I don't have a ton of energy either due to health routines. My daily makeup routine takes about 2 minutes (if I put sunscreen on first, that takes a bit longer because I let it sink in before adding foundation, so in summer I usually do sunscreen, then hair, then make up): mineral foundation swirled in with brush (I have significant discolouration from previous bouts w adult acne), powder blush swirled on with brush, eyebrow cream added with tiny brush, and a hint of sparkly soft white eye shadow added to my inner eye corners with my ring finger (to counteract my genetic dark circles, because I'm not applying concealer every day). Then a swipe of Revlon Lip Butter. More importantly, all of this washes off easily with my regular soap & wash cloth at night (I don't wear mascara except for special occasions because I hate taking it off). It makes a pretty significant difference for a small amount of effort, and I'm happy with it: I do it almost daily even if I'm not leaving the house because it makes me feel better when I see a mirror.
I wasn't allowed to wear make up until I graduated high school, and in college/post-graduation I did wear mascara daily (blonde eyelashes) and frequently a thin line of liquid eyeliner (which is still my special occasion go-to). So I've become lower maintenance over time.
My hair...I used to struggle with it SO much. It's very fine and a bit thin, and being long required a lot of effort to keep it from looking scraggly. I used to dye it too, which of course made it damaged/dried out. And then I had to flat iron my side bangs every day, as I have a double cowlick (this is early college). Eventually I got a pixie, and eventually I grew it out and discovered I actually liked my natural colour, so I got lower maintenance then. But for a couple years I wore it longer & was really into no-heat styling: elaborate braiding, pin curls, etc. Now I just don't have the energy and keeping my arms above my head for more than a few minutes isn't easy either.
Luckily, two years ago I discovered a shorter blunt bob made it look healthy and nice all on its own, even air dried, so now I can be super low maintenance without looking bedraggled. I'll admit, a lot of this past winter I didn't even bother brushing it (just the occasional wet combing; my hair doesn't snarl), but then I found my old boar bristle brush, and was pleasantly surprised at how a quick brush after it was dry made it much more polished. lol I also discovered that adding some argan oil 30 minutes before I shower once a week makes it wonderfully shiny and soft without much effort. So it looks better now than in some of my older WIW posts.
The summers are so hot here though that I don't want anything touching my neck, so I've let it grow out a bit to be able to do updos. I enjoy *wearing* the updos, but the 5-10 minutes of fussing it takes to achieve them is annoying to me. So I've figured out a couple I do can super quickly for my no patience, ultra low maintenance days. I still can't wait to get a bob again in the fall!
I generally bat for team RATE over polished, so my idea of polished probably seems laughable to some. But I'm happy to put the extra few minutes in in the morning if it makes me feel good & doesn't interfere with my daily life (I also hated mascara because I could never rub my eyes, ugh). There's no way I could maintain a daily upkeep that took much more time though.
Why not pick 3 items of makeup that you think would make the biggest difference and try incorporating them? Depending on your hair cut and texture, it might look just fine air dried (For instance, I think GP looks very polished in all of her outfit pics, even though she's so low maintenance.).
