Hand Me Downs

Our favorite entrepreneurs tell us what they’ve learned from their moms

When it comes to beauty, Moms have always been there to offer advice (stop picking your face!) and gently steer us away from questionable trends (ahem, frosted lipstick). Call us sentimental, but every May we get a little gushy. And we’re not the only ones! We asked our favorite female entrepreneurs — who all happen to be smart as a whip and incredibly stylish — what their moms taught them about beauty.

• Alexa von Tobel - Founder and CEO of LearnVest

  “There is nothing more beautiful than a great big smile! And since I am a Floridan: ‘Sunscreen every day, twice a day!’”

• Brooke Moreland - Co-Founder and CEO of Fashism

  “My mother has the best skin of anyone I know. She wears SPF 50 everyday- even in the winter — doesn’t smoke, drinks tons of water, and never EVER sets foot outside without sunglasses. She has been nagging me my entire life to do the same. But alas, I ignored her. I worship the sun, used to smoke and often forget to wear my sunglasses. Now I'm 30, she's 51 and I have more wrinkles than she does! Listen to your mothers, ladies!”

• Daniella Yacobovsky and Amy Jain - Co-Founders of Bauble Bar

  “Before you commit to buying a new perfume, always try it on and see how it wears. You might love it the first 15 minutes and then a few hours in, it smells different.” - Daniella

  “Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize!” - Amy

• Rebecca Kousky - Founder & Executive Director of Nest

  My mother is not only my friend and my mentor; she is also an indispensable partner in Nest. The beauty of working with my mom is that not only do we deepen our own relationship, but in doing so, we are also working to better the lives of mothers and daughters all across the globe.

• Amanda Peyton - Co-Founder of Message Party

  My mother taught me to never waste a drop, and to this day I cut lotion bottles in half (only buy the soft ones!) and use shampoo, hand soap, and conditioner to the very last drop. No shampoo bottle is ever really empty. To get the last bit, fill the bottle 1/4 full with water, shake vigorously and use a few more times.

• Claire Mazur and Erica Cerulo – Co-Founders of Of a Kind

  My mom taught me not to mess around when it comes to eyebrows. In high school I got too tweezer-happy one day and she was really, really upset. She marched me over to the apartment of a woman she knew who was a makeup artist, where I was subjected to a really intense one-on-one tutorial and walked out with my very own eyebrow pencil to correct the mess I had made. Did you know you should always use eyebrow pencils a shade lighter than your hair? I'm obsessed with #02 from Paul & Joe Beaute, which was introduced to me by Sania Vucetaj, who is the only person allowed to touch my brows these days. (Yes, she's been vetted by my mother.) - Claire

  My mom taught me not to dye your hair until you have to. During the Spice Girls era, I wanted chunky, reddish highlights desperately. I was pretty impressed with myself for wanting something more interesting than the blonde streaks that everyone else was getting. My mom warned me that I would have decades to dye my hair, but, instead of forbidding me completely, she made me wait for six months. Obviously by then I had lost interest. - Erica

• Beth Ferreira- Founder of Startcraft and Startup Consultant

  From a very young age, I have vivid memories of my mom covering me with sunscreen.  I was also the little kid with the enormous tube of sunscreen in my camp bag each summer. I also started wearing contacts at age 13 and my mom was concerned about eye wrinkles and bought me my first bottle of Estee Lauder’s Advanced Night Repair Eye. Since then, there are few days I have missed.