Kew Gardens - How To Get Ready For a Royal Day Out When You Have Zero Time

Rosie has been the most brightly shining little light in our lives since she has arrived. There isn't anything I enjoy more than spending time with her and watching her grow. Time is always short with small children around, and especially now that I went back to work, it has become even more precious for me to stay with her as much as possible. Which means that preparation time is reduced further.

This past weekend we decided to take our first ever longer, family trip. Looking around on the internet for beautiful gardens and parks, I came across Kew Gardens at Wakehurst. We immediately fell in love with the place.

That being said, do you know the feeling when you long for a lovely makeover, or having that refreshing hair wash and curl you used to regularly have? Well, the mornings being so busy, getting everybody ready and naturally leaving yourself last, there are very thin chances of realising such plans. Practically zero.

So you need tricks. I'll tell you about my makeover plan - even if you are a very busy mum, this hair and make-up combo can be done in as much as 15 minutes!

Hair

As I knew we would be away the whole day, and it has been quite hot in the UK recently, I needed my hair out of the way. But mostly, I wanted to hug and kiss Rosie all day long, finally being weekend and all, and I had to make sure she does not get tangled up in my locks. I also bought a selection of hair flowers I wanted to use for a long time, so to add it all up, I decided it was definitely going to be a poodle do, decorated with some flowers.

The only tiny little problem, beside minimum time to get ready, was that I never did this hairstyle before...

So I decided to curl my hair the night before, and whatever happens, at least I'll have the curls. I put Rosie to bed and stayed up another half an hour to set my hair. I love curling my hair, as the curls hold firmly until the next time I need to wash it. I also sleep in it, and even keep it the whole day, working around the house when I prepare my hair this way.

Next, I will briefly explain how I styled it, however, that is usually something I do after I apply make-up. That way it my hair is still out of the way while I am applying eyeshadow, foundation or drawing the cateye with the liner.

Back to the hair.

Everybody was sleepy in the morning the next day. The 15 minutes while they were coming to their senses was all I needed. I took the hairclips out and ran my fingers through the curls. I teased the roots and piled all the hair on the top of my head. I used bobby pins to secure the "nest" of hair all around. Finally, I rolled the hair ends into curls in rows and pinned them down before adding the hair flowers on both sides.

This did not take me more than 5 minutes, and I was really pleased with how it turned out at the first attempt! I guess I'll just keep practising.

Make-up

Hair being ready, I slapped the foundation on my face with my fingers. I love using Dior's Capture Totale Foundation, as it contains tiny glimmering particles that give such a lovely glow to the skin. In two seconds, I drew my eyebrows with Anastasia Beverly Hills Dip Brow Pomade in Blonde. Next, I used the Dior Trianon Eyeshadow Palette and Cheekblush 001 and Girls With Attitude (how true!) English Rose Collection lashes.

My eyeliner time-saving hack: I just draw the wings at the end after adding the eyelashes. This way the line on my lid stays thin as I like it, and I only need to master the wing. It saves so much time!

On my lips I only use lip balm to make sure Rosie and I can have as many kisses as we want!

I was ready before everybody got up properly!

And there you have it - fully prepared in just 15 minutes.

Dress

I decided to wear my beloved Stop Staring dress for the walk with a pink petticoat. People at Kew seemed to like it as we were stopped in every step! Some thought we were attending the wedding that was taking place inside the mansion, some just admired the details. I met a lot of people, and had the most amazing chats. They absolutely loved the idea that I was wearing a pretty dress just because it was Saturday.

But the best conversation I had was with an elderly lady. She gave me a fantastic tip!

First, she stopped me with a dreamy look on her face. She explained that she was wearing similar clothes while young, back in the 1960s. Apparently, my outfit brought some dear memories back. She inquired about the petticoat and consequently told me to wash it in sugary solution and store it in tights to make it even fluffier. How amazing is that?

So off we went! Stay tuned for the next post where I'll show you the gardens and share some advice on how to prepare and what to expect on such a trip!

Until next time then!

#kewgardens #wakehurst #stopstaring #poodledo