’t a short cut to looking fabulous. You have to put in the time.

Most people want to know how they can cut out some makeup steps. I remind them that the basic makeup steps (concealer, foundation, powder, blush, lipstick, eyeshadow, mascara, and brows) have been around for ages, and there is a reason. Those steps make a big difference. If they didn’t, Stoltz Image Cosmetics wouldn’t be such a huge success.

People also want to know about hair? Isn’t there a five minute hair style? Maybe, but most likely it looks like a five minute hair style.  If you are lucky enough to wake up with super straight or super curly hair, then you may be able to fluff your hair and go, but, most of us need to blow dry our hair straight, use a straightening iron, or visit our curling iron. I have to blow dry and then spend about 10 to 15 minutes curling. I know that if I don’t spend some quality time on my hair, then I feel disheveled all day long. And I want to look like I stepped out of a magazine every time that I walk out the front door. What woman doesn’t?

So, as I tell my husband while he patiently waits for me to get dressed, “It takes a village to keep me looking like this.” And, I know that he really doesn’t mind waiting on me because the difference in 30 minutes of getting ready time and an hour, takes me from presentable to fabulous!

Now I’m not saying that you need to spend three hours getting perfectly polished each morning, but the next time that you are tempted to skip an important step, just think about the difference it will make in how you look and feel all day long. Spend some quality time on yourself each morning so that you will look and feel like a million bucks.  I promise, people will notice!