My Nighttime Routine

During high school, I earned the nickname stinky from friends who wished I’d shower more. I kept up the hippie routine through college until I realized I needed to just take better care of my body. As a person who loves routine, I follow my nighttime routine each evening and it’s only after that, I can relax in bed or on the couch with James.

First up, hair. I only wash my hair 1-2 times a week. If I work out more than three times a week, I find an extra hair wash is necessary. The sweat in my damaged hair makes it disturbingly similar to Harry from Dumb and Dumber. I draw the line there. I go between several shampoos like Ouidad’s cleansing oil that makes my hair feel clean and soft and now Kevin Murphy’s detox shampoo, since it was sent to me last week. And I was not disappointed. This instantly soothed my scalp, which is usually irritated at some level and dry. Next, I add conditioner, sometimes a deep conditioning treatment and then apply some sort of leave-in conditioner, serum or curl cream and gel. Then I let my hair air dry. The Kevin Murphy Killer Curls curl cream made my hair feel like I didn’t wash my conditioner out completely and I don’t like that feeling, but the curls were more defined and softer. I think when I use it next, I’ll use less gel to get the right product mix in my hair. I like to use a curl cream when the air is more dry and my hair more likely to go limp and flatten the curls. Once it starts getting more humid, I turn my focus to smoothing out the inevitable frizz.

I prefer showering at night so I have less to do in the morning. I’m not someone who requires a shower to wake up. I’d rather sleep in 15 more minutes. Plus, it takes my hair an eternity to air dry and I can sleep with it half wet and wake up ready to go. I love Dove’s body wash and body bars. I don’t usually do any sort of body exfoliation unless I’m planning a spray tan. I’m just lazy.

My nighttime skin routine starts in the shower with my newly purchased Clarisonic Mia. I was on the fence with it for years because I was too cheap to buy it. This version was $100 and sounded more doable (naturally, they announce some promotion for $20 off, damn it all. I regress…) My face was never fully clean after washing in the shower and thought that would be a good step to add in. I’ve been using for two weeks now and my skin feels soft after each use. Time will tell if it helps control my acne break outs. I have several cleansers I love including Mullien and Sparrow’s oil cleanser. I would use that first and then a secondary cleanser like Neutrogena with the Clarisonic. I started using lip sugar polish by Fresh since I constantly have dry, flaky lips (thanks, Accutane). 

Once I’m out of the shower, I use a water-based toner first followed by Mullein and Sparrow’s facial serum. My face has been surprisingly dry so I sometimes add a moisturizer on after that like Neutrogena’s hydro boost gel or Glossier’s moisturizer (which I generally use just in the morning now). Next, I apply a rose and cucumber eye cream by KTO and dab around my eyes. I’ll then spray some rose spray on my face followed by a spritz of a minty perfume that I finding soothing and calming. And lastly, Burt’s Bee’s lip balm. I love going to bed after I follow my routine that I find relaxing and calming!