Low Spoons Beauty: 6 Makeup Tips for Low Energy Days When You Still Want to Feel Cute

What this article covers:

• Doing your makeup from bed on a flare or fatigue day is possible with the right setup. 
• This article covers how to make your beauty routine easier when energy is low, from prepping your kit in advance and getting comfortable in bed before you even pick up a product, to choosing multi-purpose formulas and giving your hands the grip support they actually need.

Your hands start cramping mid-beauty-routine and suddenly you’re dropping that lippie for the third time, or getting it all over your chin because your hand won’t stay steady. On a flare day or a heavy fatigue day, it’s not always the energy to do your makeup that runs out first. Sometimes it’s the grip.

Less grip effort = less energy used across your whole routine.

On those days, getting out of bed to do your makeup at the bathroom mirror can feel completely out of reach. Washing your face, moisturising, SPF, foundation—it’s just not going to happen, and that’s okay. Whether you’re in a flare, or your fatigue is heavy, it’s normal to need rest and still want a bit of your regular routine intact.

For a lot of us, doing our makeup is one of the ways we feel like ourselves, feel ready for the day, and feel cute (even if we don’t feel good). Makeup can be a very valid form of self care, and when you feel crap, it’s good to prioritise any little slices of joy you can add to your day.

Here are 6 tips for inviting more ease into your beauty routine from bed (or the couch, or wherever you rest) without draining too many spoons.

 

1. Set up your kit before you need it

The most exhausting part of a beauty routine on a flare day isn’t the routine itself, it’s the searching and setting up. Rummaging through your makeup bag, dropping things, getting up to find something you forgot.

Protect your future spoons and put together a dedicated low-energy kit and keep it within arm’s reach of where you rest. A small beauty case or caddy with the basics: your tinted moisturiser or BB cream, a brow product, a lip balm/tint, maybe some blush, and a dry shampoo if you use it. Remember: the less friction between you and feeling cute, the better!

2. Bring the countertop to you

Getting comfortable before you even pick up a product makes a bigger difference than you’d think. A few pillows stacked behind your back and under your arms can take a lot of the effort out of sitting upright. If you can get yourself slightly propped up rather than fully flat, your arms will thank you.

From there, a bed tray to keep everything at the same level means you’re not reaching down or across constantly. Pair that with a mirror that sits at eye level and you’ve got a proper little setup without the uncomfortable positions. The goal is to minimise unnecessary movements: rest your elbows on a surface, anchor your wrist, and let your arm do as little work as possible.

3. A clean face, from bed

For days when getting up and doing your double cleanse from the sink isn’t happening, have a great pack of cleansing wipes at the ready. There’s no shame in needing some ease, and a high quality cleansing wipe can still get the job done, ensuring you’ve got that clean face feeling, ready for your makeup. We love Innisfree Vitamin E Cleansing Tissues for a cleanse that doesn’t strip the skin or leave you feeling dry as hell afterwards. Another fabulous option (though they are definitely on the luxury-side) are the Conserving Beauty 3-in-1 wipes, these can be used as a hydrating serum, makeup primer and makeup remover.

 

4. Give your hands easy grip

You know the feeling: you go to grab your mascara and it slips straight out of your fingers. Or you’re trying to get a lid off and it ends up taking upwards of 3 minutes (and then you give up and get someone to do it for you). Or the shaking starts and suddenly the lipstick won’t colour inside the (lip)line.

When your hands are fatigued, cramping, or shaking, the hardest part of doing your makeup isn’t the application, it’s navigating the products (that aren’t designed for gripping). Mascara wands, concealer tubes, slippery lipsticks — they’re all designed for people who have perfect grip strength and mobility. That’s not always us, and it shouldn’t have to be!

ByStorm grips wrap around your existing products and give you a wider, more secure, more ergonomic hold. They’re universal and ergonomic, made for all beauty lovers, and they work with products you already own (no need to switch products).

5. Choose multi-purpose creams and hero products

The fewer products the better when you’re low on energy. A good tinted moisturiser with SPF covers three steps. A lip and cheek tint can give you a whole look in one tube. And a tinted brow gel pulls together your whole face with one product.

On low energy days, cream products are your best friends. Try cream blush, cream bronzer, tinted lip balm, and even cream eyeshadow sticks. Basically anything that blends with a fingertip or a beauty blender dab, meaning no brushes needed, and a more forgiving finish, meaning you don’t need too much precision. 

Worth knowing: If you love a slick back and hate having your dirty hair down, Yours Only has a problem-solving product for you. We love to add a small amount of their multi-purpose 'Mask' smoothed into a slick back bun (with genuine benefit to your hair and scap).

 

6. Done is better than perfect, and pacing is better than rushing

Sometimes all it takes to feel cute on a crappy day is a bit of blush and concealer, or a brushed brow and some lip balm. You don’t need to do it all and use up your whole day’s energy. Remember that pacing is your best friend. Your whole routine doesn’t have to happen in one sitting (or at all).

 

The one tool worth adding to your kit

ByStorm beauty grips are beauty tools that wrap around your existing makeup: mascara, lipstick, concealer tubes, and lots more. They make each product so much easier to hold and control. And they’re designed for anyone who finds small, slippery products hard to hold and hard to get a precise result with.

They even come with a 30-day money-back guarantee (and a lifetime guarantee on the product itself—because it’s literally indestructible, meaning you never need to repurchase).

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