What Was Your Very First Beauty Product?
When I was a kid, I loved Barbie dolls so much that my dad would use them as bait to get me to stop biting my nails. If I could stop for a month, he said, I could have the doll of my choosing. What a deal! I didn’t go for it, though. I was pretty stuck on the nail biting back then, and I was lucky enough to already have more Barbies than I knew what to do with.
What I really wanted, though, was one of those creepy disembodied makeup heads—you know the ones I’m talking about right? They were essentially plastic busts of usually-blonde girls that came with erasable makeup that smelled like candy.
There weren’t many rules in our house growing up, but one was no toy guns and the other was no makeup. Also, no makeup heads.
Which is why, when I saw one of these jimmies at a garage sale, I snapped it up instantly. Of course, the makeup had long been lost by the original owner, so I did what any enterprising young girl would: I used my magic markers. I learned quickly this was a very bad idea. The marker didn’t come off, and I ended up with a busted thing that looked more like Marilyn Manson than, I don’t know, Marilyn Monroe. (Who I loved.)
Fast forward a few years and I was old enough to actually buy stuff. The whole makeup thing had been scrubbed out of me by my folks (thanks, guys!), and basically stayed that way until we wrote this book. So naturally I went straight for skincare. Specifically: St. Ives Apricot Face Scrub. I’ve always been drawn to things that I thought were natural even when they weren’t, and this product fit that bill perfectly: It had apricots in it! And oatmeal? And huh? I don’t know, but I thought it was a good choice, and most important, it was my first. I continued to use it for about 10 years.
What about you? What was your first beauty product? And did you get to play with makeup when you were a kid?
Image via
for me it was a neutrogena face wash, all those ads on tv finally got to my head that it was “good” though it never really worked as well as i expected.
This amazingly horrible gold Hard Candy lipstick that I wasn’t allowed to wear out of the house. I was that little kid that got caught constantly playing in my mother’s makeup (I wasn’t allowed, I just snuck it whilst she was at work). My love of product wasn’t scrubbed out of me, no matter how many faces my dad made after my attempts to beautify myself and the neighborhood girls. I am still an eyeliner junkie with a love of red lipstick. I haven’t tried any golds in a while though…
love the Shirley Temple pic
My mom and older sisters had tons of makeup that I played with. My mom did her makeup in front of one of those lighted magnifying mirrors at our kitchen table, and I did the same as a child. I remember her gigantic case of Princess Marcella Borghese eyeshadows. I loved it. I was not allowed to wear makeup in public until I was 16. I could use coverup on my pimples and under my eyes (horrifying dark circles), and no-color lip gloss. So my own first products were probably a Cover Girl stick cover-up and a Bonne Belle lip gloss. I used to rifle through my sisters stuff and sneak their old blushes and mascara and put them on while on the school bus. Since I wasn’t allowed to wear it, I had no instruction, and I’m sure it was frighteningly bad application. Plus my sisters are a decade older than me, so their makeup was REALLY old. It makes me sad to think I felt so bad about my appearance that I’d put that gross crap on my skin. That was definitely hiding, now I go for enhancing and am pretty minimal with makeup.
I think I had that same apricot scrub @Siobhan! I thought it was great for my skin to be scrubbed by pointy bits of apricot seed.
I always got to play with the dregs of my mom’s Clinique lipsticks and various Erno Laszlo pots. to this day I still have a soft spot for Erno Laszlo packaging and heavy metal lipstick tubes. None of those flimsy plastic lipstick tubes for me!
My first very own beauty products were given to me when I had chicken pox in first grade. My grandmother gave me some Tinkerbell cosmetics. I can still remember the smell of that stuff.
Other than that my mom gave me tons of nail polish starting in 3rd grade to keep me from biting my nails. It worked!
A cheap black eyeliner pencil, if memory serves me right. My two best friends were just getting into makeup (we were about 11 or so) so obviously I thought I had to do the same. I used it heavily in my waterline, and probably looked like a cross between a failed punk rocker and a panda. Not so good. And to think that I actually wondered why people always seemed to give me weird looks on the bus…
(P.S. Neutrogena was an early brand for me as well, needless to say I’ve since moved on… Thankfully!)
I used to play with my mother’s Avon lipsticks, which were off-limits. Each Christmas we received the calendar lip balms.
The first ones I bought? I was hooked early on–Revlon’s Custom-eyes, St.Ives apricot scrub, Clinique shaker foundation, Yves Rocher sensitive line. I was modeling for Elite when I was 12, do I was exposed to even more, very very young, though the girls at school said I should wear more makeup because I went for a natural, sheer look, even with a full face (moisturizer, sunscreen, foundation, eyeliner, blush, mascara, lipstick).
I haven’t left the house without at least tinted sunscreen & mascara in about 28 years (I’m turning 40), though now my cosmetics & skincare are edible.
First product was also the St. Ives Apricot Face Scrub. Parents didn’t let me play with make-up as a kid so I didn’t really start to use any cosmetics until high school. Wish I would have stayed away from the drug store make-up aisle!
Nail polish! I definitely wasn’t allowed to wear make up either- but I compensated by painting my nails all kinds of crazy colors! Except no black; even now I see it as very risque!
Oh gosh, it’s killing me that I can’t remember! I used to steal my mom’s make up instead of playing dress up. Maybe it was Dr. Pepper lipsmackers. Maybe it was clear mascara (that my blonde eyelashes really did not benefit from). Maybe conditioner.
My first was Tinkerbell Bo-Po Peel-Off Nail Polish for sure.
My mom bought me Estee Lauder mascara, the brand she and my grandmother used. I never was really into make-up, so my mom always bought it for me, (unfortunately) well into my adult years. A great deal of it went to waste or was given to friends, by me. My mother’s rule of thumb was that you could never leave home without mascara, at a minimum, and absolutely no curlers in the hair.
Mine was mascara for sure. Whenever I would beg and plead to play with her makeup my mom would allow me to put on a little mascara or curl my eyelashes. To this day it’s the one thing I absolutely cannot do without. I haven’t tried any clean ones yet, but my current mascara is about to get tossed, so it’s definitely time to go for it.
Since it’s been mentioned a few times I also have to add that I was really taken in my that whole neutrogena face wash thing too when I was like 13. Boo.
Bonne Bell Ten O Six lotion, I had very oily skin and it really did help in keeping my pores cleaned out, they also had a great lip gloss, Pot O Gloss. My boyfriend in high school liked the way it tasted! I was fortunate enough to get a job at the cosmetic counter of one of the high end stores that sold Bonne Bell and Estee Lauder, it made me realize how much I loved the beauty industry and today, 40 years later I am still in the industry I love, now I deal with the professionals and am so excited to still be a part of the Beauty Industry!
My first was Revlon Colorstay lipstick in Cherry red. I was about 4 so I obviously didnt buy it myself but I remember cherishing it for a long time. I dont think I threw it out till I was 11 or so. I remember the smell…the texture, the colour. So magical. Now, I think of all those chemicals I was slathering on my lips at such a young age.
I remember it clearly. Dr. Pepper Lip Smackers. Eleven-year-old me thought it was the best stuff ever.
Some very pink Tinkerbell peel off nail polish. I was always impatient for it to dry so I could peel it off! Hey, I was four. After that, around 6 or so, the Lipsmackers. Oh the Lipsmackers….. The variety tubes in my stocking every year (along with a toothbrush!), and when I was older, I got to pick out what flavor I wanted, so the brand changed up.
Recently, I found a tube of Dr. Pepper flavored lip gloss in the dollar bin at Target. Yes, I bought it. Yes, I used it. Yes, it was awful. Yes, I felt like a kid again. Best dollar ever.
It was either Teen Speed Stick deodorant in green apple or a tub of Noxema to try and rid my arms of these weird bumps I used to get. I also washed my face with it for a while.
Then again, I can’t forget those little Bon Bons nail polish bottles given to me for my birthday…
Bonne bell Lip gloss, Tickle deodorant and Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific! Thank god I am older and wiser!
Oh, that’s right, Bonne Bell Ten O Six Lotion! And they had a gel blush and/or bronzer. Bonne Bell is still being sold, I’m surprised to see. But most of the time I washed my face with soap, and wore a lot of mascara. Oh, and there was a “Lily of the Valley” perfume that must have smelled awful.
For me, it was Bonne Bell lipsmackers. I remember saving up my allowance to collect as many of them as I could back when I was 10-11
My first beauty product was BareMinerals Blush which my mother bought me for Christmas along with an eyelash curler and mascara. That as all I could wear when I was about 10-11.I can’t remember the first thing that I would’ve bought with my own money, it was probably Lip Smacker’s lip balm or gloss.
Oh this is so cute!
As a kid I loved unPetroleum lip balm in the pot, especially the lime flavour (really…my “clean” obsession goes back a long, long time!) as well as Lip Smackers, and Love’s Baby Soft. By the age of 11, I used Noxzema all the time…I’d love to get a whiff of that stuff again, just for old times sake. Also, Teen Spirit in Honeydew (I think?).
My mum wouldn’t let me wear makeup or paint my nails until I was way into teenage-hood, at which time I was pretty into grunge and the skater look so makeup was pointless to me, but I remember being about 7 and someone gifted me this Minnie Mouse nailpolish and nail sticker kit that smelled like strawberries. I think it was even washable with soap and water, but mum wouldn’t let me wear it. I remember crying my eyes out over that.
I also used to hoard mum’s Clinique samples.
My very first makeup was lipstick the color of plum. It was gift from a friend of my mother’s, who I complemented when she had on the lipstick and the next day she just bought me one. I don’t even remember the brand, but I wore that lipstick everyday for three months until I completely ran out. I could never buy a second one because the friend had move to another country and lost touch. To this day, whenever I see a lipstick the color of plum, I get nostalgic about my very first one.
It was probably some kind of lip balm for me too, but I also remember using St. Ives Apricot Face Scrub at a fairly young age too. I didn’t wear much makeup, I never felt the need to but my addiction to skin care cleansers started pretty early on.
my mother used to sell mary kay as kind of a hobby. when i was about four she started bringing me along to those makeup “parties”. i was a great selling point, i think. she would give me a sample palette and a mirror and let me go nuts. i must have looked ridiculous smeared with all these bright colors but all her friends used to giggle and pat my head. to this day the smell of a mary kay lipstick makes me a little misty-eyed.
If Chapstick counts, then it would be Chapstick.
I was allowed to play with an old blue eyeshadow & an ANCIENT frosted white lipstick Seriously, it was from the 60’s, & this was the early ’80’s. & My mom was a nurse! However, she was also extremely cheap & never threw anything out, regardless of age. I never got an infection or anything, so I can’t fuss too much.
I think the first thing I was in control of was my Oil of Olay lotion. It was, again, ancient, leftover from my grandmother, but the second I put it on, there was blessed relief. Turns out I had (& still have) wicked dry skin, and because my mom’s was oily, she only had Dial soap for washing, so I thought tight, aching & dry was normal. I started buying Olay with sunscreen as soon as I could. (I just had a pre-cog type feeling about sunscreen, even though it was the late ’80’s & everyone else was tanning.)
Lipsmackers chapstick was definitely my first beauty product, and I had them in just about every flavor! I used to love going to the drugstore with my mom because it was such fun to spend time in the makeup aisle looking at all the pretty colors of eyeshadow, blushes, nail polishes and lipsticks. I also used to go down the shampoo aisle and smell them all. I think my first shampoo was Johnson & Johnson’s baby shampoo and then V05. I loved the strawberries and creme and the green apple flavors. Wow, what a flashback! If I add a few years to the equation I remember my first lipstick being a frosted pink color by covergirl! Oh the 80’s!
I believe it was clear mascara, and a bubblegum pink thing from lipsmackers (I also had it in dr.pepper).
Shortly after that I believe the Clinique 3 step system came along. Thankfully by highschool I had righted myself thanks to working at a local health food store.
My mom was a makeup artist before I was born, and I did a lot of theater as a kid, so I learned how to do my makeup at a really early age. I was the one at summer camp teaching everyone how to apply red lipstick and liquid liner. I never really wore too much makeup (except maybe high school, yikes!), but I loved knowing how to do it!
The first beauty product I got was a nail polish (bright yellow!) from Hard Candy before a family cruise. It came with a little plastic ring and I just thought I was the coolest…
http://woodstockwardrobe.com/
Such a fun question! Mine were LipSmackers (any flavor but Dr Pepper) and Wet n Wild lip liner #666.
I also remember putting make up on my mom when I was little. What a saint to allow a preschooler to do that!
A palette of 9 Max Factor blue eyeshadows – I can recall the colours perfectly. It was required for a ballet performance and then forgotten by my mother, so of course I hoarded it and tried it on dozens of times at home without ever having the guts to wear it out of the house (I was eight I think). In retrospect, I’m glad shyness won out over my desire to look like Olivia Newton John in Grease because with my freckles and green eyes, those blues could not have been a pretty sight. My mother was very anti-makeup: I pleaded for weeks for hair conditioner when I was about 12. Imagine my dismay when she finally caved in and I discovered that Finesse would not make my hair form natural waves!
My mom used to let me play with her “rejects”….tubes of lipstick reduced to stubs, colors that hadn’t really worked out, blush that she’d gotten as a gift but never used (fortunately she and I are of the naturally flushed and never found blush to be necessary)…and tiny samples of perfume. I think I was about 4 when I started. She would let me used them over the sink, and I’m sure I looked like a clown, but I loved that stuff–I wasn’t allowed to go out in it, but that really didn’t bother me. One Halloween, when I was about 5 or 6 I dressed up as Cinderella and got to wear red lipstick, mascara, and blue eyeshadow (what can I say, it was the 90s…that blue eyeshadow was hot hot hot). That was very exciting for my little 5 year old self. But I think the first product that was actually mine was a sparkly watermelon-flavored lip smackers.The first product I actually bought for myself was benefit Nice Knickers lipstick (I still love that raspberry color…it’s “my shade”). Now I use 100% Pure lipsticks, which are very very nice. Fruit Punch is now my color :)
I’m a teenager now, and make-up isn’t really accepted in my house, but I love it, so I just buy some eyeshadows and these things when my mum is in a good mood!! haha
Probably the first make-up I used was a lip gloss that was so shiny (and smelled with candy too!!) when I was like 6 years old! And sometimes I used perfume too, but I always forgot to use it!! (And I have to recognise that now I always forget to use it also!)
I had one of thoses creepy make-up heads also, but I didn’t really like it!! hahah
Now I love painting my nails (the worst make-up thing in my dad’s vision!) and trying on me some eyeliners, eyeshadows, etc.!!
Sorry for my really bad English, it’s my 3rd language!!
Hope you like my comment ^^
Wow! I had no idea that there were makeups like those^^ :)
I am 17, and, if I remember right, my first makeup was a Clinique Lipstick in Sugared Maple. My mom gave me her stub when I was about 10-11, and I have played with makeup a ton ever since!