Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

What’s the worst beauty tip you’ve ever received?

313 replies

Paniconthedancefloor · 08/03/2025 09:32

Inspired by the “what is the best beauty tip you’ve received” thread, I wonder about the opposite….

What is the most useless, unhelpful beauty tip you have ever received?

I’m torn between being advised to sit in the sun with tomato ketchup in my hair years ago to bring out the highlights (it didn’t and was v sticky), and the first time I fake tanned but didn’t know to wear mitts when applying and ended up with conker coloured palms for 2 weeks.

OP posts:
Clingfilm · 08/03/2025 09:43

Vaseline in hair to style, vaseline on eyebrows, vaseline on hands. Vaseline anywhere other than lips is a BAD IDEA.

Original poster
Paniconthedancefloor · 08/03/2025 10:03

Ah yes, Vaseline to eyebrows, that advice is still going strong. Also toothpaste on spots (although maybe that one works?)

OP posts:
JustBiscoff · 08/03/2025 10:03

Wear mascara to an event at which you are likely to cry.

NicolaCasanova · 08/03/2025 10:08

Paniconthedancefloor · 08/03/2025 10:03

Ah yes, Vaseline to eyebrows, that advice is still going strong. Also toothpaste on spots (although maybe that one works?)

On a handful of occasions I’ve used toothpaste to dry out a spot, and it worked.

Not advice given to me but « thinking » hair with those funny scissors doesn’t seem very wise in many cases.

In the 1990s beauty magazines would often advise wearing white eye-liner to disguise a hangover!

Poppymeldrum · 08/03/2025 10:25

Dissolve a paracetamol with a drop of water and apply to spots
Doesn't work

Lemon juice in hair and sit in the sun
All that happened is wasps loved me and my hair went orange before snapping (cheers mother-she insisted I do this as a teen)

Apply vaseline to eyelashes to help them grow
Ended up with an eye infection

Cube of jelly for stronger nails (my mother again)
Gross to eat and doesn't work

Gwenhwyfar · 08/03/2025 10:29

Clingfilm · 08/03/2025 09:43

Vaseline in hair to style, vaseline on eyebrows, vaseline on hands. Vaseline anywhere other than lips is a BAD IDEA.

Disagree. Vaseline on dry skin is good.

Gwenhwyfar · 08/03/2025 10:32

The usual 'all I do is wash my face with soap and no moisturiser'. Might work for a minority...

People (men!) who think they can cut their own hair.

Original poster
Paniconthedancefloor · 08/03/2025 10:38

Ah yes, I was often to be found sitting in the sun with lemon juice on my hair @Poppymeldrum. Also Sun-In. My hair was like straw 😂

OP posts:
CuriousMariette · 08/03/2025 10:43

That having a fringe would take 10 years off me. It didn’t and made me look as if I had my hair cut by Lego.

shivermetimbers77 · 08/03/2025 10:44

A magazine once advised pitting raw garlic on a spot... argghhh, not only did it sting like the fires of hell, but I stank for the rest of the day .

Overtheatlantic · 08/03/2025 10:46

Rub salt on your lips to puff them out. This was from the 80s.

Original poster
Paniconthedancefloor · 08/03/2025 10:46

I also had a set of hair crimpers where you could see the steam rising as it scorched my hair. Then it would come out nice and crackly and I would brush it. A fetching dandelion look. I thought I looked fab! (I did not).

OP posts:
Original poster
Paniconthedancefloor · 08/03/2025 10:47

Overtheatlantic · 08/03/2025 10:46

Rub salt on your lips to puff them out. This was from the 80s.

Ouch!

OP posts:
joose · 08/03/2025 10:50

a celebrity once endorsed Babyliss Big Hair on her page and I went out and bought one. i've never bought something following a celeb endorsement. (I naively didn't realise this was what it was, a paid promotion)
It was impossible to use, absolute crap. Waste of money.

YouOKHun · 08/03/2025 10:52

@CuriousMariette I fell for the fringe tip too. I found that a fringe makes me look about twelve years old, yet at the same time very much the 57 years old I currently am. It's a very strange phenomenon and not a good one.

Original poster
Paniconthedancefloor · 08/03/2025 10:54

Yes I fell for the fringe advice too. It was unfortunate. I have a chubby face which ended up liking like a fat football with an edgy fringe.

I’m clearly too easily led!

OP posts:
BeautyBlanche · 08/03/2025 10:56

joose · 08/03/2025 10:50

a celebrity once endorsed Babyliss Big Hair on her page and I went out and bought one. i've never bought something following a celeb endorsement. (I naively didn't realise this was what it was, a paid promotion)
It was impossible to use, absolute crap. Waste of money.

I had one of those too and found it impossible to use! The handle was huge and I could barely hold it on my hand let alone manoeuvre it around my hair.

home made face masks using oats and honey, just made a huge gunky mess of the bathroom

olderbutwiser · 08/03/2025 11:00

Coconut oil as “suntan lotion”. Because you need to burn before you tan (1960s/70s). Children, do not do this.

NebulousDogBollocking · 08/03/2025 11:08

joose · 08/03/2025 10:50

a celebrity once endorsed Babyliss Big Hair on her page and I went out and bought one. i've never bought something following a celeb endorsement. (I naively didn't realise this was what it was, a paid promotion)
It was impossible to use, absolute crap. Waste of money.

I've got one sitting in my bottom drawer waiting until I can think of someone to palm it off onto. Its praises were sung on MN ...

Poppymeldrum · 08/03/2025 11:12

Paniconthedancefloor · 08/03/2025 10:38

Ah yes, I was often to be found sitting in the sun with lemon juice on my hair @Poppymeldrum. Also Sun-In. My hair was like straw 😂

Oh god,I'd forgotten about sun-in
(I trained as a hairdresser and was told that stuff was banned as it had no developing time)
My mother was desperate for me to use that stuff but was too tight to buy it for me
(She'd given up buying 'luxuries' like food and san-pro for me about that time,i would have been about 12/13)
She kept banging on about how nice it would make my hair after using the shaders and toners packet stuff
Thank god I was too skint to give it a go!

JaneJeffer · 08/03/2025 11:12

Dissolve a paracetamol with a drop of water and apply to spots
Doesn't work
It's aspirin you're supposed to use because it contains salicylic Grin

Chuchoter · 08/03/2025 11:16

Clingfilm · 08/03/2025 09:43

Vaseline in hair to style, vaseline on eyebrows, vaseline on hands. Vaseline anywhere other than lips is a BAD IDEA.

I use Vaseline for all those and it's wonderful! 😂

Chuchoter · 08/03/2025 11:17

Sun In back in the 80s.

Lollypop701 · 08/03/2025 11:17

I love my babyliss big hair ! I have a chin length Bob though … not sure how it could be used on long hair.

Sunshineandrainbow · 08/03/2025 11:21

It's bad to wash your hair everyday.

So many people compliment me on my shiny good condition hair. I tell them I wash it everyday and they respond with ooo that's really bad for your hair.

Yes it's looks like it is really terrible for my hair, not washing it every day is just terrible for my mood as I just feel yuck.