Mums know best. We try to fight it, we don’t want to believe it, but they do and it}s time we just accepted it. By extension, so do nans and aunties, just because, you know, they’re wise, together people which we’ll be one day. Eventually. Perhaps. Maybe.
With this in mind it made sense to find out about the top, and quite unexpected, beauty tips from the older ladies in our lives. Check them out, try them and while you’re at home this Christmas, try asking your own to see if they’ve got any pearls of wisdom. I bet you they will.
1. Facial massage
Pia Cato of the Vanilla Pod Bakery said her nan swears by facial massage. ‘The best tip my nan has given me is to do daily face exercises to avoid wrinkles. She’s in her 70s and has the most amazing skin. She swears by Eva Fraser; she has her book from the 90s.’
Regular massage helps with anti-aging (I’m sorry, but we’re not getting any younger), increases circulation and can help remove toxinsfrom the skin. Make-up artist Lisa Eldridge calls it the ‘holy grail of anti-ageing’, which is good enough for me.
2. Manuka honey
My friend Georgia’s mum is from New Zealand and is a big fan of manuka honey (it comes from NZ). ‘She uses it for anything: spots, burns, infections.’ It’s an anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial so it can be used topically (some people use it as a cleanser or a face mask) on wounds and infections, but you can also ingest it.
Stirring it into a hot drink is said to help digestive health and help an oncoming cold get TF away from you.
It’s not cheap, but scrimp on it and you won’t be getting all the benefits. Proper manuka honey should have a UMF (Unique Manuka Factor) of at least +10, like this one by Manuka Doctor which is +24.
Vaseline for smiling
My dad’s fiancée Bev, 56, gave me a great tip if you’re going to be smiling a lot (like at a wedding). ‘Put some vaseline under your top lip, so when you smile, your lip doesn’t get stuck.’ This way you avoid gum-overload in the pictures.
Beer as hairspray
Natalia, our creative editor, told me how when her mum, who’s 59, lived in Communist Poland. ‘It was really hard to get hold of hair spray so she’d put beer in her hair after she washed it, and then blow dry it. It would give the same hold as putting hairspray on afterwards.’
Plus, because of the typical ingredients in beer (like hops and barley) some people like to wash their hair using beer every now and again because it makes it all shiny. Interesting.
Spit on your spots
This is my favourite tip because it’s unusual, easy and free. Mahaim told me that her 43-year-old mum uses spit on her spots. ‘In India and Pakistan people have believed it works for thousands of years because apparently saliva has healing properties. It’s something my grandma used to tell me to do. My mum swears by it too and her skin is flawless.’
The classic products
Seeing as you’re off home, if you spot any of these products on your mum’s dressing table, give them a go. They’re absolute classics.
Astral Original, £3.99; Nivea Creme, £1.39; Olay Beauty Fluid, £2.93; Ponds Cold Cream Cleanser, £2.93.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.