The year was 1982. I was 14. Grade nine. Got my hair did at a barbershop two blocks from home. Didn't know from leave-in conditioner or hair stylers beyond hairspray (which I didn't use anyway). Wore no makeup. Had full, un-tampered-with brows. Big, thick-lensed glasses that were always crooked because the frames weren't an "Asian-fit" style made for a face with a small nose bridge. No contacts. A retainer. (Fun fact: freaked my orthodontist out because after two years of braces, I needed to wear a retainer for just six months – I think I was his only patient who wore them every single day and night as directed. I could chew gum with those things in.) I also had a school uniform: beige blouse, a camel-beige cardigan with dark brown trim, and a brown-and-orange plaid kilt. Not my colours. Not anybody's colours.

My skincare was pretty good, and easy in those days. I had very few breakouts in my teens. My mum was all about good cleansing in a time of Noxzema, Nivea Cleansing Milk and Witch Hazel toner. Those were also the days of good sleep thanks to a set bedtime – at least by 9:30 pm (although from the doorway of my bedroom, hidden from my parents' sight around a corner, I could watch prime-time grown-up shows like Dallas, Knots Landing and Falcon Crest as Mum and Dad watched them from the settee).

That was then. And it's funny! (Thank you to my bro-in-law Nick for sparking this post by posting my Minor-Niner photo on Facebook. *grin*) So different from 14-year-olds now.

Many of you have school photos like this, I know! What's your Grade 9 beauty story?