Do you need a post-workout beauty routine? Unfortunately, yes, in most cases, you do need some sort of beauty essentials in your gym bag. Unless, of course, you plan to head home and shower and complete your entire routine. But as most of us barely have the time to hit the gym in the first place, a condensed version of your daily routine is necessary. If you work up a sweat and head off to run errands or go to lunch, not only will you carry a rank odor with you, but that lack of routine could leave you with breakouts, a rash, or just an overall not cute look.
Naturally, we are not expecting you to go full glam after hot yoga, but if you want to look presentable in case you run into your ex or even your boss, these simple beauty steps will make that happen. So go on and heat up your workout because we have got your cool down beauty essentials.
1. The first step you can take to make sure your after-workout look is as far as possible is to forget the hair ties and choose a scrunchie to pull back your hair. This may seem like an unnecessary way to bring some ’80s and ’90s fads into the gym, but actually, scrunchies offer an excellent grip to keep your hair up without leaving that awful crease in your hair. Plus, these cause infinitely less breakage to your hair than elastics. And it never hurts to throw a cute and colorful accessory into your gym attire.
2. Wipe down. Of course, you can skip this if you plan on hopping in the shower, but if you’re in a hurry, the Yuni Shower Sheets (Shop here) are ideal for after a sweaty gym session. Plus, they come in handy individual packs for easy on-the-go use. And they do more than wipe the sweat away. They deodorize you for a fresh feeling. You should also throw in some pre-soaked facial pads, especially if you happen to be breakout prone. We recommend the First Aid Beauty Facial Radiance Pads (Shop here) as they offer cleansing, brightening, soothing and hydrating properties to the skin. Before you start covering up your post-workout look, you should clean it up.
3. Then the savior, dry shampoo. Even if you head to the gym with super clean hair, one spin class turns into grease city, so grab a mini handbag-sized dry shampoo and spritz it through your roots to add volume and freshness back into your locks. Batiste (Shop here) makes its #1 best-selling dry shampoo in a perfect-for-the-gym-sized can. Once you spray it in, let it do its magic and soak up the oils for a minute or so, then get to rubbing in any residue, and the grease is gone.
4. Even after toning and cleansing the skin, your post-workout glow may look more red, shiny, and blotchy than you’d like. That is why a powder is always an excellent gym beauty routine staple. Any compact will provide shine control and a touch of coverage, but this one from Bare Minerals (Shop here) was made especially for this situation. It helps control shine and reduce the appearance of pore size. If you want to head out for lunch after the gym, this powder will take you from mess to yes.
5. For those looking for a bit more glam, reach for multipurpose products. These are great for all over the face, and they take up less space in your bag. We recommend the Undone Beauty Lip to Cheek 3-in-1 Cream Tint (Shop here) as it provides a pop of color to the face without overdoing it. It comes in eight shades and is fool-proof, so even when you’re in your after gym haze, you can make it work. And to amp up your look, just a touch more, toss your favorite mascara into the mix. The eye-opening effects of just a few swipes of mascara make all the difference.
6. A facial mist is certainly refreshing but also offers an all-over cooldown. This one from ZL Skin (Shop here) has a unique mix of ingredients like tremella mushroom extract, green tea, yuzu, and propolis extract. It cleanses, calms irritated and inflamed skin while adding a dewy glow to your face or even all over.
7. And finally, a must-have is deodorant. We assume you already have this living in your gym bag as it is sort of required, but throwing in a fresh spray of perfume or body spray takes you one step closer to shower freshness. Speaking of shower freshness, the Clean Shower Fresh (Shop here) fragrance is a clean yet sexy scent to take you to any occasion smelling clean. This is the cherry on top of your post-gym beauty routine.
