The popular expression “Grandma knows best” holds a lot of truth. Your grandmother’s advice can help you in tons of areas in your life, even when it comes to your beauty routine.
Some of the beauty tips and tricks our grandmas used to rely on may seem outdated, but they’re gold! They’ll even take your beauty regimen to the next level. Check out these beauty secrets from grandmothers that still hold up today.
1.Velcro Hair Rollers
Most women these days use a curling iron or straightener to create bouncy curls, but that wasn’t always the case. Many decades ago, our grandparents had to rely on different methods to get the hair of their dreams.
Velcro hair rollers were all the rage back in the day and some women still swear by them. The best thing about them is they don’t use any heat and can keep your hair nice and curly for much longer than a curling iron.
2. Colored Eyeliner
Colored eyeliner has become pretty popular in the past few years and the way you use it makes all the difference. Samantha Khoury from AMAIÒ Swim shared her grandma’s method with Reader’s Digest and you should definitely try it because her grandmother represented Sweden at Miss World in 1953!
Khoury’s grandma believed that it’s best to avoid harsh black eyeliner and that lining your eyes with colorful shades will make them pop.
3. Healing Honey
Grandmas often avoid modern-day medicine and it’s not only because of its high price tags. They have a habit of turning to effective, natural remedies whenever possible, and honey happens to be one of the very best.
Wellness company founder Erin Stair told Reader’s Digest that her grandma always applied honey to her wounds to help them heal faster. Well, science backs her up because research shows that honey can aid healing due to its antioxidant, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory properties.
4. Sun Protection
As temperatures get higher and higher every year, it’s crucial to learn how to protect yourself from harmful sun rays and DermWarehouse founder Stefanie Parks learned that lesson from her grandma.
“Even when she was in her 50s and 60s no one could ever guess her age and everyone was always telling her how young she looked… She always covered up wearing sunscreen, hats, long sleeves, and pants, and would even walk around with an umbrella to protect her skin from the sun,” Parks told Reader’s Digest.
5. Vaseline Tricks
Vaseline remains a popular beauty product to this day and if you’re not sure what to do with it, just ask your grandma! This affordable product can help with dry skin, chapped lips, and cracked heels—and that’s just the beginning!
Vaseline is also a surpassingly great makeup remover because it’s petroleum-based. It can help you gently and simply get rid of the makeup after a long day, and the best thing about it is that you can safely use it to remove eye makeup.
6. Triple-Duty Lipstick
Today there are tons of beauty products to choose between, but that wasn’t the case when our grandmas grew up. They had to make the best of what they had and knew exactly how to take full advantage of a single product, especially lipstick.
Celebrity hairstylist Sunnie Brook Jones told Reader’s Digest that her grandma used lipstick not only for her lips, but also to give a “little glow to the cheek or a hint of shine on the eyelid.” What a triple threat!
7. Cold Cream
Removing makeup can be an absolute nightmare and some modern products don’t really get the job done. If you have trouble removing the most stubborn makeup, it might be time to give cold cream a shot.
You’ve probably seen characters in old movies use it to remove makeup and it turns out they were on to something. Cold cream can moisturize your skin and remove makeup in one wash—even waterproof mascara doesn’t stand a chance against it.
8. Veggie Peels
If you think it’s a good idea to throw mango, avocado, and apple peels into the trash as soon as you’re done with them, think again. MODE co-founder Jennifer Isaac rubs fruit and veggie peels on her skin to this day, and it’s all thanks to her grandma.
“It turns out they are wonderful natural moisturizers and provide the skin nutrient-rich benefits. Whenever I finish eating an avocado, you can catch me with my looking like The Incredible Hulk!”, Isaac told Reader’s Digest.
9. Sleeping Patterns
If your grandma ever advised you against sleeping on your face, it turns out she was doing you a favor. In addition to being better for your overall health, sleeping on your back can help you avoid wrinkles. According to skincare expert Dr. Goesel Anson, you can trick yourself into doing that by using a silk or satin pillowcase.
“Sleep wrinkles form in response to the distortion created when the face is pressed against any sleep surface,” Dr. Goesel Anson wrote in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal.
10. Scalp Oil
Most people these days can’t imagine washing their hair without adding some conditioner to the mix, but that wasn’t always the case. Clairol’s director of color James Corbett grew up with a grandma who relied on nature’s conditioner, aka scalp oil.
Image by Polina Tankilevitch/Pexels
“My grandma always used to brush her hair 100 strokes before bedtime to stimulate the natural oils of the scalp and move them down the rest of the hair shaft,” Corbett shared with Reader’s Digest.
