Look and Feel Great During a Long Shift

Like most people, when you wake up in the morning you probably start your day with the best of intentions. You shower, fix your hair, put on a little make-up, get dressed and head off into the world looking like you are ready to take on the day. You're all together and you look and feel terrific. Unfortunately, by mid-shift you might look a little worse for wear! There are simple ways to make sure you look and feel fresh all day, and considering that nurses are the face of healthcare and that you need to look good for your patients, we've come up with some really simple and effective ways to make your personal care routine a breeze.

Rule #1 – Simplify Your Morning Routine

Ask yourself how long it takes you to get ready before heading off to the hospital. Ten minutes? Twenty minutes? An hour? More? If you want to freshen up at the hospital or clinic you will need to be able to do it on your coffee or lunch break. This means being able to replicate most of your morning routine on the fly – make-up touches, hair fixing, even a quick shower if your hospital or health care facility has the facilities to allow it.

Tips to Simplify Your Morning Routine

Don't linger in the shower. A quick lather and shampoo is all you need. Save the singing and the long self-talks for later.
Shave your legs before bed. A shower before bed can also be quite relaxing, so take care of your shaving and plucking in the evening when you have the time.
Simplify your hair and make-up. We'll talk more about this later on in this article.
When your morning routine is easy, you'll find that you have more time for a good breakfast, too. Remember, the goal of a simple morning is to get you used to being able to freshen up quickly so you look good any time of the day when you need to.

Rule #2 – Simplify Your Hair Care

As mentioned earlier, part of looking good all day involves having a well maintained hairstyle. There are people that seem to have "perfect hair" all day, without a single hair out of place. Here's the secret – a good hair cut and good product.

Tips for Perfect Hair All Day

Get a hairstyle that allows you to quickly wash, dry and style in the morning. Gone are the days of the curling irons and rollers. While flat ironing may be stylish, save that for your days off. You need something fast and simple, but also a style that can be dressy for special occasions.
Don't shampoo your hair every single day unless your hair is naturally quite oily. In between washings you can spritz your hair with a little water, scrunch it with your fingers or comb it, and be on our way. When you are at work, try a little styling wax to tame your hair. Just put a little on your fingertips and lightly run your hands through your hair.
Wear your hair up. If you have long hair and you need to keep it out of the way, don't just reach for an elastic band. Instead, try a stylish comb or braid your hair and twist the braid up into a bun. You can look pretty and perfectly coifed all day. During your shift, on your break, take your hair down, give it a good brushing and put it back up again. Use a little styling wax to hold down any flyaway hairs that come lose.

Rule #3 – Simplify Your Make-Up

Any busy nurse will tell you that spending 45 minutes in front of the mirror in the morning may all be well and fine, but after a busy shift half of that morning effort has been rubbed off and worn off. So how do you stay made-up and looking good all day? Here are some ideas:

Tips for Perfect Make-up All Day

Simplify your color palette. Do you really need three shades of eyeshadow? Choose a lighter color for the lid and a slightly darker color to highlight the upper lid. That's it. Neutral colors like browns and greys are always in fashion and are easily touched up in the mirror when you're on your break. As for eyeliners, the same rule applies. Go for neutral shades that can be quickly reapplied in 30-seconds.
Skip the lipliner, lipstick, gloss routine. No one says you need to go bare-lipped all day, but you should at least relax and simplify your lipstick routine so that you don't have that worn-off-lipstick look for most of your shift. M.A.C. cosmetics has lipsticks that last all day and in a huge variety of colors. Try something with a little color that will fade over the day without looking chalky or cakey. "Blankety" is a really nice soft pink beige that works great for almost all medium skin-tones and "Stay in Touch", a nice light medium yellow brown color, for golden or lighter brown skin tones.
Easy on the blush. This is quite simple – apply a liquid or gel blush in the morning. They are absorbed into the skin and really do last a lot longer than powder blushes. Peach or pinkish blushes are the best and if your blush does wear off during the day, don't worry about it! If you simply must touch up your blush, grab a light neutral powder that you can sweep over your cheeks for a color touch up any time of the day.

Rule #4 – Take Time to Feel Fresh All Day

Feeling fresh all day doesn't necessarily mean taking a shower on your break, but there are some little things you could do to help you feel a little fresher through out the day.

Tips for All-Day Fresh Feeling

Change your uniform. If you have a spare set of scrubs or a spare uniform at work and you're feeling a little hot and gritty during your shift, take a minute and swap your clothes. You'll be surprised how good you'll fee.
Take a quick sponge bath. We're not kidding! You have probably sponge bathed bed-bound patients time after time. If you have a little privacy in the washroom, why not give yourself a quick wash down? On a hot summer day, what could feel better in the middle of a 12-hour shift than a refreshing 5 minute wash up?
If your hospital or clinic allows it, try using a little talcum powder on your body to help absorb any perspiration.
Close your eyes for 10 minutes on your break to rest and relax.
Drink plenty of water and avoid caffeine.
Avoid sugary and high-fat snacks. Snack on fresh fruit and veggies to help you look and feel more balanced.

And there you have it – a few ways to look and feel fresh all day. The bottom line is to simplify your routine from the time you wake up to the time you leave work.