Blogger Love: Red Mum Reveals Even More Beauty Secrets

Red Mum's already given us the low-down on smoking out the microwave and the formative years of her beauty routine. Today she's dishing up her take on haircare, and just how you go about keeping your stash from an inquisitive teenager.

Take it away, missis!

You have fab, thick hair. How do you keep it looking so great?
The older I get the more I am thankful for having relatively maintenance-free hair. I've never been inclined to dye it and use straighteners only once in a while, so my biggest vice regarding my hair is my hairdryer. Conditioning it regularly leaves it lank and lifeless so I tend to just condition the ends once in a while, anymore and my hair goes to a throw-back of long lanky 70s tresses. Once in a while I might put in conditioner over night and leave it on and wash it off as normal in the morning. Apart from feeling great your hair smells amazing the next day but it is something that I do only once in a blue moon.

I am also lucky in being a redhead, we don't go grey. We fade. Actually is that lucky? Many of my pals have had to dye their hair for years now and of course the grey hairs can be different textures bringing a whole new set of problems. I am noticing that a streak I have had since a child at the front of my hairline is going paler and has some absolutely white hairs in it. I am also getting lighter streaks growing at the side of my hairline which really signal the beginning of the fading. I think I am going to ride it out for a while (I hope a couple of more years) before resorting to dying it. Then I reckon I might relive my youth and dye my hair all sorts of mad colours, starting with bleached blonde!

As the mother of a teenage daughter, what beauty bits do you keep under lock and key, or does she have access to them all?
But back to now, like my Dad (and Mum of course - whom I hope I have inherited great skin from as she looks brilliant and at least 10 years younger than her age) I have my own daughter to teach about the world of maintenance. God help her.

One thing I try to stress to her is cleansing and mosturising, which is not something she is prone to do properly. She will clean but leaves a dark rim around her eyelashes, then tries to tell me theres no make up left on her face when you can see it. Like myself she has red lashes, not dark ones. She has wonderful youthful skin with a gorgeous rosy glow which she hates, so she covers it in what I call deathmask makeup. She actually wants to cover that colour, which no matter how many times I tell her that is what blusher is trying to emulate she doesn't listen. And why should she, when I was her age I was told the same thing and still covered myself in panstick irregardless so I suppose the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree. When she is being kind to her skin, she will cleanse and moisturise sometimes she even uses a toner. I try to make sure she has some kind of washing cleanser, usually from Simple but I have been known to throw some of Tesco's face wash into the trolley during a shop.

She also uses Clinique's Dramatically Different moisturiser occasionally, having been given it from a Brown Thomas Clinique promotion intended for Nanny, sure the odd item robbed out from a freebie goodie bag isn't a crime.

One thing we do share is a passion for make up, so I lock my bedroom ensuring that 1. my make up is always where I can find it and 2. that she doesn't use the entire contents of my foundation in one sitting. Of course she is allowed to use my make-up but only in supervised visits. While make-up is one thing that needs to be locked away I do leave most beauty products out for her to use. One thing I have locked away though is my Liz Earle cleanser which is wonderful, she touches that she dies.

So thats it for my routine as it stands. Hitting my 38th birthday this year though should signal to me that it is better late than never to do more and be better about it all and I will now that I have shamed myself publicly with my lack of any regular anything ;)