Well, apparently Grandma had more to say.
After looking into some of the old sayings that followed many of us through childhood, I realised there were far too many good ones to squeeze into one blog without creating something approximately the length of War and Peace.
So here we are again.
What I find fascinating about these sayings isn't simply where they came from, but how many of them feel even more relevant now. We have more information at our fingertips than any generation before us, yet somehow we're still trying to work out how to eat, sleep, look after ourselves, spend our money, manage our homes and feel reasonably happy in our own skin.
Perhaps occasionally we could have saved ourselves a Google search and asked Grandma.
Beauty Is Only Skin Deep
As the founder of a skincare company, this may seem like a slightly questionable thing for me to tell you.
But I believe it wholeheartedly.
The idea that beauty is only skin deep has been around for centuries, with an early version appearing in the writings of Sir Thomas Overbury in the early 1600s. The message is simple: outward beauty tells you very little about the person underneath it.
Four hundred years later, I'm not entirely convinced we've listened.
We're living through a strange period where women in particular are encouraged to examine, correct and improve almost every visible sign that they've had the audacity to remain alive.
Lines need smoothing. Pores need disappearing. Skin needs tightening. Faces need lifting. Grey hair needs covering.
Apparently ageing normally has become something of an act of rebellion.
I make skincare because I genuinely believe there is something lovely about looking after your skin, but looking after it and being frightened of it are two very different things.
My grandmothers aged. My mum has aged. I'm ageing. My children will age if they're lucky enough to have long lives.
Beautiful skin is lovely.
Being a beautiful human being matters considerably more.
Everything in Moderation
If there were ever a saying that needed bringing back, I think it might be this one.
We're not terribly good at moderation anymore.
Something is either wonderful for us or killing us. A food is either a superfood or toxic. An ingredient becomes the answer to absolutely everything until six months later, when the internet decides it's terrible and we all move on to something else.
We fast. Detox. Eliminate. Optimise. Track.
Occasionally we drink something green that looks suspiciously like pond water because somebody on Instagram promised it would change our lives.
The idea of avoiding excess is thousands of years old. Ancient Greek philosophy included the maxim “nothing in excess”, and similar ideas about balance and moderation appear throughout history.
Perhaps because it's not very exciting.
“Eat a varied diet, move your body, sleep, drink water and occasionally have the cake” isn't quite as marketable as discovering THE ONE FOOD YOU MUST NEVER EAT AGAIN.
But it's probably a considerably nicer way to live.
A Stitch in Time Saves Nine
This one sounds wonderfully grandmother-ish because it is wonderfully practical.
If you spot a tiny hole in something, put a stitch in it now rather than waiting until it becomes an enormous hole requiring considerably more work.
Simple.
I should confess that I am extremely good at understanding this proverb and considerably less good at applying it to my own life.
There is almost certainly something in my house right now requiring a two-minute job that I've been avoiding for approximately three months.
But the older I get, the more I realise this saying isn't really about sewing.
Look after things before they're broken. Deal with little problems before they become enormous ones. Maintain rather than constantly replace.
And perhaps it applies to us too.
How often do we ignore the little signs that we're tired, overwhelmed or doing too much, only to eventually reach the point where our bodies effectively say, “Right. That's quite enough of you,” and force us to stop?
Maybe the stitch doesn't always have to be literal.
All That Glitters Is Not Gold
Now this one feels particularly appropriate in the beauty industry.
Versions of this idea existed long before Shakespeare, although he famously wrote “all that glisters is not gold” in The Merchant of Venice.
In other words, something looking impressive doesn't necessarily make it valuable.
If Grandma could see the modern beauty industry, I suspect she'd have a field day.
Gold lids. Heavy boxes. Elaborate bottles. Miracle complexes. Scientific-looking diagrams. Ingredients with names long enough to require their own postcode.
And sometimes, inside all that beautiful packaging, there's a perfectly ordinary product.
Luxury isn't inherently bad, of course. Beautiful things bring us pleasure and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
But expensive doesn't automatically mean effective, just as natural doesn't automatically mean good and complicated doesn't automatically mean clever.
It's one of the reasons I've always wanted Olive & Joyce products to be relatively simple. I would rather spend money on beautiful ingredients than create elaborate packaging designed primarily to convince you something is luxurious.
Sometimes the least glamorous ingredient in the cupboard is doing most of the work.
Grandma would probably approve.
Don't Cry Over Spilt Milk
Of all these sayings, I think this is the one I've grown into most.
The expression has existed in various forms for centuries, and the meaning hasn't really changed: once something has happened and can't be undone, endlessly worrying about it won't change the outcome.
Which sounds incredibly sensible until you're the person who has spilt the metaphorical milk.
I've spent plenty of my life replaying things I wish I'd done differently, worrying about decisions, wondering whether I said the wrong thing or took the wrong path.
But life doesn't come with an undo button.
Relationships change. Plans fall apart. Businesses have difficult periods. Children grow up. We make mistakes. Other people make mistakes. Sometimes things simply don't turn out the way we'd imagined.
And eventually there comes a point when you have to stop staring at the puddle.
That doesn't mean pretending something didn't hurt, or plastering a positive quote over every difficult experience. Some things deserve grief, anger and time.
It simply means recognising the difference between learning from the past and living in it.
Perhaps that's why these old sayings have survived for so long. Beneath the rhymes and slightly bossy delivery, they're really little reminders about being human.
Don't judge everything by appearances.
Don't take everything to extremes.
Deal with problems while they're small.
Don't assume shiny means better.
And when something goes wrong, learn what you can, wipe up the milk and carry on.
No life coach required.
Just my Grandmas