NEW YORK—I’d recently started an editing assignment that now required me to be at the office by 9 a.m.
So, now that I am actually part of the throng of Manhattanites who board jam-packed trains during rush hour (think the MRT ride from Ayala to Cubao at 7 p.m. on a weekday), it occurred to me how it was possible to emerge from the crowded subway looking like a breath of fresh air, or at least making it to one’s desktop in one decent piece.
Queue in some smart beauty shortcuts to help you along during the busy days.
Keep hair in check. If you’re tempted to arrive at work with soaking wet hair, don’t. It looks unprofessional. Pull up your hair in a bun or neat ponytail, or allot a couple of minutes to blow-dry.
But if you’d rather hit the snooze button and savor those precious 10-15 minutes before it’s really time to get up, employ strategic tress tactics by shampooing and conditioning the night before. And if you also like taking a bath in the morning, wear a shower cap to preserve the volume from out-of-bed hair.
Go for makeup in a jiffy. If five minutes is all you have to get ready, (gasp!) slip on a hairband, splash face with cold water and reach for big shades. Right after timing in, make a dash for the ladies’ room.
Apply concealer, powder and blush, and discreetly pat on your lipstick back at your desk. Never, ever do your makeup in public, save for minor lipstick and powder touch-ups.
Prepare clothes the night before. Growing up, I remember watching an episode of “Batibot” where the mom was teaching her daughter to lay out her school clothes the night before. That’s a great time-saver even to this day. When you know what you want to wear (both for clothes and makeup), getting ready is a breeze.
Make a checklist of a look you want to achieve the night before. Never try a new look unless you’ve done some sort of a run-through. “Practicing” may sound way too vain or a waste of time, but the minutes you save undoing botched makeup is worth it.
Maximize the weekend. And speaking of run-throughs, do as much as you can before Monday: shave or wax legs and underarms, pluck eyebrows, trim nails, get a mani- pedi. And for a true beauty treat, hit the salon Sunday afternoon and get a blowout. Come Monday you’ll look like a million bucks, as you sashay smoothly to your work station.
Mariel Chua is the former beauty editor of Cosmopolitan, Seventeen and Ok! Magazine. She is now based in New York City. Visit NyMinuteNow.com.
(Original article link here.)
2 comments:
Hi Mariel Chua or should I say Mrs.Mariel JImenez-Congrats and Best wishes to the newly weds. I am so happy that I found your blog(it's through topazhorizon.com), and from now on I'll allot time to read your blog because I am an avid reader (until now) when you were still the beauty editor of Seventeen and Cosmopolitan. Thanks for making this and for me your still one of the nicest and wittiest writers!
Oh, wow! Thank you so much for the nice and positive comment! :) And for the best wishes!
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