Nov30
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You work out. You wanna look good. But a beauty routine is hard to keep up. Don’t fret my fitness-lovin’ friends. I’m gonna tell you how you can sneak in some personal care while you work out.Â
Beauty Hack #1: Shellac isn’t always in the budget. And to be honest, it destroys my nails so I don’t have it done very often. But who has time to paint their nails and let them dry? The answer. People without a lot to do and that certainly isn’t me. And I’m guessing it isn’t you. The solution: paint your nails right before a workout. I actually can’t take credit for this one – Michelle blogged about painting her nails before a run because she isn’t using her hands for anything. Brilliant.
I’ve started painting mine before all cardio workouts – running, elliptical, stairmill. The trickiest part is putting on my seatbelt driving to the gym. I carry my keys delicately and throw my phone, headphones and water into a bag. By the time I get to the gym, my nails are dry enough that I can pull them out and put them on the machine before starting my workout.
Beauty Hack #2: Who has time to sit with a hair mask on before they shampoo? And who actually remembers? The solution: Before you workout, apply a hair mask to dry hair. Apply your mask of choice to your hair and comb through. Then, pull your hair back, put it in a bun, slap on a headband. I like this Bumble & Bumble one, but I’ve also used coconut oil.
Once you start working out, people will just assume that greasy look is sweat. And I’ve found when it’s pulled back, it just looks wet, not greasy. Bonus, if you use coconut oil, you smell good while you work out. 😉
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Beauty Hack #3:  I know I should moisturize my feet more. But I can’t walk around with greasy feet and I can’t wear socks to bed (it makes me claustrophobic) and I don’t want lotion all over my sheets! Ah! The list of why I can’t moisturize my feet goes on and on. (yes, these are life problems.) The solution: apply foot creme before your workout. Massage a liberal amount of foot creme, put on some socks, put on some shoes (or Vibram FiveFingers, in my case).
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The heat your body generates while working out helps the moisturizer absorb and soften your feet, just like when they wrap your feet in hot towels when getting a pedicure. I’ve also used coconut oil for this (and bonus: it makes your shoes smell better ;), but I particularly like applying Burt’s Bees Peppermint Foot Lotion. The tingly feeling from the peppermint feels awesome while working out and even better when you’re done. (Note: I’ve never tried this for workouts longer than 30 minutes…not sure how this would work out on a 12 miler.) Extra points if you use a pumice stone on your feet in your post-workout shower.Â
Happy primping! 🙂
Do you have any beauty tips that work well with your fitness-lovin’ lifestyle? Do share!
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17 responses to “Beauty Hacks for the Fitness Junkie”
These tips are genius! I have developed some pretty nasty “runner’s feet” recently (sorry, too much?), so I will definitely be moisturizing during tomorrow morning’s workout.
haha no such thing as TMI! I hope you like that trick! let me know! 🙂
These are awesome, especially the nails one! Im a bit clumsy and Im worried I’d ruin it anyway but it’s totally worth a shot. As far as coconut hair, do you just apply that stuff right onto your hair or do you mix with anything?
I apply it straight. I’m sure there are masks that incorporate other ingredients but I went for the simple approach 🙂
I love all of these! That nail painting one hit the spot. Who has time for that?!
I use coconut oil in my hair before workouts ALL THE TIME!!! It totally works. I used too much the first time I did it and it dripped down my face. So not fun. Ick!
Omg hahah good to know! I’ll be careful not to overapply!
This is such an interesting idea! I definitely get impatient about beauty stuff… which explains why my feet look pretty gnarly right now! I should give your suggestions a try. My only question is that if I paint my toenails before working out, won’t the sneakers mess up the polish? Hmm…
Ha! I suppose I should have specified that I paint my FINGERnails not toenails 🙂
This is absolutely amazing!
These tips are awesome! I am definitely going to try the foot cream one!
Great tips! I especially need to remember the last one. My feet are begging for some moisturizing after all I’ve put them through, haha.
I’m all about using coconut oil as a deep conditioner every week or two. I also use it as eye make-up remover.
I’ll have to try it as eye makeup remover. Thanks! Probably multitasks for fine lines too!
These are all great tips!
I do have a question for you, Teri, and the other runners/walkers reading your blog: any suggestions for pedicures for walkers/runners? I walk 5-10 miles 3-4 times a week, just completed a half marathon and will be doing another in December, then a marathon next spring. (I used to be a runner, but had a hip replacement 8 years ago–running not allowed after that.) I really need pedicures, especially with sandal season, but also need the callouses on the bottoms of my feet to protect them for walking. Any recommendations for salons that do “runners’ pedicures”?
I’ve actually never had an issue with them overscraping my feet & calluses. Maybe because I go to the cheap places? 😉 You could always just tell them to go easy on that or skip it all togehter. Sorry I’m not much help!
Great tricks, but I think I am way too accident prone to not smudge my nails en route to the gym (I have a hard enough time not smudging them while sitting under the nail dryer). You must be WAY more coordinated than I am!