The blaring chimes from my iPhone SE ring at 8:45 am, giving myself a good 15 minutes to rouse from my deep sleep and come to terms with the fact I have to get out of bed. If it is work morning, then my alarm would be going off at 4:45 am, painful I know. My cosy feather duvet is thrown to the other side of my bed and I immediately shrivel up like Voldemort under the bench in Harry Potter. I take my retainer out, leaving a nasty plastic after taste which makes me instantly cringe and wonder why I was not born with a perfect set of teeth. I hurriedly put my soft dressing gown on, snatch my electric toothbrush from its charging station and prepare myself to open the door and take my first step onto the ice-cold hardwood flooring.
Making my way to the bathroom, I cheekily turn on the heating so that the house is nicely toasted by the time I am done in the bathroom (sorry mum). Straight away I get to brushing my teeth, replacing the horrible, plastic morning breath with a refreshing mint. Then, I hop into the shower and wash away the sleepiness and groggy grumpiness till the warm water has calmed my aching joints and I smell strongly of mango. Once out, I move on to washing my face with an oil-free natural face wash, a blackhead nose strip along with a soft flannel. I use a soft one as I have acne-prone skin and using a normal face towel was too harsh on my skin.
As soon as my bathroom routine is done, I walk downstairs smugly knowing my room is going to feel like a balmy summer day. The time is around 9:25 am so you would think that it is breakfast time, however, I read somewhere that you have to leave at least 20 minutes between brushing your teeth and eating. So next up is my skin care routine which consists of wiping my face with Salicylic Acid pads, a face moisturiser, then some Squalene to give my face some extra hydration, an eye cream and finally some Bio Oil. I usually give a couple of minutes between each product to them let to their work on my skin and in those little minute breaks I chaotically run and let the dogs in and out one at a time. You see, if Phillip and Bella are outside at the same time, Phillip will bother Bella relentlessly and she will never get any business done.
Since COVID 19 has locked us all inside, I do not bother which applying much make up as I do not see the need to. Now, I tend to do my brows with brow mascara, add some eyelash mascara and a clear lip gloss. Thus giving me a fresh-faced look without having to fill my pores with foundation and concealer, my skin needs the break. When my make up is done the time is around 9:40 am and if I had washed my hair then I would usually blow dry it, however, if not then it is breakfast time. My choices range from crumpets, a variety of cereals or toast. Not an exciting array of options but I only have 20 minutes until my meeting with the team, so I do not have time to create a jazzy breakfast.
Crumpets scoffed and my meeting has started. These meetings usually last around an hour or two and there is a lot to discuss, plan and solve when it comes to running an online magazine. This magazine is a blessing, and I am so happy that I decided to take a year out and do this placement. The work is hard, challenging and it is constantly pushing me to be better, but I would not have it any other way. It is not just the magazine that I am grateful of, but also the people I have met along the way. Leana and I have known each other for two years as we are both on the same Journalism course, however, I have only known Lily for around four months but it feels as if we have been friends for ages.
Coming back from that little detour, that is my morning routine complete. Sometimes there are little hiccups in my mornings like ‘accidently’ snoozing my alarm, so it won’t always go as perfectly as this. However, I am not perfect and life is not perfect but you guys reading our articles and being part of the Aspect team sure make it feel like it is.