A Letter to My Teenage Self About Makeup, Beauty, and Confidence

Dear Teenage Emily,

You probably look pretty ridiculous right about now. For every given year of high school, you had some kind of weird phase — the black lipstick phase, the buying-everything-three-sizes-too-big-at-the-thrift-store phase, that ill-advised perm. Despite the amount of bullying you receive for the way you look, you’re into trying out a lot of different stuff. And that’s OK!

High school is a time to experiment and have fun with beauty. Given the perspective of a few (like 16) more years, however, I do have a few pieces of advice this back-to-school season to take some of the pressure off your teenage years and to help you (me) out in the future.

Related: Look Your Best for Back to School With These Beauty Tutorials

1. You smell fine.

What is it with teen girls and the need to smell like the inside of a Bath & Body Works store? You’re not a cucumber melon; you’re a human girl. You don’t need to douse yourself in “body spray,” which is a product category that has to be supported solely by high school girls. Take a shower, wear deodorant, you’re fine.

Young teen goth. (Photo: Emily McCombs)

2. Don’t get that perm.

Your spiral perm does not need to be “done extra tight” because it’s going to “wash out a little.” You are going to look like “Weird Al” Yankovic. Also, it smells like rotten eggs! Why did we put something on our head that smells like rotten eggs? Also, stop flatironing your hair within an inch of its life. Embrace your hair texture the way it is.

Related: Does This School’s Ban on Makeup Go Too Far?

3. Don’t let clothes make you feel bad about yourself.

Trust me, not being able to fit into the clothes at Gadzooks and 5-7-9 at the mall does not say anything except that having a clothing store that sells only sizes 5, 7, and 9 was a mean idea. Juniors sizes are not cut for bodies with any natural curves, but that’s the fault of the clothes, not your body.

The wider the pants, the stronger the family bond. (Photo: Emily McCombs)

4. Stop covering up your skin with makeup.

You’re a teenager with nice skin! It’s one of the few things you have going for you. You don’t need to turn your face into a matte mask with liquid foundation and a powder compact. I know the Avon lady who came by when you turned 13 and said you were a “summer” before selling you a full face including those tricolor eyeshadow palettes told you to slather on that stuff, but she was wrong.

BB creams haven’t been invented yet, but trust me when I say that skin products are just going to get lighter and sheerer and that your skin looks better when you can see it.

Related: Teen Beauty Moguls on Balancing School and Work

5. Put down those tweezers!

There’s going to be a visionary and her name will be Cara Delevingne, and she will guide us all away from the sad, tiny eyebrows of the ’90s. Make sure you’ve still got something to work with when she gets here.

6. There’s a whole world of beauty beyond the drugstore.

Don’t get me wrong — there are plenty of great products at the drugstore, but your beauty world won’t really open up until you discover a world beyond Wet n Wild. Some luxury products just have better formulas. You’ll master red lipstick! Wait until you hear about this new place called Sephora.

Related: #TBT: Remembering Bonne Bell Lip Smackers

7. Shimmer, not glitter.

I know it’s the early 2000s and body glitter is big, but trust me when I tell you that it’s a bad idea. For one thing, glitter on your eyes always migrates to the rest of your face, and it sometimes gets in the rim of your eye and makes them look all red and irritated like you’ve been crying after your friends ambushed you on a secret three-way call. Also, you might scratch your freaking cornea. You’re going to love highlighters, though. Same shimmery effect, no sparkly shards of anything in your eyes.

Related: Beauty Products for Your Back-to-School Kit

8. When your mom says something looks stupid, it’s because it does.

Remember when your mom just didn’t get it when you told her that everyone else was wearing pacifier jewelry/Ugg boots/gigantic JNCO? That’s because your mom had eyes and knew that stuff looked stupid. You can see it too now that you’re not a teenager and therefore not an idiot.

But don’t worry too much — you have a child of your own now who will one day leave the house in ridiculous outfits and not listen to you either.

The classic black choker. (Photo: Emily McCombs)

9. Stop it with the lip gloss — it’s gross.

It’s thick and gloppy and your hair always gets caught in it. I’m from the future, you have to listen to me.

Maybe this all sounds a little negative, but it’s actually pretty great here in 2016. Gwen Stefani is still here and she looks the same! You’re going to write about beauty and get sooo many free products. The ’90s are even back, so you can still wear baby-doll dresses and chokers.

In the meantime, wear sunscreen. Oh, and that horrible boyfriend of yours is going to dump you right before prom. DON’T insist he take you anyway. You don’t have fun.

Love,

Emily

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