What is your fondest memory associated with makeup?
These days, I’d say just the blog in general – being able to do it, be part of the community, and still be around after all these years.
— Christine
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Bear in mind that I am in my late 60’s and I still remember this. When I was a kid – so maybe close to 60 years ago – my mom won a train case filled with Elizabeth Arden skin care products (she and my dad belonged to a bowling league and I think that’s where she won it). It was deep green (British racing green) leather treated to look like alligator or lizard and it was lined in peachy pink satin (EA’s colour then – for many years after, products came in tubes and jars that colour). The inside was fitted with satin coloured elastics to hold some of the items in place and I can picture it so clearly in my head but what I remember most is the scent. Many years later (maybe 5 years ago), I was at Sephora and sampling some of the Atelier Cologne fragrances and smelled something that had the EXACT scent of the contents of that train case. It was Grand Neroli. It’s a lovely scent and was like being hit in the face (in a nice, gentle way) by that whole memory. I’ve still not purchased the fragrance (I find Atelier’s scents to be very short lived on me and the price is so high that it’s just not worth it) but some day, particularly if I can get a roller ball with a lower price, I just might. FWIW, I did purchase some Neroli essential oil a while back but the scent isn’t the same at all.
For myself and my own purchases, a great memory might be buying either the original Naked palette or discovering Tarina Tarantino’s eyeshadows and that they were available at the Sephora near me!
Wonderful scent memory. Especially since it’s your mum. Very touching and so beautifully described. We older reader’s eyes are wellling up.
For me and for a lot of people, from what I’ve read, scent can be a major trigger for memories (both good and bad). I remember thinking this train case was the most glamorous thing I’d ever seen!
Wonderful story, thanks for sharing!
I still keep the paper inserts from my Urban Decay Smoky palette, although I have decluttered the actual palette years ago. I purchased it in Paris, in the Sephora from Champs Elysees, on my birthday; it was a great birthday, since I was on vacation in France, spent my entire day at Louvre and had eaten one of th best meals (smoked duck as main course and flambee fig with ice cream as dessert).
I love the story, how glamorous if must have been for you to have such a clear memory of it. I could see it in my mind, reading. Thank you for sharing such a wonderous memory.
You should get the perfume, just to sniff it now and then.
Hmm, there are so many haha! But one that comes to mind is back in 2015, I would take two buses home from work; they connected in the downtown area of my city, know for its shopping district. Since I was walking from one side of the district to the other anyway, I would often stop by Sephora and/or MAC, usually just window-shopping and swatching. At MAC there was one employee named Liam who was always super welcoming to me, even when I didn’t buy anything or just brought in some Back 2 MAC, even when I smelled like restaurant! One night I had had a stressful shift, so he sat me down for a makeover and made me look and feel awesome. I no longer remember what happened at work that day, but I do remember Liam’s hospitality. I haven’t seen him since I quit that job, and I occasionally wonder what he’s done since!
I remember a Liam at one of my local MAC counters, and he was absolutely wonderful… I would stop by the mall either before or after work, and we would just sit and talk for about a solid hour… I wonder if it was the same Liam…?
Now I’m wondering too, ha ha
When I was I never learned how (or had interest in) to apply makeup when I was younger, and had deep self esteem issues. I remember being in high school and crying when I tried to apply eyeliner and I couldn’t get it to “look right”. When I was 18 I had basically given up on makeup entirely, as well as any hope of feeling attractive. I’m a classical singer and for the holiday choir concert we were told we had to wear lipstick and blush so we could be seen on stage. I begrudgingly put on a red lipstick to match my red satin choir dress (I remember that the lipstick was the Nyx Round Lipstick in Snow White!), feeling foolish the whole time. I remember walking back from the concert, lonely and miserable (I was very shy and had trouble making friends my freshman year). When I walked into my dorm, my RA, Monica, had her door open and saw me come in. “Wow, that lipstick color looks great on you! You should wear lipstick more, it really makes your eyes pop,” she smiled. I remember feeling stunned – it was the first time I remembered someone besides my family complementing my looks.
That single moment kicked off a new obsession with makeup, and was the catalyst for the journey toward self love I’ve been on since then. A decade later I have way too much makeup, I’m better at doing eyeliner (though I still mess up often), and I’m much, much more comfortable and confident in my own skin, makeup or not. Instead of the lonely girl feeling silly in red lipstick, I’m a confident young woman, proudly working to better myself, whether that’s through makeup, my physical health, or my mental health. I don’t remember what I said to Monica, but I hope I thanked her, and I want thank her today; I probably wouldn’t be the person I am today without that one, simple complement. Remember to be kind to others, you never know what effect it might have on someone! <3
Thank you for sharing this story. How amazing that a few kind words can change a life.
We do need more kindness in the world.
By the way, that lipstick, NYX Snow White is just gorgeous.
I don’t have many fond associations with makeup, as I see it more utilitarian.
But I would say the fondest memories are sharing makeup with and gifting makeup to my mom. When we were little she tried to make extra money by selling Avon products. I remember fondly her letting me play with sample makeup. As an adult, I remember fondly the joy she had when I would bring home as a gift to her multiple small makeup and skincare bits; sometimes they were products I received and wouldn’t use, but she always got excited nonetheless.
And the fondest is the fact that each year I would go back to Europe I would gift her the Marc Jacobs eyeliner in Blaquer, the only makeup she wears most times. Off course, it wasn’t just that eyeliner, but that was “our thing”. It’s hard to believe I haven’t seen my mother in more than a year and I am unsure when I would be able to see her again.
You must miss her so much. I hope you’ll be able to see her soon.
Isn’t it wonderful to have a “thing” with someone, especially your mother, I would imagine.
When I was in college I had a date and a bunch of girls on my floor did my makeup and hair. (They did a great job!) A girl lent me her Chanel lipgloss in Whisper, now sadly discontinued. My love for makeup didn’t start for real until years later, but I still smile thinking about my whole dorm floor helping me get ready.
Strangely enough, most of my fondest memories of makeup are times when others either completely surprised me with a makeup gift, or when it was a scheduled splurge! A fellow reader on here who is also a personal friend has done this, as has a friend I made on a CAT site. Yes, a kitty cat site for Catstrodamus (my spelling may be off), a huge Maine Coon Cat named Samson. That someone would be this kind towards me came as huge surprises to me. Very unexpected!
Then there was also the time when my Mom brought me downtown when I was turning 13 and bought me a modest stash of makeup to start off with.
Sitting on the floor of my bedroom back in 2010, my infant son chilling nearby, playing with the original Naked palette for the first time. As a new mom, it made me feel pretty for the first time in months.
My fondest memory associated with makeup takes me back to when my daughter was around 5 or 6. We used to ride the express bus into Manhattan, have lunch, to to Barnes and Nobles, then go into Sephora. She was fascinated by all of the fancy displays, and love the colored powders. We would always pick up a few of the little bath bead animals, and I would get a couple of new things. It was more the time we spent together really, but it was always special. Nothing is more special than a little girl with blue and green and pink powder on her pants and some getting on her face. And the sales associates grew to know us over the years and were very kind to this little girl.
Pre Covid I went on a trip to Las Vegas.. and lost my make up bag… I went to the mall and got to the YSL counter.. at first I was frustrated but the lady at the make up counter really helped me try different things.. I bought a beautiful purple lip gloss… a shimmery bronze pigment she showed me that I could use in so many ways.. eyes, highlighter, lips .. and a lovely face powder… I also bought mascara she really made everything so much better! oh and I found my make up bag when I got back home!!
Tee hee – isn’t that how it always works? You lose it at home and find it! Good news.
Hi, one of my fondest memories was getting a full time job at the Christian Dior make up counter. They were so good to us, they made us feel special. Ther were quarterly trainings, launch parties and one year we had such an an amazing Christmas party where we all received a box with 6 full sized fragrances. They were such a pleasure to work for.
As an mua I have tons of fond memories making women and men feel more confident. But personally it was just buying lipstick 💄with my late mom. She never bought anything other than Revlon (which makes great lipstick). But I turned her on to Dior and Chanel eventually. It was always an adventure! I miss her more than words can say.
Going to local drugstores every year to buy makeup for my dance recitals, always coordinating the makeup colors to that year’s costume!
You all have wonderful stories! I have read, smiled and almost cried a bit, reading them all.
At first I didn’t think I had a fond memory, nice ones, fun ones, certainly, but fond? Then when reading I realized I do have one.
When I was still very young, maybe 7 or 8 I got my first lipstick, My grandmother and I was in a store a sort of chemist, makeup, paint and who knows what else they sold, anyway I guess I had talked about having a lipstick of my own so long she gave in and let me have one. I’m pretty sure it was a Revlon, I do remember it being blood ´red, I remember saying it had to be. I never wore the lipstick outside, I was a bit too young for that, but I used it when playing indoors.
The only makeup my grandmother used was lipstick, always red and a blusher, though most of the time the lipstick was also used as blush. In those days, you weren’t dressed without a lipstick.
My grandmother, and grandfather were very special, I grew up with them, I loved them dearly and still do.
I have two. The first I was having an awful semester during college and really struggling with my anxiety and depression. I was getting signed in to my friend’s dorm on the other side of campus and the girl at the desk told me how pretty my makeup looked and if I’d come back and give her some tips. The other was at my summer job at Dollywood. I was helping in the fast pass line and my super curly hair was going crazy and my makeup had half melted off. A little girl came running over and just gave me this big hug and told me my hair made me look like a princess and that she liked my lipstick color.
Being in the 6th grade (20 years ago) with my glittery aqua plastic case with like 4 frosty purple/pink lippies, putting on my Bonnebell Lip Shakes in Strawberry Shake while hoping my crush was watching and having one of my classmates call me “Princess” and asking to borrow my lip gloss lol.
That is fantastic 👏
Wow, I remember Bonnebell was the BOMB back in the day. And Love’s Baby Soft!
Wow, I have two makeup moments, I guess. One was my senior year in high school and getting my pictures done. I had always thought I was ugly compared to other classmates and models in magazines. (Not like I realized that was truly ridiculous at the time…..) My mom knew this and took me to the mall to Merle Norman for my hair and makeup to get done for my pictures. Holy smoking girl, I looked like a different girl. Funny, I ran into a couple of the guys in my class and they literally did double takes when they saw me leave the shop. The photographer had been taking my pictures since I was a baby, and he kept giggling and saying, “Your grandmother is going to KILL me.”
The 2nd one was in college. This was an equestrian college, so we all were into horses and pretty outdoorsy. And you don’t wear a ton of makeup in the barn at 6 am! I was by then more familiar with makeup and was always trying to look natural, just better – not overdone. One evening, a girl I knew in our dorm came to my room and asked a favor. She wanted me to “help her find makeup and show her how to use it.” Now this girl was such a troubled soul; she had been molested in life by a relative, and at one time had attempted suicide by drowning herself. (She told me once how it felt, everything….) When she came to me, it was because her therapist had suggested she find a way to help her feel better about herself, and she suggested some makeup for the girl. Well, a group of us took off for the drug store and I helped her pick out some neutral colors, basic things for a beginner. She paid for it – maybe $ 18 in 1992 – and we all trekked back to the dorm and I did a little makeover for her. It was fun and I did a decent job! 😉 She enjoyed it and used it. Sadly, several years later I heard that she had indeed succeeded in ending her own life somehow. Her demons were just too damn strong. I think of her often.