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i know we've had these sorts of threads floating around fairly regularly, but i figured i'd start a fresh one ! just some innocent reminiscing & nostalgia, partly inspired by mocha's "haunting" thread. i encourage anecdotes !!
my mother was open to me wearing makeup the moment i expressed interest in it (her parents wouldn't let her wear any until she was 17 or so) and i'm very grateful for that. things are a little better now, but in the late 90s there were no foundation options for super pale girls at the drugstore (perhaps more age appropriate for a 13 year old, but that's up for debate). i tried to do my thing, but my mother quickly intervened to stop my orange and demarked face and took me to--do you guys remember this ?--the prescriptives counter. i know that prescriptives went out of business, and now exists online or something, but at the time it was known as the counter you could go to to get a foundation custom mixed to match you. they had the color wheel that taught you all about tones, shades, undertones, etc. i remember my mom saying "people are going to tell you you're pale pink, BUT YOU'RE NOT". thanks mom--she was so right. the palest foundation was yellow rather than pink; i think i ended up not getting a custom mix but going with the palest one available in the regular range--i remember the shade was called ecru (i wish i had any evidence of it so i could see now if it was a good match or not; i frankly don't remember). it all came with a generous gift with purchase including a mascara and--what i remember the most and actually still had until just a few years ago--a lipstick that hadn't been in fashion since 1998.....until now. it was like a griege-dark plum duochrome. i'm not much into the metallic trend now, but i would kill to have that lipstick again ! i used to wear it in my room when i was feeling dark and broody but was too embarrassed to be seen.
a year and a half later, the first MAC counter opened in my city, i discovered their 'club' single eyeshadow, and the rest was history. i'll write about more of my first objects / distant memories down below 🙂
Oh god, those rollerball lipglosses!
Oh yeah.. it was awesome. I also couldn't go without my Lemon Up shampoo LOL.
@AMK721, do you remember the original Herbal Essence shampoo?
YES YES YES!! Sorry couldn't resist 😆
I remember being so embarrassed whenever an Herbal Essences commercial was on TV when my mom was in the same room. @jen81
Ha yes! Felt a bit dirty just watching it! @TKLJ
I used this stuff! Didn't it kind of smell like Lemon Pledge?
I'm so glad I took this (film!) photograph of all the makeup I owned my freshman year of college (2004). All the drugstore stuff was purchased by me, and the Estee and Lancome stuff are GWPs that my grandma passed on.
Some highlights:
Blue Estee Lauder palette, upper left: This had the most amazing black powder eyeliner that you were meant to activate with water and apply with a little foam-tipped pointed brush. I really wish I still had this.
Black and white Maybelline XXL primer and mascara tube, lower left: I vividly remember buying this because my favorite musician, Liz Phair, was featured in the ads. The mascara was garbage, but at least it taught me about lash primer.
Revlon cream eyeshadow palettes, center: My favorites! Look at how I hit pan in so many of them, a feat I can only dream of achieving today. I got the large one for my 17th birthday from my parents.
Orange Estee Lauder bronzer tub, lower center: It was 2004, so bronzing was suuuuuper in, thanks for nothing, JLo. I used this bronzer a few times, but it looked horrible on me (a combination of the wrong color and poor application technique, I'm sure). But back in the day, I never threw away makeup I didn't like, since it was such a luxury. I kept it just in case I could figure out how to wear it later on.
Beige tub of Maybelline Dream Matte mousse foundation, lower center: I 100% guarantee this was too dark for me and the mousse texture clung to every dry patch and zit. It was not a great look.
Dr. Pepper Lip Smackers, lower center: The holy grail of Bonnie Bell products.
So many pink lipsticks and glosses, right: Even back in high school I hated lipgloss, so I don't know why I owned so many of them! I'm sure these were all horrible. I still hold hate in my heart for Lancome Juicy Tubes, one of the most infuriating products ever created.
I remember those revlon eyeshadow palettes!! I also recognize those covergirl blue lippies in the upper right.
Urgh, those lipsticks. They probably put me off liquid lipsticks for 10 years. I got the worst crusty mouth corners with those.
That is fantastic - I wish I would have taken a picture like that! Also your thoughts on Juicy Tubes are making me laugh. I agree, tbh. 🙂
This question is transporting me to my first Sephora visit!
My very first makeup item was from Sephora when I was 7 or 8 years old. My mom took my sister and me on a trip to Las Vegas and we all had our first Sephora experience. We probably spent two hours exploring. I remember opening drawers and drawers of mini, dry flowers and bagging them up with my Mom for some fragrant bathroom decor. I wish we still offered these!
I left Sephora with a bright, electric blue eyeshadow from Bourjois. Totally impractical for a kid but my Mom loved blue mascara and eyeshadow so I just wanted to be like her 🙂
I'd argue that blue eyeshadow is really only practical for a kid, @KatieBT. 😉
For my 13th birthday, my mom took me to the Mac counter and we bought the Lustreglass in Love Nectar.
It had the prettiest, sparkliest sheen. I'm so excited to see that its being re-released soon!
Oh boy, here we go down memory lane! When I was in Kindergarten, my mom sold Mary Kay. I still remember her pink "trunk case" that had all of these tubes of color and oatmeal masks that you put on little Styrofoam plates. That was really just play, but I do recall their roll-on lip glosses were awesome (mind you I was 6)! I recall all of her compacts where you wet the brush and dipped into the eye colors and lip colors. My first love was a lip gloss from my local drug store. This was the ultimate pale pink shiny lip gloss! It came in a tiny palette and you applied it with a brush. I know the brand had Maxi in it so it may have been a Max Factor product. I went through 2 of them before I couldn't find them any longer. Move on to 1986 with Bonne Bell blue mascara. Love's Baby Soft was the perfume to have. By middle school, I always scored leftovers of mom's Clinique bonuses and sometimes we'd get something for me (usually eyeliner) so I could get my own bonus. I lived for Estee Lauder or Clinique bonus days at our 2 (yes 2) department stores in town. I had Gap Dream when that came out, but I think my first high-end perfume was Gucci (or maybe Obsession). I recall going to Europe as a sophomore and getting perfume. I thought I was fancy. My first "foundation" was Clinique's loose powder with a retractable brush. I didn't get into actual foundation until late 20s. I stuck to lips and eyes. So many memories.... PS - I'm still unhappy about that pale pink lip gloss!
Omg, I even remember when purple eye shadow first came out! It's true — it hasn't always been around! I had some vile powdery lavender shade, but I was soooooo cool for having it! 😄
OK, so give me a moment while I step into my "Way Back" machine....
Yikes! I started wearing makeup in about 7th grade which would've been '72-'73! My Mom really only ever wore lipstick, but she never stopped me from experimenting with makeup. I'm pretty sure (if memory serves) that I had a lot of Maybelline (like, Great Lash) and Cover Girl with some smatterings of Avon in the mix. I recall a little eyeshadow quad I had that was an olive, an aqua, a darker turquoise color and a peachy color. It was quite the bomb. I also had this blue (oh, and I mean BLUE) sort of gel eye shadow that came in a round ball container and it went on with kind of a sheen. I'm sure I thought it was totally glam, but I'm pretty certain it looked pretty horrid! Lol!
I got a reputation in high school for being good with makeup, so a lot of my friends used to let me do them up for dances and things. I think about this time I graduated to Clinique and maybe Ultima II (you guys remember that one?) Remember kids, this was also the disco era, so I plucked my eyebrows thin which I seriously regret. I never had heavy eyebrows to begin with and then they never really grew back (hello 1980s and Brook Shields eyebrows!)
My infatuation with makeup continued into college. I used hot rollers every day (and had wicked split ends!) I believe I started using Estee Lauder about this time — I was moving up in the world! Once I got out of college (I graduated in 1982) I got even more into it. My first job was in a small advertising firm and it was a few blocks away from the biggest mall in my area. I knew all the SAs there on a first name basis! Hello Chanel, Dior and yes, @jemly Prescriptives! I actually really liked that line a lot because it was based on the color wheel and if you got typed correctly (I believe you could be a blue-red, red, yellow-orange, or — I think — red-orange) it was a pretty fool proof way to choose colors. I was blue-red, and everything from foundation to eye shadow to lipstick was laid out for you. For a "high fashion" look, you could wear items from your opposite, which in my case was yellow-orange. They had beautiful packaging. It was a very modern dark taupe-y color with horizontal grooves in it. Geez, I loved that stuff!
Needless to say, the more money I made, the more money I spent on makeup (and more expensive brands). The only time that stopped was when my kids were little. Believe it or not, I used to go into work completely bare-faced. Not even mascara! I just didn't have time. Now that they've gotten older, well, let's just say I've reverted to my old ways. 😄
This Prescriptives place sounds really cool! Too bad I missed out. @jozkid
It wasn't a place @TKLJ, it was a makeup line that you could find in department stores. If I'm not mistaken it was a division of Estee Lauder. I will admit I felt verrry fancy wearing that stuff!
Oh gosh, I think my first makeup item was lip gloss! My mom did not want me wearing makeup for a long long time (now she wants me to do her makeup, how the tables have turned!), but I kept asking her and asking her. I mean, everyone was wearing lip gloss and it tasted good! Although, we probably shouldn't have been "eating" it. Hahaha
I think the one I bought is the one pictured below. I believe my favorite was the strawberry kiwi. 🙂