While I have had a rather turbulent relationship with my mother I am now an adult and we are closer than ever, I tend to facetime her once a week for a catch up and her advice will always be the best possible. This rocky relationship in the past has lead us to be even closer than before and everyone I know will forever tell me that there is no denying the fact I am my mother's child. I have gained her love for wine and coffee, for gossip and a good book, and her ability to be as open and loving as possible for her to be (not to mention our shared love for Harry Styles).
THE IMPORTANCE OF SKINCARE
For as long as I can remember my mum has been an advocate for No7 Skincare, she keeps her Boots loyalty card with her at all times and saves until she has enough to get her elaborate skincare for free what is practically free. Her abundances of serums and lotions litter her vanity and she is always encouraging me to try them whenever I pay her a visit.
As a pre-teen I never understood the need to moisturise day and night, I saw it as a pointless thing but now I am beginning to understand that if you take care of your skin now it will pay off in the future. Unlike my mum who is a No7-aholic and my step mum who is a Clarins obsessive I tend to go for the more affordable skincare at this point but they have both encouraged me to look after my skin nonetheless.
If I find myself even thinking about going to bed with makeup on I hear my mums voice in the back of my head telling me how bad it is for my skin. Whenever I am feeling particularly lazy I will reach for the 'emergency' makeup wipes I keep by my bedside and the travel size bottle of moisturiser that sits next to it. And while the one thing I will never do is religiously use makeup wipes - they should be something used for touch ups or on occasion to take makeup off and not part of a routine - they do sometimes appear in my routine.
THERE'S NOTHING THAT CAN'T BE CURED BY A BOTTLE OF WINE AND GOOD FOOD
I was lucky enough to grow up in a foodie family and even though I am now a vegetarian, much to my mum's shock and bets that I wouldn't even be able to keep it up for a week, we will always have a home cooked meal at the end of the day. There is something so wholesome about sitting down with my family, drinking a glass of wine and talking about everything that is going on that just makes my heart warm. It is something that I look forward to whenever I visit home (and also the fact that I have someone else cooking for me instead of having to cook for myself).
This is something that I have embedded into my everyday life, I am always the one to suggest meeting friends at a restaurant or going out for drinks and a catch up. If there is food or wine involved, I will be there (and I might even be on time too).
CLOTHES AND SHOES ARE AN INVESTMENT
(and it's not what you wear but how you wear it)
These are two phrases that have been drilled into my mind throughout the years, whether from me gazing upon her marvelous shoe collection or buying abundances of clothes on shopping trips with her. She will always encourage me to express my own style (which has evolved into the very casual side of smart casual) and stop me from saying I have too many clothes by thinking about the size of her collection.
Just because your skirt is from Primark doesn't make you any less stylish than someone who consistently shops in high end stores, in fact as long as you style it well you can often put together some knock out outfits from Primark items. You would be amazed by how many times people have been left surprised by the fact that an item of clothing they have asked me about is from Primark of Pull and Bear, you just have to keep your eyes peeled when you shop! And at the end of the day, you could be wearing Gucci but unless you have the confidence and style sense to pull it off then the chances are you won't, it's that simple.
Ultimately I have learnt to give clothes the 30 wear rule, if I don't see myself wearing something more than 30 times I just don't buy it - it's that simple.
STRENGTH AND COURAGE ARE VITAL
My relationship with my mother has been turbulent, much like many other children experience within the mother-daughter dynamic of life. I put her through hell as a child and even now I will forever admire how she held her own and showed courage within everything I threw at her. If could even I have even half the strength she does when I am her age then that would be a miracle.
THERE'S NO POINT AVOIDING THE TRUTH
I grew up in a very open family, if someone had a question about something we would always answer in the most truthful way. My parents understood there was no point sheltering us kids from the world and the different people in it, if we wanted a discussion about sex my mum was there, when I first tried drugs my mum was there, when I got too drunk and ended up calling my ex my mum was there. She has the mindset that what you don't know will hurt you more than what you do when it comes to many things and is one of the most open and informative people I know, though that didn't stop her using the 'we can talk about this when you're older' line on me every now and then.
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