We already talked about the best advice our mothers ever gave us about beauty. But inevitably, all the reminiscing has stirred up some bad memories of the advice we really could have lived without.
Here’s a recap of some of the worst beauty advice our beloved mothers gave us. (Sorry, Mom, we love you, but baby oil?? Really??)
My mom would tell me to go outside and “get a little color” because it makes you look healthier. Little did I know I was creating sun spots and deeper skin damage that I’d be obsessively trying to correct for the rest of my life!
— Julie Ricevuto, Staff Writer
In college I had a phase where all I wore was , which is a dark burgundy color. For reasons only sensical to WASP moms from Connecticut, she told me that it looked “slutty.” I don’t really care! To this day, I still love that color.
— Jessica Wakeman, Executive Editor
Rub garlic on your nails to help them grow faster … FALSE! Rubbing garlic on your nails leads to weaker nails.
— Precella Pareja, Senior Manager of Business Development
READ MORE: Make Your Mom This Easy, Healthy Brunch for Mother’s Day
My grandmother wore the most intense eyeliner on the entire planet. I think she even joked that it was permanent eyeliner, AKA tattooed on – that’s how legit it was. When I first started to wear eye makeup, I took her thick, black Estée Lauder eyeliner and copied her witchy look. (It almost worked for me, because I was very into Dashboard Confessional and Bright Eyes at the time.) It took me until college to realize that lining your eyes completely makes my already-small eyes look like scary little buttons. Now I pretty much stick to mascara.
— Leah Prinzivalli, Staff Writer
My mom hates it when I wear bright lipstick. She would be, like, “What are you doing wearing that red lip?”
— Itzy Ramirez, Digital Designer
When I was younger, my mother used to put baby oil in my hair so it would stay tangle free and shiny. She also believed it would make my hair grow faster and stay thick. It just made my hair greasy. I guess it was just a South Asian thing because she and my aunts never left the house without putting on a dab of oil in their hair. By the time I was old enough to style my own hair, I discovered Organix hair serum, and haven’t used anything else since.
— Shahreen Uddin, Marketing Manager
READ MORE: The 7 Most Iconic Mom Haircuts of All Time
My mom used to always slather her legs in baby oil after shaving, so I began to do it, too, once I started shaving. I’ve since learned that lotion or body oil that’s not made of slimy, unabsorbent mineral oil is a much better option. What was with the baby oil obsession of the ’80s, anyway?
— Amy Marturana, Senior Editor
She told me about her miracle diet of pretzels and Diet Coke that kept her thin in her early 20s when I complained about my freshman 15 … not the best advice.
— Maggie Miller, President
Wine doesn’t count towards calories (seriously!?!?)- I’d be so happy if that were true
— Gabby Joshpe, Business Development & Sales Manager
All this advice is pretty terrible … but we still love you anyways, moms.
READ MORE: The Body Shop’s Mother’s Day Video About The British Royal Family Is Totally On Point
