Start your morning the right way
Ahhh, habits of #boss people. What is it about reading their routines that makes us feel like maybe their successes will rub off on us? Whatever the fascination, it’s always interesting to see if ‘the early bird gets the worm’ rings true, and without giving too much away, it seems to be so.
Miss FQ caught up with three #goals girls who embody our definition of success to hear about their morning routines. Read on for a sneak peak into what it’s life’s like first thing in the AM with Rebe Burgess, Abbylee Bonny and Amy Todd.
Rebe Burgess, blogger, founder of accessories label Rebe and social media manager at Muse Boutique
I wake up every morning at 6 am. Most mornings, the first thing I do is get up and go for my morning run. It sets me up for the day and I always listen to one of my favourite podcasts while running. I love the Oh Boy podcast series by Jay Buim for Man Repeller — so many inspo females feature! This is followed by a big glass of lemon water, a coffee and emails.
I’m all about low maintenance; an easy skin care and beauty routine. I’m lucky enough to have a mother who works in the beauty industry so she is always sorting me out with good product. I’m currently using Osmosis — cleanser, toner, moisturizer — and I really rate it, especially the Quench Intense Moisturiser. The smallest amount goes so far and it leaves your skin feeling so yummy!
When it comes to makeup, I’m all about an effortless, carefree look which usually consists of a tinted moisturizer/light weight foundation (NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser is my ultimate), a brush of Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder on the cheeks, mascara (Blinc mascara is the best, trust me!) and a bit of lippy if I’m feeling it. One product that I’ve recently fallen in love with is the RMS Master Mixer from Mecca — it’s a must in everyone’s beauty kit!
When it comes to deciding what to wear, I either have a really good morning or a really bad one! I have a few staple items that are on rotation for work: my Christopher Esber wide leg black pants, Georgia Alice blazer, Theory white shirt, Levi’s etc. I usually base my outfit around one of those items to make things a little easier in the morning.
I either have eggs or a green smoothie for breakfast, then I drive to work — I’m usually lugging what seems like my whole life to work: laptop, camera, clothing to shoot etc. etc. so a car helps!
Abbylee Bonny, blogger at H+H Lifestyle and founder of H+H Bali yoga retreats
I’ve recently stopped my three-coffee-a-day habit and since I now wake naturally around 5 am. By this time though my son Cassius (he’s two-and-a-half) has snuck his way into my bed with his hand on my boob (real life), so if I was to get out of bed at this point he’d wake too! So instead I enjoy this quiet, still time sandwiched between my BF and baby. I’ll come back to my breath, practice mindfulness and go through my gratitudes for the day. If I do sleep past my 5 am, Cas tells me to “wake up Mama” and asks for me to make him porridge around 5.30 am.
Aside from giving Cas a big squeeze and a ciuman (Balinese for kiss) is a decent tongue scraping! I took this up about five months ago after hearing that some of my favourite wellness babes including Naturopath Twyla Watson of Being-well and Megan May of Little Bird Organics have it in their morning routine and it’s one of my favourite things. I absolutely love it. The idea is overnight toxins build up on your tongue, when you eat/drink you swallow these back into your body but if you scrape them off… Bam! You’ve reduced your toxicity! It’s ridiculously cleansing too and great for clean fresh breath. After I scrape my tongue, I give my teeth a brush too.
One thing I make a point of NOT doing when I first wake is checking Insta, Facebook, FB messenger or emails. Work for me comes in all communication pathways via my phone so, to be present and happy in the morning, I avoid this for at least 30 minutes (ideally until I’ve had breakfast and some time with the fam). Lately I’ve been loving veges for breakfast; a massive amount of greens always makes me feel incredible. This morning I had a green breakfast bowl with spinach, asparagus, quinoa, carrot, avocado, potato hash, salsa, herb pesto and beetroot humus — it was delicious!!!
My philosophy for my skincare is the same as what I put in my mouth — natural and delicious. I use Tailor Skincare and adore their products as much as I do my self-care routine using them. I can’t go without their probiotic Renew blend, their bioactive oil Serum and their new Tailor Your Blend Moisture — this is freakin’ amazing!
As far as beauty goes, I’m very simple and laid back. I’m always at the gym, yoga or the beach so makeup isn’t really in my vocabulary or skill set. I got my brows done at Lash Noir Ink a few months ago and it’s been life changing — that might sound silly but I’m actually in love, the shape and minimal daily effort has been worth every cent. Sweat-resistant brow gel is probably my number one and I do love Coola Mineral Face Sunscreen SPF 20 Rose Essence Tint, some highlighter is nice and if I’m feeling fancy and heading out I’ll put on mascara.
I pick my clothes depending on the weather and where I’m headed. It’s likely to be activewear or something silk, cotton or linen while I’m here in Bali, and I always keep a bikini in my bag!
“Work” at the moment is in Bali. I host fitness and yoga retreats there so getting to work is a little different for me. In New Zealand I work from home but if I’m here in Bali I might go do some work at The Shady Shack (a MUST when visiting Canggu) and to get there I just pop my helmet on and scooter down the road.
Amy Todd, founder of Amy’s Secret Kitchen, photographer and style blogger at A Little More by Amy
I wake up at 5:30 am and hold my fingers (a Jin Shin Jyutsu technique) — this clears all my blocked energy in my body for the day makes me feel amazing. While I do this for an hour, I set up my intentions for the day by talking to the world (sounds crazy but it works) about my life goals and then a smaller goals for the day that send me in the direction of those life goals.
I then make myself a delicious herbal tea, make Tom my partner his breakfast and feed our three calm and happy animals. For breakfast I either indulge in a smoothie (protein powder, kale or spinach, chia seeds and water) or I have a green salad with two boiled eggs, salt and pepper and olive oil. I take vitamins too. Then I get ready for work.
I love to invest in my skin so I wash my face with CosMedix Benefit Clean Cleanser, then use a vitamin C serum and finish off with Aspect Dr Hydrating Mask. No makeup needed, as I tint my eyebrows and lashes every three weeks. I wash my hair every three days so I just brush my hair and clip it up. Simple is key. If I am heading to an event or meeting that day I will put on some Bare Minerals foundation, bronzer and mascara.
When it comes to clothes I usually have about five to eight outfits pre-planned in my wardrobe so I usually just use one of those ones, or if I have not organised myself for the week I’ll stand in my wardrobe and say to myself, “thank you for the perfect outfit”, and it will come to me with no fuss.
I drive with no music, repeating my goals to myself. This sets me up for a driven and very focused day ahead. If it is a really lovely day and I know the weather is not going to turn then I walk.
