Happy Monday, ladies! I hope you had a fabulous weekend! For today’s post I wanted to start covering something I feel is very important – a healthy night routine. My night routine is definitely more extensive than my morning routine. My mornings are just too unpredictable to try and follow an elaborate routine, or even apply more than one or two skin care products. So I focus the bulk of my skincare routine in the evening so I wake up glowing. This is also my chance to unwind at night – I’m not very good at doing nothing, so an elongated night routine keeps me busy, but takes my mind off of work.

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VICTORIA’S SECRET PAJAMAS // RAY-BAN FRAMES

A TYPICAL NIGHT

I have a phone alert that goes off at 8pm every night to let me know it’s time to start winding down. At this point, I’ll finish up what I’m doing then head to the bathroom to wash up. I try to be in bed by 9pm, but I like giving myself an hour to get ready so I have time to apply a mask, take a shower, whiten my teeth, or do a little extra pampering. I also take a little time to prep my lunch for the next day (if needed) and lay out an outfit.

This part of my night routine isn’t the most routine, because it does divert in two directions. Either I spend the whole hour getting ready for bed, pampering, etc. Or I’ll just cleanse my skin and do some other activity. Always based on my mood (or to do list), I might come back to my computer to work, jump in bed early and read a few extra chapters, or even tidy up the house. It all depends on my energy level, but I try not to be too controlling of this time. I’ve deemed the hour between 8 and 9 “me-time” and I will do whatever I damn well please each night during that hour.

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NIGHTTIME SKINCARE

My nighttime skin care routine is the complete opposite of my wind-down hour. I follow a regular application routine that varies very little (really only when I run out of a product or try a new one that requires adjusting the order). Here’s how that looks:

1. Remove any makeup with a makeup wipe
2. Wash my face using the PCA 5% BPO cleanser
3. (Optional) Give a face mask a go
4. Apply a night time rejuvenating or exfoliating toner with a cotton pad
5. Use a retinol (preferred) or anti-aging serum (when I’m out of retinol)

At this point I leave the bathroom, and finish off my wind-down hour. When I jump into bed, I add a few more skincare steps. I really don’t like spending a long time in the bathroom, and some of the products I like to use at night, I don’t like to walk around feeling (like a foot cream), so I save them for bedtime. All of these products are kept in a little basket on my nightstand which I dump out in my lap to help avoid skipping steps out of laziness. I mean, if I have to put it up and put it away, I might as well use it right? It only takes me about 5 minutes max to get through it. Here’s what that looks like:

1. Take my daily multi-vitamin and Hair, Skin, Nails vitamin
2. Apply a cooling serum to my face (cold relaxes me)
3. Layer on a bit of night cream, sometimes one or two
4. Apply a night time moisturizer to my face AND neck
5. Top my moisturizer with a facial oil
6. Lather on the cuticle oil or cream (hang nails or torn cuticles are my worst enemy, ouch!)
7. Finish off with a little foot cream
8. Then hand cream
9. And finally chapstick or lip balm

BEAUTY SLEEP TIPS

Sleep, y’all. Sleep is my most worthy foe. Chris is convinced I’m an insomniac, and I don’t doubt it. But I need my sleep. I do not function as a human being on less than 7 hours. But it can easily take me a full hour to fall asleep, and I often find that I wake up 3-5 times in the night. So I do my best to make the sleep that I do get as quality as possible,

COOL OFF

I sleep better in the cold. In fact, most people do sleep more soundly in a room that is slightly chilly. So the first thing I do every night is open a window. If it’s too loud (or snowy!), I have been known to sleep with an icepack on my feet. If you get super warm at night, give an icepack on your feet a shot. It actually works really well!

LAVENDER

Next, or the last thing from my nightstand bucket, is a lavender essential oil spray. I’ll spray my pajamas and my pillow. Lavender is known for it’s relaxing properties, and while it isn’t a game changer, it certainly helps when my brain is having a hard time shutting down.

CHANGE POSITIONS

When I’m really struggling to fall asleep, the first thing I do is completely change my position. I’ll sleep with my head at the foot of the bed, or if Chris isn’t around, sleep across from side to side. Worst case scenario, I move to the living room. I’m not sure if there’s any science behind this, but I’ve done it since I was a kid, and it’s always helped me fall asleep. Actually, in a moment of desperation in high school, I laid out a bunch of blankets and slept on the bathroom floor – it worked.

BRAIN BREAK

My brain just does not shut down at night. That’s actually pretty common among creatives, and I bet you can totally relate. So, I have a couple of tools in my night stand to give me a brain break. If I need to be on my phone, I’ll browse Imgur. I have a drawing app called Procreate on my phone if I wake up with an idea I need to sketch. My lamp is pretty bright, so I avoid using it. But I do keep an extra notepad, a pen, and a stylus for my phone, just in case.

What’s your night routine look like? Are you a big fan of an extended routine, or like to keep it quick and easy?

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