35 Mistakes Every Girl Needs To Make At Least Once In Her Lifetime

Some of these you won’t make twice. Most of them you’ll repeat because #FML. Others will make for really, really great stories to tell later. If we didn’t make these mistakes, our lives would be a whole lot less interesting. Let’s make a mess of it, shall we?

Here are the 35 mistakes every Gen-Y girl should make at least once in her lifetime.

1. Bad haircut

J.Law is proof that you can still be America’s favorite and a total Hollywood magnet, even with a terrible haircut. Go on, get those bangs and bobs out of your system while they’re still in style. If it sucks, remember that it can’t be worse than the time Britney shaved her head.

2. Putting two tampons up your vagina

It only takes one time and the real threat of TSS to learn to never do it again.

3. ...Ditto for condoms.

4. Getting caught talking behind someone’s back

We’ve all experienced that feeling of dread as you helplessly watch your text message or "reply all" sending to the wrong person.

All you can do is accept that you royally messed up and then go twist the story when you re-tell it to your friends later. Classic.

5. Being too trusting of someone

From the suspicious looking barista who definitely did not use soy milk as requested, to the coworker who's a little too eager to hear your thoughts on the boss, being burned by someone you thought you could trust is a tough lesson to learn.

Yet, we continue to confide in the wrong people. Note to self: The overbearing saleswoman does not have your best interests in mind.

6. Sex in a public area

It’s only a mistake if you get caught.

7. Accepting a job because it’s a job

After waiting tables, being someone’s b*tch and babysitting, slaving away folding t-shirts and reorganizing the fashion closet sounds a whole lot more glamorous.

8. One-night stand regret

Literally f*cking it up.

9. Enduring the worst sunburn

You’ll think twice about going tanning before your friend’s wedding when you recall the time you were too cool for sunscreen on spring break. Or maybe you just learned that you don’t really need that top layer of skin.

10. Pregnancy scare

First response isn’t going to be so forgiving on the second response.

11. Dating the wrong person… over and over again

Isn’t that what happens until you find The One?

12. Drinking until you’re completely hungover

We dare you to try to cure that with another Bloody Mary. We promise it’ll be as bad as it sounds. Sigh, probably still not enough, though, to keep you from overdoing it for the better part of your twenties and well into your thirties.

13. Street meat

On the downside, you just got food poisoning from street food. On the brightside, you just lost five pounds.

14. Splurging on something you can’t afford

It’s kind of like gambling, except you’re guaranteed to walk away with a prize after you lose all your money.

15. Horrendous makeup

Remember when you thought bright green eyeliner didn’t make you look like the lunch lady? We all have looks we aren’t proud of and it may or may not involve a Lady Gaga-approved eyeshadow…

16. Flashing, piercing, tattooing

Sometimes you just want to piss them off because you know you can. You badass, you.

17. Unknowingly getting ripped off

Your first apartment is a really great time to anticipate this happening. See also: every choice abroad made spur-of-the-moment, Whole Foods, and juice cleanses.

18. Fashion faux-pas

I'm being blackmailed with photographic evidence of the time I wore ballet flats with socks and I have yet to live it down. Lesson learned: Don't make sartorial choices you won't want the paparazzi catching you in. And hey, who knows, the trend might even come back (overalls, we're talking about you here.)

19. Being that girl

You chose dicks over chicks last night. You flaked on plans without warning. You care more about your social media persona than the one in real life.

Mistakes happen, and sometimes our lack of judgment eclipses our moral compass. But it doesn't count as long as you make a conscious effort not to commit them again.

20. Forgoing tights in winter

No matter how amazing your legs look from hibernating in the gym, you're always going to regret not wearing tights when it's freezing outside. Staying in the sunny patches won't help, either. The wind knows no boundaries.

21. Pretending you know something when you really don't

Sometimes, for no apparent reason, we feel compelled to lie about stupid things like restaurants we've only skimmed online, movies we never saw past the trailer, books we heard were spectacular but never got around to actually reading. Lying without good reason is one of our favorite past-times... until we are embarrassingly caught.

22. Forgetting someone's name upon introduction

As long as it's not your soon-to-be mother-in-law, most people will forgive you for the common mishap.

23. Abstaining from feminine products on the last day of your period

Why do we pretend like it’s not happening? It’s definitely still happening. There goes another sacrificial pair of panties.

24. Ugly crying

Throwing a tantrum in public is never a good look unless you're seeking the wrong kind of attention. We've all been there -- in the bar, the hair salon, the department store dressing room -- and we definitely don't want to go back.

25. Spring break

You might not have made any outright mistakes (that you know of), but you totally did things you wouldn't want your own daughters doing. Spring break is the time to get all of that out of your system (which you probably did in the Mexican toilet) before the police find out about it.

26. Not lining the toilet in a public restroom

Perhaps this is something you still shadily do on the reg, but have you seen this? Remember your vagina is an opening -- don't put it anywhere you wouldn't want your mouth.

27. Being too comfortable in the workplace

You don't learn the unspoken rules of the office until you've broken them. Maybe you'll rethink that hemline or seemingly innocuous comment in the bathroom next time...

28. Losing your cell phone and wallet

It's actually quite liberating walking around without a cellphone. Walking around without your wallet, however, is one step above being homeless.

29. A bad first impression

Bad first impressions are kind of like getting mono -- it sucks in the beginning, but you can always bounce back.

30. Mispronouncing a well-known name

John Travolta has officially made it acceptable to butcher even the easiest of names. When it doubt, we suggest the mumble-it-under-your-breath technique.

31. Terrible Tinder date

There are some times when online dating isn't the answer. A bad Tinder date will remind you of this next time you're on OKCupid and he says he's in "consulting" (which you now know means "consulting whether or not I'm going to try and bang you before we finish the first round").

32. Fad dieting

The thing about carbs is that once you start eating them again, you realize just how much you've missed them... four bags of chips later.

33. Long-distance relationship

It only takes one guy and thousands of dollars wasted in plane fares to never make you want to fall in love with someone not in your city again. Masturbation is pretty much the same thing as Skype sex and it doesn't require accommodating time zones.

34. Going braless under your tank top

Take a cue from the highway patrol and don't flash your headlights unless it's dark.

35. Acting ridiculously reckless

Skydiving over the mountains, getting lost on a road trip in the bad part of town, climbing on stage and dancing, being kicked out of the stadium for heckling, hogging the mic at an event, starting a drunk fight with your boyfriend. The good, the bad, the ugly cries -- it’s all part of life.

Photo via We Heart It