7 girls share their first lessons in beauty from their mums

For some of us, our first foray into the world of beauty came from watching our mothers get ready each morning.

Whether it's the scent she used minutes before rushing out of the house or the way she opened her mouth ever so slightly as she applied mascara, we all have fond memories of our mothers' daily beauty routines.

This Mother's Day, we reached out to girls in Singapore to find out about their first beauty-related memories of their mothers, and their beauty routines, and how it's impacted their own.

Erin Denise, 22 And Her Mum, Menchie Palma, 48

The 22-year-old is very close to her mum, Menchie. "For half of my life, she was the only parent I grew up with because my dad worked overseas until our family finally moved to Singapore," reveals Erin who is originally from the Philippines, but has lived in Singapore since she was eight years old.

"I'm also her only daughter so naturally she is very protective of me. She's super cool too, and keeps up with pop-culture to relate to her kids better."

Erin's first memory of her mum's beauty routine is watching her mum apply lip balm from The Body Shop just before applying her lipstick.

"As a kid, I couldn't imagine having a layer of sticky goo on my lips because it felt so uncomfortable but I really liked the strawberry scent!" she says.

In the case of the mentee becoming the mentor, Erin says she's taken over by reminding her mum to keep her lips hydrated. "These days, I'm the one reminding her to keep her lips hydrated and I'd get her to try different lip balms too!"

Debbie Ng, 26 And Her Mum, Sharon Toh, 64

For Debbie, the scent of Jean Paul Gaultier's 1993 fragrance, Jean Paul Gaultier Classique takes her back to her childhood.

"My mother is quite low maintenance when it comes to makeup but she loves her fragrances. As a kid, I would hover around her dressing table, playing with her perfume glass bottles but there was always one bottle in particular that I remember because it reminded me of Barbie dolls," says the graphic designer.

"My mum has always been a working mum and wakes up early for work. Sometimes her scent lingers in parts of the house and it brings me comfort."

As she's gotten older, Debbie says she's taken on some of her mother's beauty habits, "I like that perfume is a quick and understated way to feel feminine and it makes me feel ready to take on the day ahead."

Debbie says her mum comes to her for beauty advice these days as well. "Now that I'm older and I've gone down my own path of discovering beauty and skincare, she comes to me for advice instead!"

May Phyu Sin, 28 And Her Mum, Win Mar Htay, 56

Born in Myanmar, May's first memory of her mum's beauty routine involved the use of thanaka, a yellowish-white paste made from grounding the bark of the thanaka tree.

Said to be nourishing for the skin, thanaka also acts as a sunscreen. The marketing specialist, who has been living in Singapore since she was 10, says her mother has used thanaka on her since she was seven months old.

"We had a ritual every day before school. While I was showering, she would prepare the thanaka and put it on my face. Sometimes, she'd pluck a leaf, dip it in the thanaka and apply it on my face so I'd have cute leaf shapes on my cheeks."

Nora Costigan, 27 And Her Mum, Toh Meow Tin, 55

The Singaporean may have moved to Australia to start a family but says that she's never forgotten the importance of sunscreen, and it's all thanks to her mother's advice. "My mum is like an all-natural hippie," says Nora who is a mother of two boys, Ezra and Joe.

"Even though she's got plenty of grey hair, she never dyes it. She only ever uses lipstick and lip balm and places a lot of importance on sunscreen and skincare." It seems the importance of sunscreen has rubbed off on Nora as she has also found herself applying it on her kids as well.

Priscilla Lim, 27 And Her Mum, Cynthia Lee Hui Hui, 53

"Before the whole natural beauty routine craze came about, one of my earliest memories of my mother's routine was that she would make her own face masks with natural ingredients such as tomato, cucumbers or even egg white," says Priscilla, a marketing professional.

"We did not have a lot of money at that time, and she was frugal, so she would take care of herself through DIY means. She would also encourage me to do it because she says that they are natural and effective."

Kavita Chinoy, 25 And Her Mum, Vidya Chinoy, 55

Kavita's first memory of her mum's beauty routine is watching her massage her head with coconut or almond oil, which is a common hair care routine among Indian women.

"Ever since I was a little girl, my mum has always done this for her hair and also given me head massages. I remember one of the highlights of washing my hair as a little girl was getting massages since my mom invented many funny techniques to entertain me such as the kangaroo where she bounces her hands up and down my head as she massages."

As her mum lives in India, Kavita tends to maintain the practice when her mum is physically with her. "It's always so soothing to have someone do it for you and it brings me back to my childhood," she says.

Despite living in different parts of the world, Kavita says they're still super close. "Today, every time I smell any kind of hair oil, I'm reminded of these blissful head massages which are such a big part of how Indian women care for their hair and makes me feel closer to my heritage."

Amiera Raushan, 26 And Her Mum, Atkah Ibrahim, 49

One of Amiera's earliest memories, is of her mum doing her beauty routine and her "staring at her by the mirror like a creep" - Amiera's words, not ours!

Amiera's mum allowed her to wear makeup by the time she was 15 and while she was horrible at applying it, she would try to memorise her mother's routine step by step. "I wanted to look like my mum so much but little did I realise the resemblance is too uncanny!"

While her mum maintains a relatively minimal beauty routine, Amiera says she vividly remembers how she would wear a Gucci perfume.

"For years she had it on her and it was definitely a scent all five of her kids remember. Even up till today, it still gives me this warm, fuzzy feeling-as if it could transport me back to my childhood."

This article was first published in CLEO Singapore.