Beauty tips for moms

If you wear lipstick (I do cuz it's easy and looks nice), find a shade that you like in one of these new-fangled stay-on formulas. These kind of stain or paint your lips so you can forget about your lipstick for the rest of the day (which you do anyway). Some days I completely forget to apply, and that's fine too.

Wearing mascara is a quick way to help you look put-together and awake. Anything that has those results is good in my book. I suggest a waterproof mascara—it stays on better and you can cry in it. You'll also need to invest in some eye makeup remover to get the stuff off gently but thoroughly.

Use a moisturizer with sunscreen. Reason? Multitasking saves time. I have an oil-free "moisture lotion" that is SPF 15 and formulated for the face. I put it on during my "morning makeup moment." (This is the moment around 10 or 11am when I'm sitting at my desk at work and realize that I am awake and should fix myself up a little bit.)

Invest in a good/fancy razor. Let's face it, you probably won't use it that often anyway, so the cost will amortize nicely. (Many busy moms suggest just shaving one leg per day, maximum two per week.) After cutting myself outrageously with cheap single-blade disposable razors, I lost my temper and purchased a $9 thingy that has "lotion cartridges" or something and triple blades. It even claims that no shaving cream or moisturizer is needed, you just wet & go. Love it.

More on sunblock: Make it easy to put on first thing and be done. I got my first burn of the season back in April innocently sitting on a deck enjoying an unseasonably nice spring day. I burned the same place as always, the delicate decolletage area. I have vowed to Do My Best to not get burned there again. Yuck. My weapon is SPF 25 sunblock that I keep on my bathroom sink. After I step from the shower and towel off, and before I run out to do the billion things that are simmering in my head, I pause. 30 seconds to rub on that SPF 25. Done and done.

The common theme here is that some mothers are short on time and memory power. If I do remember to do something for myself, it has to be done right then and fast. Because something else is coming up in 2 seconds. Right now that would be... radio show playlists!

Beef Jerky Time playlist 5/7/08

• Remote Control: Trans Am
  
• House Fire: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
  
• Katie Cruel: Karen Dalton
  
• Danger!: The Sound of Arrows
  
• Sweden Hasn't Changed, You Have: Fast Computers
  
• Call It a Ritual: Wolf Parade
  
• Birds of Prey: Von Iva
  
• The Upstairs Room: The Cure
  
• The Land of La La: Stevie Wonder
  
• Far Away: Cut Copy
  
• Kelly: Van She
  
• We're Through: James Pants
  
• So Long: Fischer Z

Beef Jerky Time Playlist 5/14/08, kids nite

• Be Nice to People with Lice: Alan Sparhawk
  
• Baby Beluga: Raffi
  
• Camptown Races
  
• Cricket Song
  
• Clever Gretel: narrated by Danny Kaye
  
• La Mer by Debussy: Baby Einstein Music Box Orchestra
  
• You Gotta Have Skin: John Lithgow
  
• Sheep: Zoe Lewis
  
• Clementine
  
• The Old Gumbie Cat: written and read by T.S. Eliot
  
• Wizard of Oz selections
  
• Sonata No. 1 in G for Cello & Piano: Bach at Bedtime CD
  
• Come All You Bold Sailormen: Pete Seeger
  
• Puff the Magic Dragon: Broken Social Scene
  
• Bathtime: Raffi
  
• ABC-DEF-GHI... : Big Bird
  
• I Like to Eat Apples & Bananas
  
• Hop Up Ladies: Dan Zanes