What My Mother Taught Me

Moms are like fingerprints; no two are alike. Our fingerprints arent even like our moms even though they gave it to us. Anyway my point is everyones mom is different, but if theres one thing that some of our moms have in common, besides carrying us around in their bodies for a really long time, its that they taught us a lot of what we know today.

Yes, my ridiculousness started at a young age.

Btw the younger one on your left is my sister.

My mom too taught me a lot of what I know today. Since today is Mothers Day, I decided to do what everyone else is doing (Yay, bandwagon ride!), and dedicate a post to my mom. I will do that by listing a few things related to beauty and style that my mom taught me that I still live by to this day.

1. Use mascara right

This is a bad habit that a lot of people have, but thankfully my mom told me this when I started using mascara, so I never had it develop into a bad habit. What Im talking about is not to pump your mascara wand in and out of the bottle. If you do, itll create air bubbles that make your mascara clump. Also, germs. No one wants that. She also taught me that I should twist my mascara wand while pulling it out and putting it back in. I still dont know why thats a thing because no one ever talks about it, but I assume it also has something to do with air bubbles? By twisting it instead of yanking and shoving it, you dont mess with the air pressure inside the bottle. That pop sound you hear when you pull out your mascara wand? Yeah, bubbles.

2. Less is always best

I went through a phase in my life when I would pile on eye makeup. It was the whole scene trend. Also, Avril Lavigne. It was horrible. Anyway I used to use so much eyeliner. Well, not as much as I sometimes use now, but at least now its not trashy looking (I hope). And I wasnt as skilled at controlling eyeliner at that point in my life (We're talking seven to ten years ago), so as you can imagine, it didnt always look the best. I would also pile on eyeshadow. Im talking bright pink on one eye and electric blue on the other. It used to drive my mom crazy because I looked sooo ratchet, omg. Anyway whenever my mom wore makeup, it was the barely there look thats all the craze now. When I eventually learned that I look better in less makeup, it pretty much changed my life. Or, well, my makeup routine. Its way less messy now, thats for sure.

3. Hide what you dislike, accentuate what you do like

I grew up always wanting to look like the girls on TV and in magazines (like every other girl my age), and so I would always want to wear the latest fashion trends. I wasnt the skinniest kid, so it wasnt the best idea. My mom taught me how to dress pretty much. She said that I should cover up places I didnt like and show places I do like. It made me mad at the time, but that advice actually got me to this point of running a fashion blog (gasp)! I stuck to that philosophy and tailored it as the years went by.

4. Stop spending so much money

Obviously I never listened to this piece of advice. Until five months ago. When I was still on allowance from my parents, I complained that it was significantly less than my friends. That was probably because I spent so much of it. Then, when I got a full-time job before I started college, I spent even more money because I had more money and was off allowance. And that made her even more mad! Then, when I started college and had to get part-time jobs to support myself because I wasnt living on allowance anymore, the amount I was spending got ridiculous. Dont even get me started on how much once I started this blog. Not only was I making more money, I didnt have my mom around to nag at me for coming home with bags and bags of stuff. But then my life took a turn at the end of last year, and I had to pretty much cut off unnecessary spending for good. Im talking using money strictly for rent, the phone bill, and food. I had to cut out all of my extra spending like Birchbox, Ipsy, Graze, and even Netflix. I still dont have those things btw. It was hard. Im just glad Im getting money from them when I cant even afford food. At least I lost 15lbs, right? Anyway all of this really taught me how important money is, and if I had just listened to my mom since I started getting allowance at the age of 12, Id probably be filthy rich at this point.

5. Life doesnt end with relationships

This is probably the biggest life lesson that my mom will ever give me. It has nothing to do with superficial things like beauty, fashion, and money. This has to do with how I live my life. It taught me how to be my own person. So, I just graduated college two days ago after four years. In those four years, I was single for a mere seven months. My happiness depended on the guy I was dating at the time. My life itself depended on the guy I was dating. Everything about me revolved around him. I lost contact with my friends. The only person I would see besides professors, classmates, and coworkers was him. Then, five months ago, I was broken up with. Not only that, I found out a lot of things about that relationship that wasnt things I needed to find out, so I was a wreck for a long time. My mom was mad of course because she'd always cautioned me against guys. She always told me that I should finish school first, get settled on my feet. Id still have the rest of my life to find a guy. I didnt listen to her yet again because I had this stupid mindset that I needed to be married by 24 and be a mom by 25. Im 22, and that gap was closing, so I was freaking out. Long story short, my mom spend the months after the breakup telling me that I shouldnt depend my entire existence on one person. It was difficult, but I eventually learned to be happy on my own. The only people I need are my family, (real) friends, and myself. I started doing things for me, for my future, no one elses, and guess where that got me? A B.A. in English and a full-time job in my dream industry (book publishing) straight out of college. Without another person to worry about when I plan my future, I can do whatever I want, and whatever I want is turning out great so far.

So, this was a lot to read, and I apologize, but these were things that I finally learned to appreciate. I know for a fact that I treated my mom really horribly while I was growing up, but it turned out that moms are always the wisest.

Moral of the story? Listen to your mom. You may think shes naggy and annoying, but she will always know whats best for you.

Happy Mothers Day, Mami.