When the clock springs forward into daylight savings, you’ve got an early work meeting, or you didn’t sleep a wink for one reason or another, getting up in the morning can be a real struggle! Once you’ve forced yourself to open your eyes and attempted to peel back the duvet, the next challenge presents itself: “HOW am I going to stop myself from looking this tired!?”. I used to be the queen of the puffy eye, puffy forehead look and if I hadn’t had my eyelashes done, I looked like a little mole who hadn’t seen light for a few weeks. My mornings had no glow and my anxiety sky-rocketed. My glow up began when I started asking other women their secrets behind what helped them look so good at 8am. It soon became clear after 100s of responses, a morning routine was essential and I began to see a recurring theme in all the answers I received. I now religiously incorporate five steps into my mornings which have helped me glow from the inside out. A big thank you to all the marvelous women who shared their wisdom just so we can all glow that little bit brighter! 

1. Water 

For the inside: I know, there is no surprise that hydration is on this list. I start my day with a glass of water before I delve lovingly into my morning coffee. Always hydrate before you caffeinate. I even dissolve an orange flavoured effervescent vitamin C tablet in my water to make that first morning glass extra refreshing. Most of the women I asked favoured warm water and lemon. 

For the outside: Discovering Hydra Therapy Memory Sleep Mask by Erno Laszlo was like finding a mirage of water in the desert for my skin. I didn’t realise on average 25% of moisture from our skin is lost overnight, and this sleep mask locks it all in! 

2. Goal setting

For the Inside: Our brains LOVE mini goals because when we set daily targets, this sparks a dopamine release in our brain. Dopamine, the feel good hormone, boosts our mood and when we tick off our to do list (make sure all of them are short term), we feel rewarded, boosting our inside feel good hormones even more. The feeling of accomplishment is glorious, and essential for increasing that glow. 

For the Outside: I finally set myself the goal of finding products that actually worked for my skin… not just because they had been featured in a magazine or because my best friend liked them. During my research, all the women mentioned products they swore by and felt personally addressed their skin conditions, this level of personalisation felt a key factor in their glowingness. Set the goal to test out a few different products until you find the one that makes your skin sing in the morning. Discovering Erno Laszlo Hydraphel Skin Supplement was like meeting my skin choir! 

3. Mindfulness

Inside: The women that regularly meditated certainly looked ten years younger and had a calmness to them that was deeply inspiring. If you feel like you can’t set aside time in the day to meditate, try 6 belly breaths or use an app like the one I created, Happy Not Perfect. Just taking a moment to relax your shoulders, unclench your jaw and breathe into the belly starts to activate your rest and relax system, de-regulating your nervous system which in turn boosts your immune system and lowers inflammation! My journey into mindfulness has completely changed the way I look. A big bonus is that a regular meditation practice increases the length of your telomeres (proteins in the brain), which slows down the ageing process. 

Outside: On days when I’m really busy, I use my moisturiser as my tool for mindfulness. When I begin to use the Erno Laszlo Firming Cream with spirulina, I take a moment to get really present and really feel the sensation of the cream, the gentle face massage, the smell. I close my eyes and even if it lasts for just a minute, I think about my feet grounded to the floor while I really immerse myself in the entire ritual. 

4. Movement 

For the inside: Most of the women attributed their ‘GLOW’ to regular exercise. Research shows that exercising for at least 30 minutes a day, five times a week, was as effective in boosting your mood as a low grade antidepressant. Exercise increases our blood circulation and stimulates the release of endorphins as well as feel good hormones. To grab the glow from this inside out trick you don’t even need to drag yourself to a HIT class, by just committing to raising your heart rate through a fast paced walk or yoga, the benefits will come. Finding movement you enjoy will only add to your Glow-Up. Fun over fast I say! 

For the outside: Wearing exercise kit that I love encourages me to move. I used to dig in my cupboard for the baggiest tracksuit bottoms and jumpers I could find and it left me feeling so uninspired. I think, and this sentiment was shared amongst many of the glowing women I spoke to, your exercise kit should make you feel sexy! I am a firm fan of Lulu Lemon and I make sure before I get dressed in my clothes for the day, I put on workout gear first so I have no excuses in getting my exercise done.

5. Ask for a bit of help

For the inside: For those days when things look gloomy no matter how much you exercise, cleanse, meditate or goal set, just pick up the phone. Call up that friend who is your biggest cheerleader and get a much needed motivational pep talk. Ask questions like, “What do you think my strengths are? I am having trouble identifying them” or admit “I feel like I’ve lost my spark today”. It’s so normal to have days when you lack motivation and sometimes we need our family and friends to remind us just how epic we really are. It’s that zest for life that provides us with the ultimate glow from within. 

For the outside: For the days when no matter how much water you drink, your skin still feels a bit parched. Do not hesitate to ask for help from the MIGHTY, Eye Serum Mask. These little eye patches make you look like you’ve slept for 12 hours. I always rely on these little beauties to give me that GLOW when I’ve fallen off the wellness wagon elsewhere.These five tips have given me a morning GLOW like never before. Do let me know if they work for you or if you have any special thoughts you’d like to share about what makes you GLOW! 

With love, 

Poppy 
Founder of @happynotperfect  and Not Perfect Podcast with Poppy Jami‪e‬