Winter is one of my favorite seasons. I love warm drinks and sparkly lights. I love the holiday parties. I love the fashion of Winter—layers, scarves, boots, coats, and tights make me happy.

But, in the cold of my bathroom on winter mornings and evenings I have absolutely no desire to do my normal beauty routine. I don’t want to take the time to shave, just to step out of my warm shower to chilly air that bristles the hair on my legs all over again. Washing my face at night seems tedious. The call of my cozy bed and layers of blankets seems so much more appealing than taking the time to rub lotion all over me.

Of course, during the winter I need the extra beauty routines the most, heaters and layers of clothing dry my skin up terribly. By mid-winter I am an itchy mess if I don’t take the time to moisturize. Icy wind chaps my lips in an instant. My face breaks out more than ever due to a combination of holiday eating and dry skin.

Lately I’ve been trying to simplify my beauty routine so it isn’t such a pain to do during the winter.

My Morning Winter Beauty Routine

1. Brush my teeth —Yep, putting it here. Basic hygiene and beauty routine basic numero uno.
2. Shower — Sometimes, in the dead of winter when I sleep in, I take the toothbrush into the shower and do my teeth brushing routine as I soak. Some think that is gross. I think it is a smart use of valuable sleeping time.
3. Wash my hair—I’m a weirdo that washes my hair daily. I’ve tried not doing it… but, my hair/body combo is just way too oily. I feel gross and my hair looks a little like a grease spill.
4. Exfoliate in the shower BEFORE shaving— I don’t do this daily, more like once a week. And, I recently discovered Smooth Naturals Body Scrub and am loving it. The sugar grains are large and chunky so I can feel them over my skin and can easily rinse them off. Sometimes, with smaller grains of sugar, I feel like I don’t know when to stop exfoliating and my skin ends up raw. This particular scrub smells like brown sugar and I love it.
5. Shave— I am a once-a-day shaver in the Summer months. During the winter I stick with once-a-day for my underarms and go to every-other-day for my legs.
6. Moisturize—This is my least favorite part of the morning. The air is cold. I want to get dressed and go… but, if I don’t put on some lotion then I feel itchy during the day.
7. Makeup— My makeup routine is another post entirely. Lets just say that I’ve gotten my routine down to the simplest form it can go without going bare faced every day. When I was younger (pre-kiddo) I always wore eyeliner, eyeshadow, base, blush, mascara, powder, and lipstick or gloss. Now-a-days it is more like a thin base layer to even out skin, a touch of creme blush, mascara, and a swipe of my Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmer.

All of that looks like A LOT. But, really, it all takes about 15 minutes max. If I choose to blow dry my hair (some days I let it air dry) then I add another 8 or so minutes to the routine.

My Day Time Beauty Routine

I don’t have time to do a lot of beauty maintenance during the day. But, there are a few items I carry in my purse in case of touch-ups and such.

1. Lip Balm— Smooth Naturals sent me their Smooth Lips Balm and I have been keeping it in my purse for daily moisturizing. The balm is good, exactly what you want in a balm. The thing I love about it though is the fact that the large tube (much larger than a normal tube of balm) is never lost in my purse. I can easily reach in and pull it out in a hurry. And, if you’ve seen my purse, you know that is a feat.
2. Lip Color— I switch up my lip color all the time. Currently my purse is holding three different Burts Bee’s lip colors (a gloss and two Lip Shimmers) as well as my favorite lipstick.
3. Floss
4. Face Wipes— Sometimes the heater is on too much and I sweat, or my makeup feels grimy, or I eat something and want to wash my hands on the fly. I’ve been addicted to my Puffs Fresh Faces since I received them over the Summer. I’ve bought extras for my purse, desk at work, and gym bag.

My Evening Winter Beauty Routine

1. Brush my teeth— Yep, again. 😉
2. Wash my face— When I was a pimply faced teen I washed my face daily with all kinds of harsh cleansers. Then, in adulthood, I found that actually just rinsing my face in the evening did wonders for my skin so I threw out facial cleansers all together. However, as I age, I’ve found that my skin is breaking out more often and that a good facial cleanser is needed again. I tried the medicated cleansers and ended up with incredibly dry, flaky skin. Now I use Burt’s Bees Radiance Facial Cleanser and have liked the results thus far. (I’ve been using it for about three months now.) The soap doesn’t feel sticky (though, it is a little gooey) and doesn’t leave a residue. I recommend it to my friends looking for less harsh alternatives to the normal, everyday face wash. Though, I also warn them, it doesn’t foam up at all. It took me a little getting used to!
3. SLEEP — Or, at least I try.

Other than the items listed below I try my best to exercise, eat a nutritious diet, drink water, and take vitamins. I’m not the best at keeping up good habits unfortunately. But, I always go back to them.

What is your Winter beauty routine?