What's old is new again. The Old Navy commercials remind me the most of clothing I used to wear back in the day (Bermuda Shorts, what was I thinking?) A post on the Beauty Addict several weeks ago also brought back a lot of memories to "beauty back in the day." I was born August 21, 1974 so thankfully I do not remember the "ugly" 70's, but I do hold dear all of the 80's and 90's. Let's see if you can relate and if it brings up any retro-beauty memories for you, too.
My 1st taste of bath & body addiction:
Garden Botanika. I knew of Bath & Body Works, but I was more a fan of GB. I especially loved their Seaweed Soap and whole Seaweed line. It was the smell that I was most addicted to. You would be surprised to know that I STILL have a container of their Sea Salt Mineral Soak that I bought in 1992. Seriously. If you want to talk about shelf life, this stuff is STILL good! I do so miss their seaweed soap though. I remember the day that they left The Rhode Island Mall and B&BW took over. It was a sad sad day for me. I really thought they no longer existed until about a week ago. If I only knew!
My 1st taste of makeup:
For the life of me, I cannot remember the name of the company that invaded my local neighborhood Brooks Drugstore in West Warwick, RI with the digital mini computer that helped you find the perfect colors for you. I want to say it was by Clairol? If anyone remembers, please be sure to post a comment. I just remember when my mom finally allowed me to wear makeup in 1987, my first stop was to this mini computer set up in the cosmetics isle. I had to punch in my eye color, hair color, skin tone, etc. Then it would give me recommendations on the perfect eye color shades, blush, foundation and so on. Naturally, I went with what they told me--pink, purple and then "charcoal grey" for eyeliner (for some reason I remember that the most). Although my friends were wearing black liquid liner on the insides of their lids, I much preferred the twist-up eye liner and pencils in brown and grey. The Beauty Addict posted yesterday some pictures of model's wearing pink, purple and green makeup sporting the Robert Palmer Addicited to Love video-look. God help me if we are heading back to pink and purple makeup!
My friends were into wearing Cornsilk loose powder, but I liked Maybelline's pressed powder better. Now of course I prefer loose powder. Go figure.
When I was low on cash, it was all about buying Wet n' Wild products. They had blue and purple nail polish, which I proudly wore. And they were cheap, coming in at $1, well within my budget.
I went to Catholic grade school and since we weren't allowed to wear makeup on our faces, I defiantly wore it in my hair. Pizzaz (mascara for hair) was proudly worn in electric blue and gold in my hair. I guess this is also when my obsession with color in my hair began.
Back in the day it was all about Lee Press on Nails. What a pain those were, but it began my love affair with "fake nails." I finally got "fake nails" (as we used to call them before they were just termed "acrylics") for my senior prom in 1992. However, I stopped wearing acrylics when a child I was working with kicked my nail (and my real nail) off my finger entirely in 1997. When I long for beautiful acrylic nails, I have to remind myself how much it hurts to have your nail ripped off! Ouch. My nail did eventually grow back. But oh.so.painful. (I'd love to try Avon's Instant Manicure, anyone tried them yet?)
Waterproof mascara was all the rage. I could wear the same mascara for days without it smudging and coming off. This was before I understood the importance of taking off your makeup every night! Also, blue mascara was tops.
My first taste of haircare/styling:
Words that come to mind are Rave, Loreal Bold Hold, Aquanet and when I felt like going "high end" (according to my supermarket paycheck) I would buy some Aussie products (who I totally rediscovered!) and really high end, I would go with Sebastian
My first taste of jewelry:
Big hooped earrings. I could not get enough of them. I also had double holes, which was pretty popular. I could never bring myself to get my upper ear pierced as many of my friends were doing, though.
Name rings. Many girls had necklaces with their names on them, I had a ring with my name. I think I still have it in my bedside table in fact.
Charm necklaces. I had like 50 charms on a necklace. I'm not sure why it was all the rage, but I was a follower of trends...
My first taste of perfume:
Babe and Exclamation were my favorites. Looking back, I can't imagine why.
My first taste of fashion:
Jordache and Chic jeans. Jeans that zipped completely up the side. Wearing socks over my jeans. Wearing high top Rebok's. Wearing boat shoes. Cuffing and folding my jeans, then wearing no socks with my white Keds. Leggings. Damn Leggings. Shopaholics Anonymous and MSNBC have shown that leggings are back. Damn it! Skinny Jeans. Damn it again! Julie and Christina have posted about how skinny jeans are back. Do you remember the sheer sleeve shirts? Or the Hyper Color t-shirts that changed color depending on temperature? z.Cavaricci's, parachute pants, Bomber jackets, Big Fat Goose down jackets, Jelly Shoes (mine had heels!), Stone Washed Jeans, ripped jeans (hmm wearing a pair right now as a matter of fact)...
What are some of your memories? What are you happy to see make a comeback and what do you hope never make it past the runway?
Retro-beauty: The past becoming the future You On Here » Retro-beauty: The past becoming the future
