Infusing Luxury into Your Morning Routine
I love my mornings, I’ll admit it. Luxurious and slow, the fresh start to a new day has always made me a morning person (or as much of a “morning person” as a college student can be.) A quick browse through Pinterest for “luxury bathroom” reveals stunning rose quartz walls and claw-footed bathtubs, a far cry from what I do each morning - I wash my face and brush my teeth in a single-sink, regular ol’ bathroom. We don’t all live in Beverly Hills mansions with marble bathrooms but that doesn’t mean you can’t experience all of the benefits of maximizing the luxury factor in your daily routines. Here are my favorite ways of making it happen!
Avoid Your Phone
Alright fine, you can turn off your alarm. But don’t spend your precious first few minutes mindlessly scrolling through sale emails and social media. I like to say a prayer and remember how grateful I am to be alive. It’s a luxury to spend minutes on a slower life, before we dive into the day.
Skincare Comes First!
Listen up - there is “skincare”, and there’s skincare. Splashing your face with water and slapping on Neutrogena is not self-care. I love spending time in the morning pampering my skin with serums and hydrating moisturizers. Invest in a jade roller or gua sha tool for a classic facial massage, the perfect way to drain your lymphatic system and de-puff. And my biggest skincare secret? Buying sheet masks in bulk and using them twice a day for maximum luxury.
Indulgent Breakfasts
If it makes you feel good to eat hemp protein sugar-free oatmeal, let me be the last person to stop you from getting your daily fix, but cutting out sugar entirely to usher in misery and a “slimmer” figure is so pre-COVID-19. Breakfast is one of my favorite indulgences. I recently tried out souffle pancakes and they are to die for when topped with fruit and powdered sugar. Maybe you’re a crepe kind of girl, or maybe indulgence in the morning is sitting by your window and sipping on a steaming cup of your favorite roast.
Pick Up a Book
I’m as guilty of scrolling through my phone while I speed-eat a bagel as the next girl, but on days that I remember to purposefully pursue a slower, more luxurious start to my day I love to pick up a magazine or book. I was once told that if you read a book a week, you’ll learn more in a year than most people will learn in a lifetime. Investing time into your future self is luxury if I’ve ever known it.
Move
Indulgence is time. Spend a little time getting the blood flowing, whether it’s a slow yoga flow or dancing to your current favorite song while you make breakfast. Sometimes it’s okay to want to feel like Jennifer Garner in 13 Going On 30 - if there’s anything in the world that I know, it’s that that girl knew how to indulge in life.
Dress the Part
The idea of wearing your pajamas all day is ridiculously indulgent, but if you’re going to pick this route let me encourage you to invest in something a little more special. Lazing around in robes, silky PJs, or lingerie and bare feet is nothing short of luxurious. Have somewhere to go? Put on some music (I have a playlist called Nothing to Wear that’s exclusively songs that make me feel like I’m one of the fancy fashion ladies in the beginning montage of The Devil Wears Prada) while you pick out an outfit and let yourself spend a few minutes taking your outfit to the next level. Maybe you break out a pair of gorgeous earrings or a belt that’ll upgrade your usual style. Getting dressed in a luxurious way doesn’t have to involve faux fur - but it is about investing time and effort into yourself and deciding that “someday” outfits can be “today” outfits.
A Spot of Beauty
Nothing holds the power to make you feel sexier than a signature scent. Not one to commit to a $75 bottle of perfume that’ll last you for months? I love buying rollerballs that I can slip into my purses or leave on my nightstand. Maybe you go for a light floral scent to wake you up, or a citrus-based, woody perfume to ground you and keep your mind alert. Sure, you won’t look any different but not everything in your morning routine has to be about “fixing” yourself up especially with the resurgence of working from home. A delicious breakfast is fuel for effective work, ten minutes allocated to indulgent skincare will pay off in years to come, and a spritz of perfume is a boost of self-confidence, and I don’t think there’s anything over-the-top about pursuing that.