Redheads, if you’re fortunate enough to stay at home during this pandemic, then I bet you’ve struggled at some point with structuring your days, staying occupied, or otherwise feeling okay. Staying home in sweatpants was nice for the first few days (or weeks!), but it’s easy to get stuck. Our minds can get fuzzy, and our motivation can find its best hiding place. When those feelings start to seep in, it’s time to spring into action.
While our current circumstances are not “normal”, it is okay to try to feel normal. For me, that started with something as simple as getting ready in the morning. I had slipped into a routine of yesterday’s pajamas, my old glasses, and a top knot, and that just wasn’t cutting it for my mental health.
Realizing this, I created a new morning routine that has helped me feel more like myself, and, in case it helps you too, I wanted to share it.
Here are 4 steps you could try taking in the morning to feel more okay:
1. Take a shower
.–– and that doesn’t mean you have to wash your red hair! Just a quick rinse in the morning can help you start fresh. Try washing your face with Lexli Aloe-Based Cleansing Lotion ($23), featured in the November 2019 H2BAR box. It’s gentle enough for the sensitive skin so many redheads have. I follow up my shower with either Not Your Mother’s Clean Freak Dry Shampoo ($7), featured in the September 2018 H2BAR box, or spritz my hair with Bed Head Beach Queen Salt Spray ($15), first seen in the June 2017 H2BAR box, to give my hair a little mermaid wave.
2. Brush your red hair
You’ll feel a whole lot better once you do –– and your red hair will thank you! Try Drybar Super Lemon Drop ($20) or Wet Brush Detangling Cushion Brush ($5).
3. Try a simple makeup routine
I am all for saving my nicer (read: pricier) cosmetic products for that first day back in the real world. In the meantime, I’ve adopted a simpler look that helps me feel my best while also keeping my face fresh. For me, this starts with my favorite sunscreen — Ocean Potion Suncare 50 SPF Sunscreen Lotion ($14), which I first got from the May 2019 H2BAR Box.
I follow up with some green concealer under my eyes and around my nose to neutralize the natural redness in my face. There are tons of green concealers out there that are great for redheads, but the NYX Green HD Concealer ($3) is by far my favorite and most affordable!
If you’re Sephora-loyal, try the Sephora Bright Future in green for a little bit more ($14). After the concealer, I add just a little powder over top – I use one of the top two redhead-friendly colors from my e.l.f. Contour Palette, Light/Medium ($8). Before ending with a few flicks of mascara, I first put on my favorite mascara primer, Lancome Paris Cils Booster XL Super- Enhancing Mascara Base ($13), to help hydrate my lashes. Trying something minimalistic like this takes fewer than 5 minutes and gives you that little extra something to start your day.
4. Get dressed
It doesn’t matter what “getting dressed” means for you (yoga pants, jeans, a skirt), just get dressed in something new and clean. I promise that you will feel so much better wearing something that came fresh out of a drawer or off the hanger and not the sweatpants you wore last night or something in a pile on the floor.
Start to finish, these 4 steps could take as short as 15 minutes but go a long way in helping you feel a little better, a little more confident, and a little bit more capable of taking on the day. Give it a try, and let us know on social media what steps you might add to feel like your best-redheaded self!
Rock it like a Redhead!
Subscribe to the H2BAR Box: A monthly and quarterly beauty subscription box for redheads! Use code: REDHEAD for 15% off. Subscribe now!
Photo Credit: Ines Rehberger
Model: Katrin
