— splash some water on your face, followed by gentle exfoliating cleanser, toner and preventative spot treatment
— apply some combo of undereye serum, facial moisturizer, sunscreen, foundation primer, foundation, undereye concealer and a light dusting of powder
— curl your eyelashes with a cold metal squeegee prod, avoid puncturing eyelid in process, fail 40% of the time, attend to punctured eyelid
— apply basic eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara and blush (remembering to blend, blend, blend) brush, highlight, tweeze, trim and fill in any spare patches in your eyebrows
— spritz your hair with volumizing root spray while using a round brush and blow dryer to remove stray kinks, bumps and frizz caused by sleeping
— heat up curling iron and/or flat iron and apply to one-inch sections of hair until entire head covered and apply anti-frizz shine serum to ends of hair (or, in the alternative: style hair into twist, ponytail or other simple updo)
— locate earrings in overnight jewelry-cleaner
— soak and place on ears, along with matching necklace, rings, bracelets or other trinkets
— apply perfume on pulse points
— run a deodorant stick under your arms
— get dressed in a work-appropriate business casual ensemble, making sure to avoid cleavage, hemlines, fabrics styles, cuts, colors or trends that could be inappropriately distracting, whorey, casual or generally offensive to anyone working in a 2-block radius of your office building

There. All fixed.

Granted, I work in a *very* casual office in a non-client-facing environment, but still - if I shower the night before, I can be out the door ten minutes after I wake up.

Also, I suspect said lawyer doesn't have kids. I haven't groomed like that for six years.

there were quite a few comments that in "the professional world" (I don't remember if they specified which profession and/or which part of the country) having wavy/curly hair is seen as Not Professional.

This. My sister has been on me to straighten my hair for YEARS to look more professional. I think she's finally given up, or at least she's decided that my job isn't professional enough to bother.

I think she probably does most of what's on that list. It doesn't take anywhere near an hour, though.

if I shower the night before, I can be out the door ten minutes after I wake up.

Yeah, me too. And if I take my bike I can be at work in 20 minutes.

I think polished and professional doesn't necessarily mean a full face of makeup, either. I knew plenty of women in NYC who didn't wear more than sheer lipstick and maybe some mascara.

I used to work in a client-facing role where I gave presentations to potential customers and did training, etc, and I still never took more than 20 minutes every morning. I just can't imagine it. If makeup took more than 5 minutes, I wouldn't do it. And even then...

I'm pretty sure that if I did everything on that list, it would take me well over an hour. Not including the time it would take for me to buy an eyelash curler, all the makeup items, and an entirely new wardrobe. But I'd like to think I could get it down to under 30 minutes if I did it every day.

Then there are the women who save time by putting makeup on while driving to work....

I totally apply lip gloss at the stoplights.

Here's mine:

ADD: Take pills, go to the bathroom, put in contacts, shower.

— In the shower: splash some water on your face, followed by gentle exfoliating cleanser, out of the shower: toner and preventative spot treatment

— apply some combo of undereye serum, facial moisturizer, sunscreen (it's in my moisturizer(, foundation primer, foundation, undereye concealer and a light dusting of powder

— curl your eyelashes with a cold metal squeegee prod, avoid puncturing eyelid in process, fail 40% of the time, attend to punctured eyelid

— apply basic eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara and blush (remembering to blend, blend, blend) brush, highlight, tweeze, trim and fill in any spare patches in your eyebrows

— spritz your hair with volumizing root spray while using a round brush and blow dryer to remove stray kinks, bumps and frizz caused by sleeping

— heat up curling iron and/or flat iron and apply to one-inch sections of hair until entire head covered and apply anti-frizz shine serum to ends of hair (or, in the alternative: style hair into twist, ponytail or other simple updo)

— locate earrings in overnight jewelry-cleaner jewelry box

— soak and place on ears, along with matching necklace, rings, bracelets or other trinkets

— apply perfume on pulse points

— run a deodorant stick under your arms

— get dressed in a work-appropriate business casual ensemble, making sure to avoid cleavage, hemlines, fabrics styles, cuts, colors or trends that could be inappropriately distracting, whorey, casual or generally offensive to anyone working in a 2-block radius of your office building your school.

Takes me 30 minutes.