Five best beauty time-savers

You're a urban city girl, which means you have places to be and people to meet. So stop slaving over your looks, and use these genius shortcuts. You'll get the same gorgeous results with a lot less effort.

Shorten your night time skin-care routine


Even when you're exhausted after a night out, you need to remove makeup to prevent breakouts and irritation. To do it in half the time, choose a face wash with glycolic acid, which cleanses, exfoliates, and brightens your complexion. Now all you have to do is moisturise. If your skin tends to be oily, swipe on a product with salicylic acid to tone down grease. On the dry side? Look for a lotion with hydrating hyaluronic acid.
The last touch: slick on lip balm so your mouth isn't flaky when you wake up.

Make your manicure dry faster

A salon manicure can take up to 30 minutes to fully dry because of the thick coats applied. Hurry things up at home by choosing a pale shade, like baby pink rather than a dark hue that takes longer to set. Wipe the excess polish off the brush against the mouth of the bottle, then apply three thin stripes, working left to right on your nail. Seal with a quick-drying topcoat, and blast nails with a blowdryer on the cold setting for several minutes.

Add killer body to your hair pronto

Build volume in no time by creating texture. If you can't wash your hair, even better-slightly dirty strands are easier to mold. If your mane is too clean, douse roots with volumiser to give it lift. Section off the top half of your hair, then twist into a messy bun and secure. Using your blow-dryer on medium heat, blast the bun; the heat mixed with the product will plump strands. Undo your bun, flip head over, and mist with hair spray to set in place.

Shave your legs in a hurry

To shave superfast without getting nicks, lather lower limbs with a creamy body wash. Then go over your shins and calves with a five-blade razor-you'll only have to make one pass. Unless you're wearing a micromini, skip your thighs. After you hop out of the shower, spritz stems with a hydrating body mist.

Depuff your eyes stat

If you have 20 minutes, a cooling mask is ideal. If not, brew two black-tea bags; let cool. Press over eyes for a minute. The caffeine constricts blood vessels and reduces puffiness. Apply an eye cream with chamomile.