Celebrities Reveal What Their Mothers Taught Them About Beauty

Yahoo Beauty

Updated June 16, 2014 at 8:30 AM

Whether we like it or not, our mothers are the voice in our head—murmuring that a skirt is just a little too short, that no matter how tired we are, we really should wash our face before bed, that we must embrace—not pick apart—what we see in the mirror. Mom was, after all, the first one who told us we were beautiful (and made us wear sunscreen long before we knew what was good for us). In honor of Mother’s Day, we asked celebrities and beauty experts to share the most important lessons their mothers taught them about beauty.

“Everything was about blush all the time. Before I’d leave the house, my mom would always say, ‘You need more blush.’ Now I have this thing about blush—I always feel like I don’t have enough color on my cheeks.” —Jillian Dempsey, makeup artist

“My mom was a hairdresser when I was growing up, and she loved experimenting. She taught me that trying new things could be fun, whether it was dyeing my hair or chopping bangs. When you change your look, sometimes you stand a little taller. She also taught me to hold my head up high and make eye contact with everyone I meet. People will feel that energy and be drawn to you.” —Heidi Klum, model and host of Project Runway

“I love my mother, but it was the ’70s, and she sat outside with a sun reflector. So I sort of learned what not to do by watching her. But she is lovely, and she did tell me not to dress like a whore.” —Julie Bowen, actress

“My mother and I were very close. She died when I was 17. She was diagnosed with cancer when I was two, and they gave her six months to live. But she lived for 15 years, so we had 15 years of pure, seize-the-day, don't-let-any-moment-pass time together, and she taught me a hell of a lot. She taught me how to walk in Chanel pumps in fourth grade. She didn't know how long she would live, and she wanted to make sure I knew all the important things. She said to me, ‘OK, I’m going to break the news to you. You’re never going to grow over five feet tall, so you better learn how to walk in heels now, because you’re going to be living in them your whole life.’ So while everybody else was outside playing tag and hide-and-seek, I was doing drills in five-inch pumps, up and down my stairs. To this day, I can outrun any drag queen in platforms on a cobblestone street, no problem.” —Mally Roncal, makeup artist and founder of Mally Beauty

“Being who you truly want to be—who you truly are—is one of the most important things my mother taught me. I wanted to be a skateboarder when I was 13. Didn’t know how to skateboard, but my mom let me wear a wallet chain and hold a skateboard under my arm and walk around like an idiot because that’s what I wanted to do.” —Kelly Osbourne, TV host

“The most important thing she taught me was to never want to look like someone else or be someone else. She was a ballerina, and she made me dance, and if I danced in a certain style or copied a specific person, she would tell me to dance like myself. She felt that if you knew how to own and respect what you’re given naturally, there’s nothing more beautiful.” —Tracy Anderson, founder of Tracy Anderson Method studios

“I learned that you should just be natural. We’re a very soap-and-water sort of family all the way. My mom is gorgeous, but it was always about how you carried yourself, how you felt about yourself.” —Rosario Dawson, actress

“I had bad acne as a teen, and my mother took it seriously. She brought me to a dermatologist, just like her mother had done for her. A lot of my friends didn’t go because their parents thought, Oh, it’s just pimples; suck it up. But it can really affect your self-esteem.” —Amy Wechsler, dermatologist

“My mother was a feminist. She would have slapped you if you said she was pretty. And she was pretty, but she wasn’t very much into looks or anything like that. She taught me about the mind and the meaning of life. I learned about being a strong woman, and I think that’s more beautiful to me.” —Julie Delpy, writer and actress

“My mother’s biggest thing was ‘Keep it simple.’ She had beautiful, dewy skin, and she would accent it with just black eyeliner and mascara. Even now, she’s 60 and I’m 40, and she gets all the compliments.” —Jeannia Robinette, makeup artist

“My mother taught me that neutrals work best. She loved a no-makeup look but was flawless. She taught me how to do my eyes with brown eyeliner and black mascara. Her tips are so timeless that I still follow them today.” —Aerin Lauder, founder of Aerin

Related: 34 Hair Ideas for 2014

“In the ’90s, I copied Kate Moss’s pencil-line eyebrows. When my mom saw them, she said, ‘If you never listen to anything I tell you again, grow your eyebrows back in.’ And I listened. Now that I’m in my 40s, I know there’s nothing worse than an overplucked eyebrow as you get older. When I meet a model with great brows, I tell her, ‘Hold on to every single one of those precious little hairs.’” —Kate Lee, makeup artist

“She used to say to me, ‘Don’t touch your skin around your face too much,’ ‘Eat the crusts of your bread or your hair will grow curly,’ and ‘Get to bed early so you don’t have bags under your eyes.’ But my mom was a psychologist, so it wasn’t so much beauty tips as, ‘Simone, where is this anger coming from? Let’s get in touch with this anger.'“ —Simone de la Rue, founder of Body by Simone

“Two things she told me that I still abide by: Always wash your face at night and use cider vinegar. At the time I thought she was a little nutty about vinegar, because she used it for everything. She would drink it—a teaspoon in water every day—and use it to clean the kitchen. It’s a wonderful antimicrobial, but it also normalizes the pH of the skin. For years I got eczema, and I always used antibiotic creams, but one day she said, ‘Why don’t you put vinegar on that?’ And I did, and it went away, and that’s what I do now. It’s a wonderful trick.”
—Jane Iredale, founder of Iredale Mineral Cosmetics

“My mom’s job took her to a lot of college campuses, and she had the opportunity to see all the college girls. At the time I was addicted to the Aussie-Sprunch-spray, two-sets-of-hot-rollers-and-a-perm look, and the best piece of advice she ever gave me was when she said, ‘I’m telling you, all the college girls are wearing their hair straight.’ And she helped me get a straightening iron and do it. I was like five years ahead of the curve.” —Molly Sims, actress

“We’re from Jamaica, and my mother taught me a few local tricks. She taught me that salt water keeps your skin acne-free. We soak a cotton ball in ocean water and wipe it all over our faces. At the end of the summer, we fill up bottles in the ocean to last us the winter. I have one in my refrigerator now, because every once in a while I do get a little acne, and it just sucks it out.” —Sheril Bailey, manicurist

“We lived on a farm, so we always had goat’s milk around. She would put it in my baths to help me with my eczema. I actually created a goat's-milk cream inspired by that.” —Kate Somerville, aesthetician and founder of Kate Somerville Skin Care

“A smoky eye or a red lip, but never both at the same time!” —Catherine Malandrino, designer

“She always told me to smile with my eyes. I learned that by watching her. And what that meant to her—and now means to me—is: To feel beautiful is to be beautiful. If you felt good, and you felt confident, you could put that through your eyes in a picture. And that would be beautiful.” —Josie Maran, model and founder of Josie Maran Cosmetics

—Reporting by Lexi Novak, Ramona Emerson, and Jeffrey Slonim

Photo: stridingmom/Tumblr

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Celebrities Reveal What Their Mothers Taught Them About Beauty