Four Tips about Womanhood I Had To Teach My Daughter

Recently I shared the story of teaching my teenage daughter the one tip about womanhood she just needed to know.

“What is it?” you ask, frothing with curiosity.

Trust me when I say it’s not what you think! You’ll just have to head over to my first essay on AARP’s The Girlfriend to find out.

If you’re a woman, you’ll understand what I’m talking about. And you might learn something, too!

But there are four more tips about womanhood besides the BIG ONE over on The Girlfriend that I had to teach my teenage daughter as well. And I’m pleased to share those four pieces of wisdom with you below.

1. Always unplug the curling iron or flat iron in addition to turning it off. This is insurance in case you thought you turned it off, but you really didn’t. You do not want to spend all day at school or work worrying about whether it is still on and your house is burning down. 

Or you could just buy the kind with the auto-off feature. Then unplug that one too. Just in case.

2. Wear a nude colored bra under white shirts. A colored bra under a white shirt makes you look like you’re starring in an 1990s music video. I may or may not have gone for that look in the past. It is less obvious, although still important, to realize that wearing a white bra under a white shirt makes your chest pop out like a light bulb. 

3. Shave at the end of a shower or bath when moisture and steam have softened your skin and hair. And don’t feel bad if you suffer from nicks and missed spots. I still haven’t mastered shaving, especially around my ankles, and I am currently rocking midlife and decades of smooth shaving attempts.

While we are talking about the shower, let me alert you that if you use that suction-cup holder for your razor, then it will inevitably fall down in the middle of the night, clatter loudly, and scare the bejeezus out of you. It will never fall down during the day, when you are awake, or when you are not home. I do not have a tip about this–I just thought I’d warn you.

4. Every now and then it’s worth it to spend the money on makeup at the full-service beauty store. Get the sales associate to help you find a foundation that matches your skin tone or an eyeliner that looks best with your eye color. Just remember the same associate wants to sell you a ton of makeup. You don’t need 52 products. 

I would also recommend, from personal experience, that you stay away from excessive use of blue eyeshadow no matter how trendy it claims to be.

And if you decide you don’t like makeup, my daughter? That is totally fine, too. You are beautiful in your own skin, whether you are wearing eyeshadow or not.

I could go on, and I’m sure I’ll keep thinking of honest tips about womanhood to pass on to my young teenage daughter. Maybe I’ll start a YouTube channel. After I’m done promoting my latest essay on The Girlfriend, of course! (See what I did there?)

Thanks for indulging me, dear readers!