Morning mayhem

Hello, all. If you don't already know me from Mama Never Said, I'm a busy working mom who needs to get out of the house and into the office quickly, sans spit-up. Having a routine that's simple and fast leaves ample time for those inevitable poop explosions just as I'm buckling the car seat.

I use these tricks to make myself look presentable on an exceptionally time-crunched day (read: every day):

1. Use a flat iron to get out stray wrinkles
Of course if my chosen outfit is a wrinkled mess, I -- well -- find something else lying around that's clean. But for a few antagonizing creases, I just plug in my hair straightener (which takes less than 30 seconds to heat) and run the plates over the wrinkle. It shaves time off of waiting for the water in a conventional iron to heat and wrestling with an ironing board.

2. Put the already-hot flat iron to us
If you have long (too, too thick) hair like I do, the thought of blowing out and straightening your hair is a long-forgotten luxury. While I've toyed with chopping it all off for a chic bob, I'm not ready to part with my long post-pregnancy hair. My go-to styling routine: I quickly run the straightener over the front and top layer of my hair, then pull the rest back in a laid-back chignon.


3. Freshen your face with tinted moisturizer

Multi-tasking mom, multi-tasking moisturizer. Taking a few minutes to smear it on in lue of your regular moisturizer AND sunscreen AND foundation will give your face a clean glow. I use an affordable organic brand called Kiss My Face -- I'm a bit neurotic about what I put in and on my body now that I'm breastfeeding -- and I absolutely love it. It's better than any other that I've tried. I then make sure the rest of my makeup is moving-vehicle friendly. Why do you think we have red lights?


Any tips to speed up your routine?