lifestyle·11 September 2026·5 min
I Had 10 Minutes to Make Myself Feel Like Myself Again
Because apparently getting ready for the day is a luxury now.
I had 10 minutes.
Not 10 minutes to leisurely sip my coffee, do my skincare, curl my hair, pick an outfit, stare at my closet for 20 minutes and contemplate my entire existence.
Ten actual minutes.
I had a shooting day at the studio, which meant I needed to look somewhat alive, somewhat put together and preferably like I had my life together.
Did I?
Absolutely not.
Did I look like I did?
That's what we're here for.
The “Oh God, I Have Somewhere to Be” Reset
There is a very specific version of me that appears when I know I'm running late.
Suddenly I'm doing skincare at approximately 900 km/h.
I'm brushing my hair while looking for my lip gloss.
I'm deciding if dry shampoo counts as washing my hair.
And I'm convincing myself that sunglasses are a personality.
This particular morning, I decided I wasn't going to spiral.
I had 10 minutes.
So I started with skincare.
And this is where my new little pink obsession came in.
Enter: Bareglo
First of all, I love when a skincare product looks cute enough that I actually want to use it.
The Bareglo serum immediately caught my attention because... look at the pink.
I'm a simple woman.
Make the formula pink and suddenly I'm interested.
But pretty packaging only gets you so far. Before adding any new serum into your routine, it's worth giving your skin a chance to tell you whether it likes it.
My little “let's not ruin my face today” checklist
If you're trying a new serum, especially if your skin is sensitive, I like keeping a few things in mind.
Patch test first.
Try a small amount on an inconspicuous area of skin before going straight onto your whole face. Give it some time and see how your skin reacts.
Don't introduce a million new products at once.
If you suddenly have a reaction, you don't want to be standing in your bathroom thinking, was it the serum? The toner? The new cleanser? That random TikTok product I ordered at 1 a.m.?
One new thing at a time makes life much easier.
And please listen to your skin.
If something burns, hurts or causes a noticeable reaction, stop using it and wash it off. Skincare is supposed to make your life better, not turn your face into a science experiment.
Once I knew my skin was happy with the serum, I moved on.
Because I had approximately seven minutes left.
My Extremely Serious 10 Minute Glow Up
This is not a “clean girl morning routine.”
There is no matcha.
There is no journaling.
There is no opening the curtains while sunlight magically pours into my bedroom.
This is a “I have somewhere to be and I need to look like I meant to leave the house” routine.
1. Skin first
A little skincare, a little glow and suddenly I look 14% more awake.
That's science.
Probably.
2. Concealer where absolutely necessary
Under eyes.
Around my nose.
Anywhere else that is currently exposing the fact that I did not get eight hours of sleep.
We're not doing a full face.
We're doing strategic intervention.
3. Brows + mascara
Brows instantly make me look more put together.
Mascara makes me look like I slept.
Neither statement is necessarily true.
4. Blush
5. Hair
There was no time for a complicated hairstyle.
So we're working with what we've got.
Brush it.
Fix the front.
Maybe add a little product.
Pretend it was intentional.
6. Outfit
I grabbed something I knew I felt good in.
This is one of my biggest tips for rushed mornings:
Don't experiment with your wardrobe when you're already late.
Have a few outfits you know make you feel good and reach for one.
Future you will thank you.
And Then... I Looked Like Me Again
This is the part I actually care about.
I didn't suddenly become a completely different person.
I wasn't transformed into some perfectly polished version of myself.
I just felt...
better.
And sometimes that's enough.
I think we put so much pressure on “self care” to be this huge event.
You need an entire afternoon.
You need a bath.
You need candles.
You need a face mask.
You need to disappear for three hours.
Meanwhile, sometimes I have 10 minutes between everything else I have to do.
And those 10 minutes still count.
The 10 Minute Refresh You Can Steal
And you don't have to do this in the morning.
Do it whenever you need to hit the reset button.
Feeling gross at 3 p.m.?
Do it.
Have dinner plans after a chaotic day?
Do it.
Have a date?
Definitely do it.
Need to film something and suddenly hate every outfit you own?
Do it.
Been taking care of everyone else and haven't looked in the mirror properly all day?
Girl.
Do it.
Your 10 minute formula:
Minute 1–2: Cleanse + skincare
Minute 3–4: Concealer + brows
Minute 5–6: Mascara + blush
Minute 7–8: Hair
Minute 9: Outfit
Minute 10: Perfume, jewellery, lip product + GO
That's it.
No 47 step routine.
No perfection.
No waiting for the perfect morning when you magically have two hours to yourself.
Just 10 minutes.
The Real Glow Up
I think the biggest thing I took from this wasn't even the makeup.
It was the feeling of taking a few minutes to actually do something for myself before walking into a busy day.
I had a studio full of things to do.
Products to shoot.
Content to create.
People to see.
A million things running through my head.
But for 10 minutes, I got to stop.
Put on my skincare.
Do my makeup.
Put on an outfit I liked.
Look in the mirror.
And think:
Okay. There she is.
And then I grabbed my stuff and ran out the door.
Because obviously I was still late.
Some things never change.
And if you're having one of those days where you don't feel like yourself?
Take the 10 minutes.
You don't need to completely change your life.
Sometimes you just need to put on a little blush and pretend you have your shit together.
It works for me.
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