what were some of your first makeup items ?

[jemly]

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 🙂

[greenwenvy]

omg I totally remember strawberry kiwi lipsmackers! I use to think it was so glamourous, oh and those body shop lip pots strawberry and satsuma. Oh, those were so good. I remember my mom wearing Estee Lauder and I use to mimic her with my lipgloss and felt so fancy.

[AMK721]

Yes!  Lip Smackers!

[Seymore3]

One of my first lipsticks was Revlon blackberry.I also used Rialto(shoppers brand) lip balms in a pot I know there was cherry flavor and a green one.I still have the lip brush I used with them.

[aleishamaxime]

my first makeup product was a blue mascara from walgreens. it was either covergirl or loreal, I don't remember why I picked blue but I wore it almost every day my 7th grade year

and any clear lip glosses i could get my hands on. NYC, bonne bell, lip smackers...

bonne belle blushing gel

and whatever my mom didn't want from her clinique GWP bags. so, a ton of shimmery neutral eye shadow singles.

around 8th grade my mom took my to a clinique counter because I wanted foundation and then soon after I discovered MAC.

[Mochapj]

Oh man, this is about to get SO nostalgic!

One of the first makeup items I remember owning was this:

And I'm sure it was in the shade Mocha somethingorother, because of course it would be! 😄

I also remember starting to buy makeup at the Body Shop (before Sephora had come to Canada, IIRC).  One item I recall vividly (perhaps for it being such an awful choice, in hindsight) was this matte pastel mint green eyeshadow.  I've scoured the internet trying to find a photo but it's so old I can't even find any photos of the packaging from that time.  I actually found it in an old box not too long ago and had a good chuckle, and then tossed it in the bin.  It was a round dark green plastic compact with a clear domed screw on lid.  The shade looked something like this, only more chalky and powdery:

And then for lipsticks, I had 4 or 5 tubes of these Maybelline Wet Shines, and I'm fairly certain a few of them were these 3 - I definitely had a 'sand' one, a 'lilac' one and a mauve one.  I know I also had one that gave a similar effect to Bite Opal, but was a coolish baby pink in the tube.  

Lastly, I recall having some of these *I thought* in my early 20s because IIRC it was the first thing I bought at Sephora when they finally came to Canada (2004).  I know I had this exact one, because I found it in the back of a cupboard recently, but I also had 4 or 5 others 😄

I never really struggled with my parents over wearing makeup because I was raised by my dad and I think he realized how futile it would be to try and stop me (because I'm hard headed).  I appreciate that he gave me the freedom to experiment, even if it meant I sometimes looked terrible.  

[TKLJ]

I had a few Maybelline Wet Shines as well, @Mochapj! My matte-loving heart weeps at the thought of their glossiness now.

[aleishamaxime]

oh wow I remember those bonne bell lip shades! they came out with the different colored packaging too. I wanted them all haha

[jemly]

@Mochapj i totalllllly had maybelline wet shine lipsticks too. i remember being so into mine (likely a baby pink shade) but on my tiny lips they didn't looks so good (i was in denial) and i'm pretty sure made me look like i had a drooling problem. i posted about that in the vintage makeup video thread, did you see it ? 

funnily enough looks like the 'face' of this product / campaign was josie maran. 

[video]

don't forget wet shine diamonds as well. 

[TKLJ]

OMG, blast from the past. I love that someone found a Maybelline commercial on a VHS tape they used to record "One Tree Hill" or whatever and then uploaded it to YouTube. 😄 @jemly

[Mochapj]

OMG, I didn't see that video; so good!!

Also, I totally forgot that before she had her brand, JM was a model 😮

This thread has totally taken me back 🙂

[jen81]

I remember the body shop makeup! I had some tarte  lip gloss similar to that above. 

[jen81]

I was just in a gap factory store last month and I saw gap dream and heaven and I just had to smell it. So funny what was "in" back then!

[JenniferOhJenny]

This is a sweet idea for a thread @jemly 🙂

The first makeup I remember really using and loving was this L'Oreal palette that had a little eyeliner, blushes, and eye shadows. I don't know how to describe it but it kind of folded up into a little box shape so it was really handy for carrying. I used that all the time, even though the colors were probably too dramatic for a 13 year old. 🙂

My first high-end makeup was a few things that my dad brought back for me when he was on a business trip. The woman sitting next to him worked for Clinique. He mentioned that it was my birthday (I think I was turning 15) and she gave him a little bag of products for me. I still have a soft spot in my heart for Clinique. ❤️

The first perfume that I considered my signature scent was Liz Claiborne (in the triangle bottle!). I was on poms in high school and I wore that every time we performed, so my uniform always smelled like Liz.

[TKLJ]

That is such a sweet story about Clinique, @JenniferOhJenny!

[JenniferOhJenny]

Aww, thanks @TKLJ! That little gesture earned them a customer for life :).

[starsandbucks]

My mom let me start wearing light makeup around 7/8th grade. This was in the late 80s so I bought a lot of Maybelline, Bonne Belle, Aziza (remember that brand?). I went to an all-girls high school and there wasn't any pressure to wear makeup or look done-up at school at all. I would probably wear concealer a couple days a week around then.

The summer I was 17 and going into my senior year my mom took me to the Clinique counter and set me up with my first grown-up makeup and skincare. I got foundation, eye shadow, eyeliner, mascara, lipstick and powder. I also got (of course) the three-step skincare system. 

My freshman year college roommate was into cosmetics and I learned a lot from her. I went to NYU and we'd go to Ricky's and poke around and spend what little money we had on new foundation and shadows. We'd also go to department stores and get makeovers on the weekend. We were friends with a lot of crazy flamboyant club kids so that influenced our makeup as well. She also taught me everything about hair removal. In 1992/93 I had never known anyone who had waxed anything before! 🙂

From then on it just grew and became a part of my life. I think a lot of people still don't get how makeup can be a hobby and outside of here I still feel self-conscious telling people that. Like, if someone asked me what I'm into I'd probably tell them "design, food, animals..." but for some reason I'd feel strange saying "I collect makeup." Hmm. 

[Titian06]

@starsandbucks - I forgot about Bonne Belle!  When I wore Bonne Belle in the mid 70s, it was on lip balm.  EVERYONE had to have the strawberry scented balm!  This would have been maybe 5th to 7th grade.  It was a tall, fat, redish stick (compared to today's much shorter and much thinner sticks) with redish balm.  I don't remember if it applied in the redish color, but I can still smell the strawberry scent!  It was the best!

[jen81]

Your college roommate sounds like lots of fun!

[jemly]

i just remembered something ! my first nail polishes are one of my happiest memories of my childhood ! these predated makeup wearing years, slightly.

i was in 5th grade, and suddenly there were more colors than red and pink for nail lacquers. I WANTED SOME. my mom wouldn't let me (she just couldn't wrap her head around the concept and therefore nixed it for me). i remember i went off to summer camp, WROTE MY DAD and told him how it had been raining a long and boyyyyyyy wouldn't it be nice if i had some nail polishes so we could spends some of those rainy days painting each other's nails. AND HE SENT ME NAIL POLISHES ! to this day i don't know if he knew my mom had forbidden them and was pulling one on her, or if i actually conned him. and i don't remember the brand, unfortunately, but i remember the bottles were tinyyyy and cute. off the top of my head i remember there was a yellow and a baby blue and maybe a deeper blue or green. i treasured those.

when i returned home and mom saw my nails she just sighed and walked away so i knew she realized she couldn't win that battle. not long after that--definitely that same year--i got a HARD CANDY lavender color, and i remember that one vividly because i was obsessed with alanis morissette and i'd read she loved hard candy nail polishes SO IT WAS LIKE WE WERE SISTERS. or something.

definitely this exact one on the right, here:

THE END ! 🙂

[TKLJ]

Go dad!

[niki172]

I remember these being featured on MTV's house of style and I wanted a bottle so badly.