As someone in her 30s who grew up in the noughties, I’ve committed my fair share of beauty crimes. From plucking my eyebrows until they were just two hairs deep (I’ve seen that thin brows are back, and I worry for the next generation), to using hair-lightening sprays and excessive amounts of fake tan, it's safe to say there are things I would do differently if I had my time again. With that in mind, I thought about the beauty advice I’d want to give to someone in their 20s—you know, the things I didn’t listen to that people in my life were 100% correct about (but at the time, I didn’t want to hear it).
So, I reached out to some of the best-known women in the beauty industry to find out what advice they’d give their younger selves about beauty, self-care and building their routines.
1. Trinny Woodall
Trinny Woodall, founder and CEO of Trinny London, 60, tells me she was self-conscious about her skin after developing acne at the age of 13. She describes herself as "skincare obsessed" from the ages of 13 to 30. Her biggest beauty regret? Not always wearing sunscreen. She advises women in their teens and 20s not to blindly follow trends and risk damaging their skin, adding: "Teens can damage their skin because of a trend they see on TikTok. Though generally, skin becomes less oily over time, skincare needs to be personalised. That’s true for all ages—what’s important for you is not necessarily what’s important for me."
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Woodall recommends her own Trinny London Take Back Time Eye Cream, which she says has made the biggest difference in preventing some of the signs of ageing on her skin. "It’s formulated with our 'miniprotein', which penetrates deep into the skin and really helps to slow the development of lines around the eyes. It also helps reduce existing lines," she says.
2. Millie Kendall OBE
Millie Kendall OBE, CEO of the British Beauty Council, 57, didn’t wear makeup in her teens but says she was very conscious of her skin. She’s always been a minimal makeup-wearer and reflects that her biggest beauty mistake was not taking her mascara off properly, which left her with damaged lashes. "Taking off mascara at night was something I missed in the nineties. Now, I have hardly any lashes left; I can’t even really wear mascara because my lashes are so sparse," she says. Her advice to younger generations rings true in my own experience. "Wear as much makeup as you want—you’ll start to wear less and less as you age."
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Kendall says loose powder is the product she feels makes the biggest difference in her beauty routine. One of my favourite options is Huda Beauty's Easy Bake Powder because it’s soft, pigmented and brightening whilst keeping your base in place.
3. Donna Dia
Donna Dia, founder of The Beauty Beat, 43, says: "I’ve always loved makeup and skincare. I spent my school lunch breaks browsing the makeup aisle; it's always been one of my favourite pastimes. In my twenties, I think I was much more experimental with beauty and willing to play with products and looks, which I don’t do as much now. Also, I think haircare was my least favourite part of beauty, which is the complete opposite now. Today, in my forties, I absolutely love investing in products and caring for my hair and scalp."
She and I share a similar beauty regret: overplucking those brows. But equally, she doesn’t think you should play it safe in your teens and twenties. "Have fun and experiment with looks, styles and products; I think I learnt what I liked and what made me feel good. I think that period of exploration has allowed me to really feel confident in the beauty regimes, looks and products I use today," she says.
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I’m currently focusing on my own scalp health after stress-related hair loss a few years ago. I use Umberto Giannini's Scalp Scrub to keep my scalp free of product build-up, flakes and excess oil. It smells gorgeous and uses pineapple enzymes and coconut oil to rebalance.
4. Lan Nguyen-Grealis
Makeup artist, designer and author Lan Nguyen-Grealis, 44, says she was "caked in makeup" in her teens due to her acne, sometimes sleeping in it because she felt embarrassed about being seen without it. "Being surrounded by perfection in the media didn’t help either, as I felt like I would compare myself to [others]," she adds.
Nguyen-Grealis tells me she regrets not preparing and looking after her skin properly, not using SPF and assuming that her skin was fine in the sun. Her beauty advice is a holistic take on what she’d recommend to women just starting with beauty. "Enjoy life as much as possible with friends and don’t compare your skin and looks, as everyone’s body is completely different. Don’t stress, but use a good skincare routine to help maintain your skin barrier—you will thank yourself later. Makeup takes time and practice, so have fun with it," she says.
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One of my favourite skin barrier-boosting products is Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Advanced Repair Barrier Cream. It’s perfect for calming, soothing and removing redness if you feel like your skin barrier is struggling.
5. Ruby Hammer MBE
Ruby Hammer MBE, beauty expert and founder of Ruby Hammer Beauty, 62, tells me she loved experimenting with makeup from a young age. Hammer now has a much deeper understanding of her skin and how to enhance her facial features, though she still experiments with trends. She also regrets overplucking her eyebrows (see, there’s a theme here!), but luckily, hers grew back.
Like Dia, Hammer’s most important beauty advice is to experiment. "If you don’t try, you’ll never know. In my teens, I was super, super excited to wear makeup, and I went wild in my twenties with my makeup looks. The other advice I’d give is to start a skincare routine—whatever you put on your face needs to come off too."
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Ruby’s product recommendations? "Mascara and kajal pencil are my must-haves for defining your eyes. The brand doesn’t always matter, but these two products have a big impact on how people see your face."
Victoria Beckham Beauty Satin Kajal Liners are perfect for getting a smokey, smudged look whilst defining your eyes.
6. Wizz Selvey
Wizz Selvey, retail expert and co-founder of supplement brand Valerie, 42, says she didn’t really think about skincare when she was younger but loved makeup from a young age. Moving into beauty buying, she was fast-tracked into a whirlwind of products, telling me she loves the way products can make us feel. "It’s so emotive to use them, shop for them and share experiences with friends," she says.
She has started to focus more on wellness as she gets older, adding, "In my forties, I am really into beauty from the inside out; what you put in your body, stress and lifestyle play enormously into how you look." Her biggest beauty mistake was using too many different products all at once. "I was very lucky to have so many products at my fingertips, [but] I made the mistake of trying lots of different creams and serums and developed perioral dermatitis. It looked like a cross between spots and flaky, dry skin. After this, I went back to basics, then started slowly building products [back in] that would help repair my skin barrier."
She advises finding the right moisturiser and a great serum such as something with hyaluronic acid and creams with ceramides and niacinamide are high on her list. "I love a facial oil for nighttime," Selvey adds.
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I generally feel better when I’m taking the right supplements my body needs and drinking enough water. Selvey recommends Valerie Daily Essential, which is more bioavailable than some other forms of supplements, to support hormonal health (which, of course, affects your skin).
7. Dr Anna Persaud
Dr Anna Persaud, CEO of This Works, 54, was aware of UV ageing from a young age, searching for SPF in moisturisers only to discover that such a thing didn’t exist (at the time), which led her towards the beauty industry. She struggled with hair removal as a teen and young woman, growing up in the '80s with limited options. "In an effort to rid myself of hair, I shaved everything I could reach and topped it off with extensive eyebrow plucking. They never grew back to their former glory." The eyebrows, again!
Persaud’s beauty advice is to educate yourself on what’s best for you from trusted sources. "Seek out the qualified and experienced with a proven track record. Always take the 'less is more' approach, and when it comes to skincare, use the least active ingredients as a starting point." Speaking of "less is more", you can’t get simpler than Persaud’s product recommendation: a face cloth. "Daily gentle exfoliation with a cloth prevents the buildup of sebum and gently unclogs pores but doesn’t cause redness, irritation or skin damage," she says.
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Thankfully, hair removal at home is easier now. I use the Braun Smart IPL to remove unwanted hair, and it lasts so well that I don’t have to use it too often at this point. It takes a bit of getting used to, but for me, it was worth it.
And what about my biggest beauty advice? Leave your eyebrows alone! But more importantly, feeling beautiful isn’t always about adding extra products or steps into your life. I spent a portion of my teens and twenties wearing fake lashes, acrylic nails, lots of tan, hair extensions and tonnes of makeup. It was partly to do with trends at the time, but the reality is that you don’t need to constantly do more (and some of these things can damage your hair, skin and nails) to feel good about yourself, unless that's the aesthetic you really enjoy. It’s all about finding what works for you and doesn’t feel like a huge undertaking. As I’m getting older, and as Millie Kendall said, scaling back and focusing on health and what I already have is the new cool.
