Easy Casual Morning Routine | 9.12

Looks for the walk to school and my 3 minute beauty routine with MERIT Beauty...

The mornings have been cooler for our walk to school ~ making me very happy to pull out my fall sweaters! Here are a couple looks from my week… and a few things making my morning routine speedier! Always a win!

First, let’s chat fall beauty inspiration...

I’m not trying to reinvent my look this fall by any means but I have switched up a few things that are simplifying my morning rush / beauty routine so I thought I’d share!

Images via | Sweater. Cargos. My MERIT Beauty Faves.

Hair | I always come back to these images of the Olsens for those waves / that kind of effortless look I am trying to achieve when wearing my hair natural. Low-maintenance is the name of the game for me! My hair has gotten super long and this pulls the curl out a bit more… also means less frizz… so this has all been working in my favor. I blow-dry the top at night in the front and along my hairline then let the rest air dry (often in a loose braid). After I take the braid out and sleep on my waves they’re less frizzy in the morning. Sometimes I’ll run a little hair oil through the ends in the morning but otherwise I’m just out the door!

Saving me on curling and blow-drying time!

3 Min Beauty Routine | The Look … moving from summer bronzers into the pink blush tones for fall. A pink cheek, full brows / clean minimal makeup always feels really fresh for fall to me!

MERIT was made for the minimal beauty gal like myself. Literally this is all you need for a quick morning face… (you can shop all of my picks on their site here!)

Face | I wear tinted spf and then spot conceal with MERIT’s complexion stick. I like this one so much because the tip is smaller making it easy to cover just those needed areas. I’ve switched to just spot concealing for daytime beauty and why wasn’t I doing this sooner? I much prefer my natural skin showing through to full coverage.

Brows | Brow 1980!!… darkens my brown and gives a light amount of hold (just enough to still look and feel natural, not too slicked into place).

Eyes | I don’t like a heavy / thick mascara and prefer just a light swipe. MERIT’s mascara is my ideal everyday mascara... it's a nice light coat (separates the lashes)... tints, lengthens and lifts lashes. Everything I’m looking for and never smears for me! 

Cheeks | Flush balm (in Stockholm) melts into the skin giving a really pretty subtle pink tint to the cheeks. And it's a nice smaller size to carry with you on the go! Which you can see on me below…

Lips | And lastly, but very noteworthy! ~ I'm obsessed with this tinted lip oil ~ it gives a nice glossy sheer pink... not too much but just the right amount of pink to give your lips a pop!

** If you want to shop any of my MERIT faves you can save $20 on exclusive MERIT sets through my link! And every first order gets one of their signature makeup bags + every order over $40 gets free shipping.

Image via | Celine Denim Jacket. Hat (or customize your own). Jeans. Sneakers.

Cooler Morning School Drop Off | This is a really good navy*… which is often hard to find! The Marin sweater from La Ligne has become one of my absolute faves and is exactly what I want in a cozy fall sweater. I’m wearing the XXS ~ I would size down if you’re on the shorter side as well as it runs oversized already. Or take your true size!

*(code: ALICIA10)

That in-between weather dressing… it’s a grab-and-go kinda dressing in the mornings of the basics!

Seasonal Closet Swap | But what also really helps me for a speedier morning routine is having a fresh stack of t-shirts for layering. And swapping my closet and pulling out those fall staples. I reorganized my coats and have the lightweight ones (like this one from above) ready to grab for.

Something else I love to do when I have an event or somewhere to be “dressed” for… is planning my look a few days / even weeks ahead. I save looks I’m inspired by on my Pinterest here if you’d like to get some ideas.

This is a great slightly sheer tee I layer under sweaters often. Leset has a lot of great fall tee colors and longer sleeve options if you’re needing a refresh. Perfectwhitetee has also become a fave of mine for t-shirts!

Thank you MERIT for sponsoring today’s Substack! Low-maintenance and easy great grab-and-go basics are the name of the game for me ~ so I loved putting my edit together for their site!!