My beautiful Eve, you're starting comprehensive this September and I know you're worried. You want your skin to be perfect, you want to make sure your hair looks ok, that you wear the right shoes. So here's my tips on how to be a beautiful teenager.
Smile, you look so beautiful when you smile, now that you're about to be a teenager that doesn't mean you have to be a grumpy cow all the time.
Hold your head up high, don't hide behind your hair, don't slump, even if you don't feel confident maintain a good posture, if you act confident you'll feel it and others will respect that.
Don't backchat your teachers, I know they seem boring and I know you're probably never going to use half of the things you learn in Maths class in real life but your teacher is your biggest supporter and they really want to help you succeed. If my science teacher Mr Payne hadn't shown me a book on cosmetology and let me make a bottle of nail strengther, who knows if I'd have chosen the path I did and now make/design my own skincare products. These people choose to teach you, to inspire you to be great, listen to them, learn from them and respect them.
If someone tells you an awful secret, I'm sorry baby but you have to tell someone, sometimes this is what being a good friend is all about, even if your friend hates you at the time, it really is the right thing to do.
Please please don't stop being kind to fit in with the cool kids. I remember once in school a boy with special needs dropped his apple, a few people around him laughed and I really wanted to go and pick it up for him but because I didn't want people to laugh at me, I didn't. This seriously still upsets me 20 years on, be compassionate, especially to people who need it, if others laugh then seriously, you don't need to worry about what they think.
If you ever bully anyone, I can't put in to words how disgusting and disappointed I'd be in you, never, ever treat someone any different to how you'd expect to be treated. You are better than no one.
This is one that Nanna taught me, a name will always stick with you, don't get a name for yourself, even if it's just a silly name, people will still use it to refer to you in 50 years time (i.e slutty susan, trampy tara)
Be unique, as you are now, right now you dress how you want to dress and not how others dress, think of how comfortable you are being you, pretending to be a person you're not is exhausting.
Be mindful of your words and actions, think of it as a tube of toothpaste, you can easily squeeze all of the toothpaste in to the bathroom sink but trying to put the toothpaste back in to the tube is not as simple. Spoken words can not be unspoken.
Remember who your friends are, that's not to say don't make new friends, mingle and enjoy having new people in your life but don't ditch your friends because someone seems more popular or cooler, you may find out they weren't as fun as you thought they were.
I know you think I'm strict but I do it because I love you and it's my job to protect you, remember you can talk to me about anything, ANYTHING. I can't always promise to contain my initial anger if you've really messed up, but I promise to always listen and try and help.
Most of all enjoy, have fun, BE SAFE and remember that although I may put you on the bus with confidence, when that bus pulls away, my mask will crack.
If you have tips to share with teenagers on how to let their beauty shine, please do leave them in the comments. Actually, better still, if you have some tips for mothers on how to cope with their babies growing up, feel free to share them too!
If your teen needs some help with skincare, HERE is a little guide I've written on teenage skin.