The Inheritance

We recently sat down with a handful of mothers and daughters and asked each of them the same five questions about skin, and about what gets passed down. Here, almost entirely in their own words, is what they told us.

Some knowledge is never written down. It passes from a mother at her dressing table to a child watching from the end of the bed. We were curious about exactly what travels that way, so we put five questions to the women who came in to talk with us. Almost none of them began their answer with a product. They began with a person, a smell, a moment. The threads that ran between every conversation were the same ones Saya has always believed in: keep it simple, choose well and let natural beauty do the work.

QUESTION ONE: What is your earliest memory of watching your mum take care of her skin?

What came back, almost without exception, was something quiet and ordinary. Lauren remembered her mother and her water bottle: “She is always walking around with a bottle of water wherever she goes, whether it is in her bag, at the shops, in the car or at home. Always keeping hydrated.” Kelly remembered restraint. “My mum was pretty chill and had a very simple routine. One of the things she definitely passed down is that less is more.”

For Julietta, the memory was a whole scene. “When we were girls and she had finished showering, I remember her on the bed with her towel on, putting cream all over, and I would jump up and stay with her, chatting and watching her for a long time. She was always so beautiful to me, such a great example. I remember that moment a lot.” Kelly’s own daughter described the same gentleness from the other side of the years: “When I got older I realised how much she did, and she didn’t do a lot. She was just doing a simple routine.”

“She was always so beautiful to me, such a great example. I remember that moment a lot.” Julietta

QUESTION TWO: Was there a product, a smell, a ritual that felt like it belonged to her?

Here, every answer turned to scent. Sunday told us about her mother’s signature smell. “Whenever I would go and have a sleepover, she would spray it on my little blanket, so I would always feel really close to my mum when she wasn’t around.” Kelly’s daughter described the same pull: “When I smell one of her moisturisers it makes me think of her. Any time I smell it anywhere, I think of her.”

For Julietta, it was something floral. “The cream she always put on had a kind of jasmine smell. It goes very well with her, because she likes to be outdoors, close to nature.” And for Julietta’s mother, the ritual mattered more than any single bottle. “Once a week she dedicated herself to her care. She would put out fresh flowers, as if she was dedicating a moment to herself.” Lauren agreed that the ritual was the point: “Every single morning she would do her routine, and every single evening. Looking after your skin, daily and frequently.”

QUESTION THREE: Did she ever explain why she did what she did or was it just something you absorbed?

Mostly, they absorbed it. “I was absorbing it more than a formal explanation,” Julietta said. “Small comments day to day, subtle things, or her own example. She showed me the way, which is sometimes even stronger than anything said out loud.” Kelly took the long route to the same place. “It was mostly something I absorbed. Then I worked in industries that taught me to really complicate things, and I came back to the simplicity of skincare. Less is definitely more.”

Some lessons, though, were spelled out. Kelly’s daughter laughed about the “many long lectures about being very conscious with what you put on your face, and not following the trends.” Sunday took something gentler from her mother altogether: “I learnt that a smile is the best accessory, and you always look best when you are smiling and laughing.”

“She showed me the way, which is sometimes even stronger than anything said out loud.” Julietta

QUESTION FOUR: What is the skincare lesson you carry from her even now?

For Kelly, it was three words. “Less is more.” She put it plainly elsewhere too: “The more you overcomplicate things, the more your skin has a tendency to freak out and say, no thank you.” Lauren’s mother, remembering her own mother, arrived at the same truth from a different decade. “She just wanted to keep things simple. And in her eighties she had the most beautiful skin. It worked. She never spent a lot on expensive products.”

For Lauren, the lesson was a kind of confidence. “Natural beauty is the way to go, and it shines through more than anything. Always look after your skin, but know that natural beauty is best.” Kelly’s daughter had inherited her mother’s discernment. “Be very conscious about what you put on your skin, and don’t just follow what other people are doing. Check the ingredients and see if they are compatible with your skin.” Her sister, with sensitive skin of her own, kept it even simpler: “Make sure it is actually clean before you put it on your face.”

“Natural beauty is the way to go. It shines through more than anything.” Lauren

QUESTION FIVE: Is there something you do for your skin today that you hope your daughter remembers one day?

Sunday hopes her daughters keep the ritual. “Taking the time at night to have a routine for yourself. Having your products laid out, a beautiful space, and just taking that time to wind down at the end of the day.” Sunday’s mother hopes for something underneath the routine entirely. “Sleep, rest, drinking water, taking care of yourself and loving yourself from the inside out has a lot to do with good skin. I hope she does that for a long time, and loves herself from the inside out.”

Julietta’s mother offered the smallest, most practical wish. “I always teach her to clean her face before bed. Sometimes you think you are losing time, but it is a minute, and it makes the difference.” Julietta answered for the next generation, and chose the same direction her mother had. “Going to the natural, the organic. Always choosing products that are as natural as possible, with fewer preservatives, fewer chemicals. We take it into account with what we eat, and not so much with what we put on our skin, which is just as important.” And Kelly wants her children to think for themselves: “I consciously choose products that are on the cleaner side, and I try to educate them to make conscious choices about what they are putting on their skin.”

“Love yourself from the inside out. I hope she does that for a long time.” Sunday's Mother

Listening back, what stays with us is how little the real wisdom has changed. The products evolve and the science gets better, but the things a mother hands her daughter have stayed remarkably constant: keep it simple, choose well, take a moment for yourself, look after your skin from the inside, and trust that natural beauty will carry the rest.

It is the same belief Saya was built on. Saya McDermott began making her own skincare in Noosa more than twenty years ago, frustrated that she had to choose between what was gentle and what actually worked. She wanted both. That conviction lives in every formula today: potent native Australian botanicals, certified organic ingredients and intelligent modern actives, made in Australia, vegan and cruelty free, and formulated without compromise.

Because skincare, in the end, should be a ritual to look forward to. And you should never have to choose between what is good for your skin and how beautiful it feels to use.

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