“I used to be an lively baby—at all times outdoor—and considerably ‘tough and tumble’! Being a brown-skinned lady, when my pores and skin turned dry (which was not sometimes!), it will look dry and ashen. In our group, we used the phrase ashy to explain dry, flaky ashen-looking pores and skin. My elbows, knees, and legs had been ashy most of the time, and in these childhood years, my mother taught me the significance of moisturizing my pores and skin to maintain it effectively hydrated, delicate, and glowing—and to keep away from trying ashy!

“She would hand me a tube of cream, a stick of cocoa butter, or a bottle of lotion and say, ‘Put this on these legs!’ She informed me then, ‘Your pores and skin may not imply a lot to you now, however someday you will care about the way it appears.” And naturally, my mother was proper.

“Considered one of my first and fondest magnificence recollections was watching my mom apply lipstick. My mother by no means wore a lot make-up (did not want it!), however she virtually at all times wore lip shade, normally in some enchanting shade of pink or burgundy. I bear in mind watching her standing at her self-importance and sliding these satiny, transformative, completely charming shades onto her lips. I assumed she was probably the most lovely lady on this planet, and I could not wait till I used to be sufficiently old to put on lipstick too. To today, I’ve a factor for pink lipstick.”

—Raechele Cochran Gathers, M.D., board-certified dermatologist and founding father of MDhairmixtress.com