The Genius Way Madewell’s Head of Design Finds Time for Meditation and Facial Massage in the a.M.

Photo: Joyce Lee; Graphic: Well+Good Creative

Welcome to My Morning Routine, where accomplished boss babes share their morning rituals and a.m. habits—it just might inspire you to start your own day a little differently. Here, Madewell's Joyce Lee gets candid about her before-work routine.

Joyce Lee
Senior vice president of design at Madewell and mom of one

I am not a morning person. On the mornings my three-year-old daughter doesn't wake me up, I hit the snooze button as many times as I can. But most of the time, she does, inevitably, get me up around 6:45 a.m.

The first thing I do is make her breakfast. She loves either scrambled eggs, oatmeal, or Mickey Mouse Eggos. She's also obsessed with the rainbow bagels from our local bagel shop, but that's a weekend treat. As for me, my go-to breakfast is sourdough toast with Vegemite, which my Australian friends got me into. I'll either have that or yogurt with granola. I'm also really into instant coffee. My husband is all about his fancy cold brew, but I like just putting on a pot of water and pouring in my coffee crystals.

I'd like to say that I'm one of those people who doesn't look at her phone in the morning, but I definitely do. I scan my inbox for any urgent emails and then take a quick look at my cal. It helps me mentally prepare for the day.

My morning shower is my me-time. It's literally the only part of the day when I'm alone.

After breakfast, I get my daughter dressed. When she was a baby, she was like my little doll that I could dress up in whatever I wanted, but now, she refuses to wear anything except dresses. I bought her all these cute jumpsuits and she will literally hide them! My husband takes her to school because it works better for his commute to work than mine, so once we do the switch off, I can go get myself ready.

My morning shower is my me-time. It's literally the only part of the day when I'm alone. I actually use it as my meditation time and to think about everything I'm grateful for. I'm obsessed with fragrance, aromatherapy, and essential oils, so that's part of it, too. I'm obsessed with Sisters Body and use their shampoo, conditioner, and body wash, which has a sandalwood scent and is really invigorating.

When I get out of the shower, I use my rose quartz roller to help get the circulation in my face going. Then, I put on a little bit of Chantecaille tinted moisturizer. Other than that, I just use a little brow gel and mascara. I'm really into natural beauty and am even more aware of what I'm putting on my body right now because I'm pregnant. It's made me think more about what's being absorbed into my body.

And with that, I get dry my hair, get dressed, and am out the door.

If you want to try the whole face rolling thing too, here's how to do it. Plus, how you can turn your own shower experience into a dreamy spa-like experience.

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