At 6:30 am I peeled my tired body from the pillow-top mattress and walked into the bathroom. I caught a glimpse of a stranger in the mirror, and it scared the goldfish crumbs right out of my hair. Then I realized it was me in the mirror, except I looked a heck of a lot scarier than I remembered.
Dang.
My eyes look like I painted black under them. My hair resembled a bird’s nest. Don’t even get me started on my frumpy mom pajamas.
I knew this would happen. That motherhood would somehow take over and I would neglect taking care of myself.
Last night between my older child afraid to sleep alone and my newborn who woke 3 times and refused to go back to sleep without 25 minutes of bouncing, 10 minutes of rocking, and 17.5 minutes signing Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi.
After a night awake with a newborn, my toddler woke at 6:30 am rested and ready to hike 3 miles up a mountain.
Motherhood is exhausting, isn’t it? Tired doesn’t even begin to explain it.
The busy moms guide to looking great in 10 minutes or less.
I didn’t want to look at a strange woman in the mirror anymore so I pulled together a quick and easy morning routine. The goal was to look presentable in under 10 minutes.
Related: 9 Quick & Clever Mealtime Hacks for Busy Moms
1. Wash your face first thing in the morning.
Time spent: 1 minute
Keeping your skin exfoliated and clean is a great way to appear like you slept the night before. This also prevents dead skin cells from clogging your pores and contributing to breakouts.
2. Wash your hair the night before.
Shower the night before to save time the next morning. I love using the Sea Mineral Infusion Body Shampoo and Conditioner because it gives your hair tons of body, making it easy to style the next morning.
Related: The Most Cost Effective Chemical Free Make Up Solution That You’ll Love
3. Blow dry the roots of your hair.
Time spent: 2 minutes
If you don’t have time to blow out your hair (Who does?) blow out the roots only. Wet the roots of your hair, then apply Luxe Style Infusion Blow Dry Spray first to give you 24-hour hair volume. Then blow out. I love that it only takes 2 minutes time, and it looks like you spent 30 minutes.
4. Perfect the hair bun.
Time spent: 1 minute
Learn how to create an awesome hair bun in under 1 minute. Wearing your hair up is functional throughout the day. Plus, if you spray it into place using Luxe Style Infusion Hairspray, it looks great all the way until your kids go to bed.
5. Mascara, concealer, mascara.
Time spent: 2 minutes
Mascara and concealer are a mom’s friend for life. No one should look in the mirror and think there is black painted under their eyes. Put on the mascara, followed by concealer, followed by a second coat of mascara. That way you’ll look awake even if you’re asleep with your eyes open.
6. Wear clothes that fit.
Time spent: 1 minute.
I cannot emphasize this enough—no matter what your body type, always wear clothes that fit the size you are currently. Do not squish your Portobello mushroom top (I have one) into jeans two sizes too small. Throw out all the size zero pants you think you are going to fit into by New Years. Trust me. This will save you bunches of time.
7. Wear clothes that are timeless.
Time spent: 1 minute.
Go shopping and buy yourself 7 tops that are timeless. If you need to simplify it even further, buy yourself 7 V-Neck tops that fit nicely in solid colors that suit you well. I prefer blue, green, purple and blacks, but everyone is different.
This will save you a ton of time each week for 2 reasons: First, you won’t be wasting time looking for clothes that fit. Second, you won’t be wasting time looking for clothes that fit the current trends.
Bonus: For goodness sakes, drink a cup of coffee.
Time spent: 2 minutes.
Hair and make-up go a long way when it comes to looking good in under 10 minutes. But a cup of coffee is the caramel on the ice cream. And if you don’t drink coffee, you saved another two minutes and look amazing in only 8 minutes.
Wear and share your awesome hairstyle this Veterans Day.
Suave is celebrating female service members, who inspire us every day as they serve our country both at home and abroad, by wearing military-inspired hairstyles. Suave is enlisting the help of military families and civilians to join the celebration and share military-inspired hair styles on social media using #ShareBeauty.
Watch this how-to video from a megastar beauty vlogger and Military veteran for easy tips to create a military-inspired style:
You can help support the troops too!
We want you! Wear your military-inspired hairstyle on Veteran’s Day, share using #ShareBeauty, or both, to support Suave as they donate 10,000 products to troops overseas.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Suave via MSB New Media. The opinions and text are all mine.
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