Bubby and Bean ::: Living Creatively: 6 Beauty Routine Little Wins That Bring Me Joy

This post is in partnership with joy.

The idea of little wins is something I have embraced in a big way in 2019. Last year, I was more focused on big wins, and while they’re great too, I realized at the end of the year how much the pressure ultimately overwhelmed me. So this year I decided I was going to shift toward paying better attention to the small, simple things that made my days easier. And I've discovered that it can be pretty freaking powerful to find happiness in those small triumphs.

I talked a little last month about small parenting wins, but today I wanted to share a different type of small victory with you: beauty routine little wins. Now, I know there are some people who love a nice, slow process of getting ready and grooming, and who feel pleasure in taking their time and enjoying it. I am not one of them. It's not that I don't enjoy certain aspects of it or the outcome; I'm just not a fan of how long it can take when I have more important things to do. (You know, like running my kids around to school and countless activities, or crushing a 10 hour work day, or DIY remodeling my house, or binge watching Workin' Moms on Netflix. Stuff like that.)

I have been experimenting with different ways to streamline and/or create hacks for my beauty routine for months now, and I think I've sort of mastered the ones that work best for me. If you (1) are searching for ways to simplify your beauty routine and (2) appreciate a good little win, I think you just might find these useful!

1. Paint your nails with a light colored gel nail polish.
I used to get no chip/gel polish manicures every couple of months at the salon, but they would still start chipping after a couple of weeks and then I'd have to go back to the salon to get the polish removed. It was expensive and a time sucker. A few months ago, I bought a bottle of light pink gel polish and gel top coat at the advice of a friend. Talk about a manicure little win! The polish lasts almost as long as when I used to get my nails done professionally, and the light color hides chips and also goes with everything I wear.

2. Use one moisturizer for all of your skin.
This might cause the hardcore skincare goddesses to gasp, but for quite a while now, I have used only one moisturizer on my face, body, and as an eye cream. It's a lightweight, non-comedogenic lotion that was recommended by my dermatologist - which is really all you need. When I get out of the shower, I slather it on everything and I'm done in 30 seconds. My skin is (usually) in great shape, and it honestly brings me joy to only have to focus on one product and move on with my day.

3. Shave with joy and glee. (Literally.)
This, my friends, is my favorite beauty routine little win of them all. Before my recent discovery of joy razors, I despised the process of shaving. And while it might sound a little ridiculous to hear me say that a product completely changed my attitude about it, it's the truth. The joy razor has a refreshingly uncomplicated design that keeps shaving simple, but also has a super effective five blade cartridge that comfortably shaves off every hair it touches in one simple stroke. The non-slip grip handle is a nice bonus too that, if you're anything like me, equates to a time saver as well because you're not dropping a wet razor in the shower every 30 seconds. I pair my joy (which is a lovely shade of teal, but comes in pink too) with its best buddy, glee shave gel in deliciously scented cucumber aloe (which also comes in a luxurious summer lily mousse if that's your thing), and shaving becomes a breeze. A few quick rubs of glee onto the skin, a quick stroke of the joy razor, and in a couple of minutes, I'm good to go. This all adds up to a quick, effortless shaving experience, which allows me to get on to the important stuff. (See my note about binging Netflix above.) These are only available at Walmart so I'm telling you, get over there and pick these babies up today. (Grab a pack of 4 or 8 cartridges too. Having an extra cartridge on hand is always a little win when you run out!) You can thank me later, after you're done with the simplest, more effective shaving session of your life.

4. Get yourself a great dry shampoo.
I'm guessing most of you use or have used dry shampoo, but if you haven't, go buy some immediately. My stylist (who I have been seeing for 12 years and genuinely love and trust) recommended washing my hair only twice a week, and guys, that was a game changer for me. Now I just use a dry shampoo to keep it fresh between washings, which basically defines little win when it comes to getting ready each day.

5. Let hair dry for 15 minutes.
When you do wash your hair, let it air dry or wrap it in a hair towel for 15 minutes while you apply your makeup (or whatever else you want to; pretty much anything is better than having to blow dry your hair, in my opinion). I recently learned that it's the very last part of moisture in your hair that actually sets the style, so you don't need to blow dry until it's mostly already dry. Knowing this was definitely a little win for me, because I used to spent a ridiculously excessive amount of time blowdrying hair while it was still soaking wet. (Bonus: I've been doing the same for my daughter's hair and man is there less of a fight over blow drying when we let it mostly air dry first. Double little win!)

6. Declutter your makeup.
Getting rid of things that don't bring you joy in your closet isn't the only way to simplify. I took 20 minutes back in January to go through my cosmetics bag and threw away anything I hadn't used in the last month (aside from a few items I use for special occasions). I then narrowed it down to only a handful of products: foundation, concealer, blush, powder, one eye shadow, one eye liner, one mascara, and two brushes. I shaved minutes off my makeup routine, and it just feels nicer to pull out my cosmetics bag each morning and not have to dig around for the items I actually use. Little win for sure.

I also want to say that while these hacks and little beauty wins are perfect for your busiest days, they're also great for the days you just lounge around. (Remember, you deserve those days!) I'll admit that as a working mama to two young kids, lounging days are few and far between... But when they do happen, and I can do something like, say, use my beloved joy razor and glee shave gel or mousse to oh-so-quickly get my legs and pits nice and smooth, I still feel like I won. It's like joy's motto: "Every hair you shave off is something you've done today." Now that's a positive attitude I can really get behind.

Three cheers for beauty routine little wins! I'm discovering new ways to simplify and hack my beauty routine everyday, so stay tuned, as I may just do another one of these posts in the future. What kind of little wins do you most appreciate when it comes to your beauty routine?