My loyal readers have probably got used by now to my not that straightforward chain of associations when it comes to Saturday Question topics. But today’s one is especially “twice removed.” I’ll explain in My Answer. Though, each of you should feel free to respond directly to the question without going into the intricacies of my train of thought.
Saturday Question #121:
Have You Adopted Any Makeup or Skincare Advice From Your Mother?
When we’re young, we often pick up something from our older relatives, siblings or friends. Years later, we either stick to those advices, just forget them or realize that those were not really the gospel they seemed back then.
Do you remember any of those? Do you still follow any? Or, the opposite, have you got disillusioned in some of them?
My Answer
I promised, it wasn’t that straightforward.
Yesterday I watched one of the most hilarious videos from Lisa Eldridge. I’m sure that most of you knows who she is, but unless you follow her closely or visit your YouTube subscriptions regularly, you could have missed this – and you shouldn’t! It is an extremely funny GRWM-type of video, but instead of chatting with the viewers herself, Lisa was following audio instructions from a legendary Hollywood makeup artist from 50s-60s of the previous century. I hope you’ll watch and enjoy it as much as I did.
Since I’m neither an MUA nor mekup history buff, I was, let’s put it this way, slightly less impressed by the guy himself then commenters on the video page and thought that he was a pompous dick (pardon my French), despite Lisa’s attempt at the preemptive PC spiel. And still, thanks to Lisa’s talent, the video is worth watching. A week ago I would have said that, not the least to appreciate how far we came from the time when old and [self-]important men were telling us what we should or should not do with our lipsticks and eye shadows. Today the freedom to match my lipstick to my nail polish somehow suddenly feels less significant. But I digress.
As I watched that video, I was surprised by how many of the beauty advices got through the continents and, what is even more impressive, the “iron curtain” and were passed onto me by my mother.
I won’t list all of them not to spoil your viewing, but I’ll mention one that I tend to follow decades later: Do not apply mascara to your lower eyelashes.
The reasoning for this advise was that it would make my eyes look smaller. I do not know if that is even true. But even if it is, those who know me or saw my mom’s pictures would probably agree that this should be the last of the beauty-related worries for either of us. And I think that later in her life my mother had changed her opinion and was applying mascara to her lower lashes. And yet… Not that I wear mascara too often in general. But when I do, by my estimate, my lower eyelashes stay bare 9 out of 10 times.
How about you?
Undina's Looking Glass 
No. As no advice was ever given. My mom stopped wearing make up 40 years ago and the only skincare was Ponds Dry Skin Cream.
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Same as Brigitte….I can only remember my mum wearing lipstick and using Ponds cream
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I remember my grandma using Pond’s cold cream. It was rare and hard to get item, so I wasn’t allowed to touch it.
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my mother only used mascara and maybe a mauve lipstick, so its a No!
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Do you remember if she used any skincare products?
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I do, and it’s important: ALWAYS wear sunscreen! My mother had very fair skin with very dark hair and blue eyes, and she taught me and my sisters to put sunscreen on our faces as a daily ritual. I’m very grateful, because in my teenaged years and into my 20s, most young women were going for the bronzed look. I remember my older sister slathering herself in baby oil and sitting in the sun with a homemade reflector! I think that’s probably why my mom felt the need to speak up. Of course, being my very English mother, she also made comments to us about other women, and would refer to their tanned faces as looking like “old shoe leather”, lol.
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My mother was much the same – sunscreen and sun avoidance. As a nurse, she saw too many skin cancer patients. She also used lots of moisturizer too, when she passed in her 70s with very few wrinkles.
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I hope you got her good genes!
Sun avoidance was my modus operandi my whole life, followed my mother’s example (we both burned easily).
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UK mothers, god bless their multiple faces & talons. Out loud to a friends face “How lovely you look in that lipstick/eyeshadow/pan stick” they stand gossiping about “friends”, none of it complementary, for a few minutes. Take their leave, all smiles.
Not a minute later “What did she look like? Trying to make herself look 20 again! And that skirt? Good grief, only a Doctor should see that. Still when you still haven’t got a man, you know, she’s got to advertise”.
My mother did give me a bottle of Cyclax moisturiser for Christmas in 74 telling me it’s what the Queen used. Turned out it was a generous sample size all the senior nurses had been gifted by a drug rep!
Have I ever taken beauty advice from her? No! Not have I knowingly used anything about her as a good example!
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Maybe she’s taught you something about what not to do – in terms of being an example of how you didn’t want to be :)
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Undina you have probably got straight to the nub of the matter! Maybe it isn’t just a British mother’s trait I’m sure mums everywhere can be gossips. Just not sure the default mode for mums is to constantly criticise their daughters.
Still, I think she made me kinder.
As for make up, skin care & fragrance? I love them both, collect both & this is probably an act of rebellion. Certainly my punk & goth make up looks were!
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Interesting! I didn’t know sunscreens existed before I was almost 30 (and moved to the US). But I was lucky, in a way: both my mother and I had also a very fair skin that doesn’t tan at all, so from my early years I was taught to hide from sun (or I would burn, turn red, and then back to my pale self – so, as well, I could avoid pain :) ).
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Just using a good moisturizer every morning and night after cleansing.
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Not a bad routine! And it definitely beats not doing it! :)
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Nada. Mom’s routine was quite simple and I don’t think she’s changed from whatever products she used from when she was younger. In the last few years before she passed, she was worried about wrinkles. For a late 70s person, she did not have ANY wrinkles but I have her some La Mer and Clinique stuff to use. I don’t think they worked because, well, no wrinkles!
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I remember my grandma in her 90s was worried about wrinkles. She had a lot of them, and I don’t think any topical solution could help. But I was worried that she would feel discomfort from her skin being dry, so I kept buying her moisturizers (not as fancy as La Mer though :) ).
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Mom was an RN and taught me the basics, some came from her mother. A daily skin care routine is important, avoid harsh cleansers and toners (I still went through a Sea Breeze phase in H.S.!), never sleep in your makeup, daily SPF (rain or shine), daily moisturizer, avoid excessive alcohol, and don’t smoke. Good nutrition is better than a daily vitamin for better overall health and avoid excess processed foods & sugar. To this day, I follow the advice and it’s served me well. Genes and heredity go a long way, but despite having lived in SW FL for 20 years, I look 15 years younger than my classmates who sunbathed. I did get a few sunburns in college but generally I was careful – having family members who passed from skin cancer scared me pretty much off tanning.
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It is amazing how progressive your mom was! I don’t think most women of my mother’s generation in my native country even knew about these routines – let alone followed them or passed to their daughters.
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My mom took me to the Clinique counter when I wanted to wear some makeup. She had a pretty simple routine herself, didn’t really teach or encourage me to wear any. I honestly didn’t wear much makeup for YEARS – I think I had a blush and an eyeliner, mascara and eyeshadow that came out for nights out. I wear more makeup now than I used to, both to even my skin and because I enjoy the process – it’s calming for me. The best advice I got was from a friend’s grandmother freshman year of college – wear sunscreen every day. For years I used a moisturizer with sunscreen and then finally upgraded to a dedicated product. My skin thanks me. My face definitely looks younger than my age (wish I had been as careful with my hands…)
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For almost 2 decades, until recently, I wore very little makeup. And recently I also started using more – for the same reasons you mentioned.
You haven’t asked, but let me give you an advice: don’t give up on your hands! Even if you have signs of age now, get some not expensive retinol and vitamin C (e.g., from Ordinary) and use it every night in addition to your moisturizer. In combination with using sunscreen more vigorously, in 9-12 months you’ll see an improvement.
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I also did not wear much make up for years and now do, for the same reasons. Getting into perfume got me onto makeup blogs and discussions, so I learned some tips that got me better results. I was and am very uncomfortable at makeup counters in the stores – a long-standing fear of poorly maintained testers and a tendency to buy too much under pressure.
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i loved the video and I love this topic :)
My mom and her mom both had beautiful skin. My grandmother loved creams and potions and lotions. I remember when we lived in a bigger city we went looking for a Christmas present for my grandmother-I suggested a beautiful coffers from Sheiseido. Their ads were mesmerizing and I just loved it-all the strange little pearlized glass bottles in a small sleek blue case. there was a small soft bristled brush too.
My mom used an extreme amount of force to clean her face-like she put every fibre of her being into the task of getting clean. She had no wrinkles or scars or lines, but I used to gently make fun of her for using such a vigorous approach.
My skin breaks out if I try her approach. Plus I was in two separate accidents where I significantly changed the way my face looked. This was horrifying to my mom-she looked on it as trauma and disfigurement. I never actually liked the way my face comes together so I’m ok with facial scars-i actually kind of like them. I wouldn’t deliberately get them but I absolutely don’t mind mine or anyone else’s. So I use lots of creams-I like Chanel 10 moisturizer, and La Mer. I use sunscreen, and recently maybe a hat, if it’s hot enough out. My skin isn’t half as nice as my moms but it’s mine. As long as I am moisturized, sun screen protected, with some decent nutrition, I’m ok with it.
thank you for always making me think about the Saturday question. I hope things are going as well as possible for everyone, given the times we are living in. Happy Canada Day, for the Canadians, and Happy 4th of July, for the Americans, and happy weekend, for everyone else :)
Best regards,
Carole
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Thank you, Carole. It’s always a pleasure to have you around.
I wish I realized earlier that all those facial scrubs and some other stripping face products weren’t that great for my skin and did the opposite to what I wanted to my acne. Oh, well… I’m trying my best not to do any more damage.
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I don’t really have any memory of Mum teaching us makeup. Her routine was pretty simple and her face was the perfect shape so needed little in the way of enhancement. Light base, navy blue block eyeliner, dark brown mascara and a swipe of coral lipstick, or burnt red for fancy evenings.
She put my sister and I through a cosmeticians course in our teens. We both loved it.
Most of my make up was learned watching B&W movies. It wasn’t about colour but shapes, contouring, redefinition and lighting.
Portia xx
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I loved reading this answer! Your mom was a wise lady. And that part about B&W movies was fascinating.
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Thanks Undina,
Mum was one of a kind.
If you ever go back and watch some of the big stars in B&W you’ll see what I mean now you are looking for it.
X
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She didn’t offer any advice, but she used Ponds and Astral as moisturiser. Max Factor foundation and Creme Puff. She didn’t wear much eye makeup except for special occasions. Always a bright lipstick. I learned from my older sisters, and always got into trouble for having my mitts in their makeup bags.
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I didn’t have sisters, and, as a child, I wasn’t too interested in makeup for myself, but I wasted a lot of mom’s precious lipsticks and nail polishes on my dolls :)
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🤣 Both myself and my dolls got ‘the treatment’ they also got some shockingly bad haircuts.
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Toner – I use it because Mother did, but not the same ones. She used strong types like Sea Breeze and Ten-O-Six, which is probably why I drifted away from toner after my skin became less oily with age. Now I use the alcohol-free ones. Regarding makeup, Mother was a very fair skinned strawberry blond who was meticulous about her brow and lash makeup – yes, this included no mascara on the lower lashes. I would not at all be surprised if she listened to Mr. Westmore’s record! She gave us general makeup advice, but as my sister and I were both brown-haired, she didn’t think we needed much additional color. I think her best advice was diet: she was always one for lots of seafood, vegetables, fruits, and whole wheat bread. Her skin was quite smooth all her 89 years. Thanks for the video, Undina – it is a ton of fun!
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It’s interesting how some knowledge about what’s healthy survives the time, while some becomes obsolete (harsh toners, scrubs, etc.).
I wonder: have you or your sister ever went blonde?
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My sister had a lot of highlighting done, but never went all-blond. You did remind me that Mother discouraged coloring hair, saying your natural hair will always match your skin tone best. So I never have. But my sister’s looks nice with her blue eyes. When my hair started going gray, some grew in in a wide streak near my face, which I accepted as “added interest.” So I’ve not worried about going gray.
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Very good question, but I also drew a blank…I am another daughter of a Ponds Cold Cream devotee! I think she may have worn something by Helena Rubenstein too, but have no idea what. ;)
I think our answers to this question may be somewhat influenced by the age of our mothers…?
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It might be a generation thing, I agree.
It’s interesting: even though I had a rather positive attitude towards Pond’s, even after moving to the US, I’ve never used it myself.
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I don’t wear mascara on my lower lashes either, mostly because it would get messy. Advice was not to wear foundation as it clogs up the pores. So to this day I just stick with moisturizer. Over the years I’ve picked up an eyeliner habit and don’t feel like I can go out without it. Everything else is mostly optional.
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My mother wore foundation a lot, but back then foundations were not that great, they didn’t look natural at all, so for years all I ever wore was a tinted moisturizer. I could have still be doing that if it weren’t for Covid and Laura Mercier’s poor reformulation of my favorite moisturizer. They have improved since then, but I’ve ventured into modern foundations and found some I do not mind wearing.
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