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Do you remember the first makeup products ever purchased or received?


Do you remember the first makeup products ever purchased or received? What were they? If you were the one to pick them out, what drew you to those products?

I’m pretty sure my first products were Benefit, but they might have been a couple of MAC eyeshadows. It was pretty close in time. I think Benefit was first, because my best friend at the time used a lot of Benefit products, so off I went to the Benefit counter and bought my first brush, lots of eyeshadows, and Dr. Feelgood.

Thanks to Miss J for today’s question! Have a question idea? Submit yours here.

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Jennifer Avatar

Yes, it was a natural pink lipstick, I believe by covergirl in 6th/7th grade, when my mom finally let me wear make up. I remember applying a lot, too much in one day at school…Because it was new to me. 🙂

Tommy Avatar

I’m going to class this is like “MAKE UP” not just stuff I used here and there to cover blemishes etc..

So I would say Mac Amber Lights Eyeshadow, Mac Myth Lipstick (Cringe… haha), A Clinique Foundation of some sort and Mac golden Bronzer I think?

the only one of those products I still like is Amber Lights haha =)

Mica Avatar

Clinique Almost Makeup and Almost lipstick in Black Honey, and Bonne Bell Bronzer Gel. Can you still buy that? I’m saving one last tube from years and years ago!

Esther Avatar

I LOVED dollar store makeup when I was younger (around 13-15 years old). my mom used to send me in with $5 or $10, and I’d spend an hour looking through the small selection, trying to pick out the best colors of eyeliner and lipstick. I’d always leave with a few new things, and it was a great way for me to satisfy my craving for new things without emptying my mom’s wallet 😛 my first purchase was a bright turquoise eyeliner. I still have it, purely for nostalgia.

Sunny Avatar

I’m pretty sure it’d be some GWP item from Clinique when I was in high school, but I had NO idea how to use ANYTHING back then so I probably played with it a couple of times and left it there!

Julia Avatar

As it took me until I was 16 to actually discover MAC (small Australian country towns…) my first product would have been a Maybelline Mascara and lipgloss as my Mum has always used Maybelline, Loreal and Revlon so growing up I believed them to be the only real brands out there lol.

Dinitchka Avatar

First ever beauty product was an orange Crush fat lipbalm bought by my mum. I still have it in my collection. It’s all crusty and still smells a bit like orange Crush … I know very gross 😡

The first product I bought on my own … It was either Corn Silk powder, Coty spun powder or Max Factor powder. They were all bought around the same time … MANY years ago.

Brenda Avatar

I started wearing makeup in highschool and I couldn’t afford any department store makeup. I started off wearing a bunch of crappy drug store foundations like covergirl and cornsilk. But my first eyeshadow was Jane eyeshadow in Browny points which I thought was pretty damn good at the time!

Stephanie Avatar

Mac Jest eyeshadow. I still have the pan even though I don’t touch it because the eyeshadow itself is over 12 years old (ew!) I just can’t bear to throw it away

Maureen Avatar

I had some from CVS, by Jane probably, but the first “real” products I got were from Clinique. I got pressed powder, gray(?) eyeliner, and the Plum Seduction palette.

Tangy Avatar

My first makeup purchase was in high school (10th grade) & it was MAC powerpoint eyeliner in Engaved. My friend loved MAC eyeliner. I bought 3 of them before I realized that it smudged like crazy after a couple of hours.

My first makeup received was a GWP neutral duo palette from Clinque from my mother. I loved it and wore it everyday in high school.

Ale Avatar

I don’t know if it was my first but the first i remember is a Saks Fifth Avenue Eyeshadow Palette my mom gave me because it was too colorful (she is a neutral girl). I still have it =)

Arantza Avatar

My first ones were a trio of eyeshadows (pink, blue and lilac ¬¬) and a brownie/pinkie/nude lipstick by Margaret Astor, a gift from my aunt =)
It made me really happy ^^

Miss J Avatar

Woohoo! My question! Thanks, Christine!

I am pretty confident the first makeup product I ever purchased was Bonne Bell Lip Smackers. Does that count? Haha. I pretty much collected those bad boys. I used all drugstore makeup up until I was 18 with the exception of a few Lancome products. Juicy Tubes, anyone? In 2004 (18 then, 26 now), I delved into MAC and Benefit. I know my first products with Benefit were Dandelion and Georgia. I believe my mom purchased my first MAC products for me, and I think it was a foundation, concealer, and lipstick, but can’t quite remember. I do remember that the first MAC collection I purchased from was Tempt Me/Tease Me. I didn’t really get into full face makeup until 18. After that, I got into all sorts of other brands. I was drawn to my first ever makeup products basically because I thought they were pretty, or in the case of Bonne Bell Lip Smackers, smelled super delicious! Hah.

ALSO, I know this is totally random, off-topicness, but if someone with a YT account would comment grav3yardgirl on YT telling her to check out Illamasqua nail polish in Rare for a similarish effect to the MAC Alfredo nail polish, that would be super awesome! The happy helper in me is going crazy that I can’t comment her that. Also, she needs Jo’mina. I would totally do this myself, but no YT, tweeter, FB, etc. TIA to anyone who helps!

Sarah Avatar

I’ve inboxed her – copied the last bit of your comment so it was too long for a video comment. Hopefully she’ll see it 🙂

Miss J Avatar

Thank you so, so, so much, Sarah! 😀 I should probably make a YT account myself, so I can comment people. Because I drive myself crazy suggesting things loudly at the computer screen like it will magically be heard, LOL. Thanks again!

San Avatar

A 15 shadow palette by MAC is what started my love for makeup although my first product would’ve been eyeliners by Lakme and lipsticks by Maybelline.

anne Avatar

I acn remember using Rimmel & Bodyshop products in my youth – also covergirl when it was available in the UK! The first specific product that I remember using was Benefit Showoffs – once at uni.

Krista Avatar

It was a Lip Smacker clear lipgloss that was grape favored and had blue glitter. It wasn’t the best smelling, tasting, or looking lipgloss but I wore that baby to death! I think I received that as a gift from my aunt back when I was in fourth grade?

Missy Hamilton Avatar

My very first high-end purchase was Clinique’s Foxy eyeshadow and the old style Chubby Stick in Grapevine. I loved Grapevine and have never found that color since…

Don’t remember exactly what my first drugstore makeup was, but I remember I used Cover Girl blushes like they were going out of style 😉

Lucie Avatar

I believe it was a plummy lipgloss from Black Radiance bought in the seventh grade. I felt so sophisticated, teehee. Real interest in makeup didn’t start till another year or so, when I got my first non-drugstore lipstick, Ruby Woo! Still have a couple spare tubes at all times- an oldie but a goodie.

Eashanna Avatar

Mac Satin Taupe, Rice Paper, and this really brown MAC lipstick whose name I do not remember.. Back then brown lipstick was “cool” where I live!

Em Avatar

I was 15 and my friends took me to the store to buy a black eyeliner (Covergirl I think) and Maybelline Great Lash. That was the only makeup I wore until I was in college.

Quinctia Avatar

For Christmas when I was in seventh grade, my mom got me a Naturalistics gloss in Peach (always loved that line), a Covergirl Blush duo with a matte/shimmer peach, and Illegal Lengths mascara in brown/black.

Very nice and subtle. I still don’t wear much blush. And mascara and gloss tend to be the first to go on a low makeup day.

When I began purchasing makeup, I went straight for face stuff. Even nowadays, I won’t leave the house with at least some tinted moisturizer on.

Mel Avatar

A pink Lancome Juicy Tube and MAC Oh Baby lipglass immediately come to mind back in the fifth grade. Now some eight or so years later I don’t use juicy tubes and Oh Baby is so not my color lol.

susan schneider Avatar

Oh yeah! Do we count my Bonne Belle Dr. Pepper Lipsmacker? Or are you talking about serious color? That was a sparkly Mary Quant eyeshadow I bought when I was 13 and my family was in London on vacation. I felt very grown up.

Sara Avatar

My first “fancy” perfume bought with my own saved up money was Tresor and my favorite eyeshadow was a Lancome eyeshadow pencil that had frosty pink, baby blue, and buttercup yellow together (if you applied it VERY carefully all three colors would be on your lid)…it was the late ’80s 🙂

Maria Avatar

Although I’ve been using and destroying my mum’s make up products whenever I had the chance, I remember having taken from her one light brown lipstick from AVON called “coffee bean”. It was the middle of the ’80s (I am currently 39), so dark brown colours were a must! I have also bought one Bourjois Lipstick called “Zibelline” and one eyeshadow duo (blue/purple) from CUTEX, a brand that doesn’t exist anymore! Jesus! How am I remembering the products’ names I can’t tell. I must have been 15-16 at the time…

Joanna Avatar

i do not remember my first drugstore make up purchase but I do remember my first high end make up. Which is the bobbi brown gel liner in black.
i was in high school and it’s considered a splurge for me.

linda Avatar

I’m 63, so my memory goes way, way back. LOL When I was in 7th grade, the palest of pale lipsticks were popular. They actually made you look dead, but that was the look. I wanted one so my mother said she’d buy me a lipstick. Well, she got me an horrible orange shade made by Hazel Bishop. It was hideous and I would NOT wear it. I did get my pale shade though soon after. 🙂

Courtney Avatar

I started out with some Cover Girl foundation and Wet n Wild eyeliner. The first halfway decent eye shadow I ever bought was an obnoxious Trucco bright blue. The first truly decent thing I ever bought was MAC’s Aquadisiac, and that was the beginning of that. 😀

Sarah Avatar

My mom bought me an Avon foundation I wore for years. Looking back, I dread to think how I looked because I remember it being really thick and quite heavy, but hey; I’ve always been really pale and it was the only thing that matched (unfortunately they’ve made their lightest shade really dark over the past few years >:()

The first product I bought for myself was a Rimmel matte black eyeshadow which I wore all over the lid. Thank God no pictures from that time are around because I’d be cringing for years over it 🙁

Jennifer Avatar

ooo my first was benefit too! it was these sparkly dust eyeshadows they had a looong time ago. there was this one that was goldish pink and changed colors depending on angle and light, i LOVED it to death!

Emily Merck Avatar

I went to MAC in the summer before 7th grade and picked up a few things…

I wore a moisturizer
ELF Concealer
MAC’s Springsheen Blush
Paint Pot- Painterly
All that Glitters
Soft Brown
Maybeline Great Lash

That is all I wore for 8 months!

Jackie Avatar

It would probably have to be Cover Girl and/or Revlon. I remember wearing the Cover Girl Pressed Powder in high school and Revlon and Cover Girl lipsticks in high school. Before that, I can’t remember. Probably some generic brand.

Emmie Avatar

haha does it count with those little nail polishes when I was 6 years old? I was given some Barbie or Tinkerbell make-up set when I was little. That was the first time receiving one. As for buying with my own money, it was some Covergirl eyeliners.

Lark Avatar

First ever gotten as gift? First Estee Lauder Xmas Blockbuster ever! There were beautiful creamy shadow pencils in it- in the mid Seventies.
Bonnie Bell of Lip Smackers fame was once a tween/ teen cosmetics powerhouse and had an actual teen track and field athlete as spokesmodel. Soccer for women was just igniting as a big girl rebellion thing and the Title Nine Generation was out being told NO and argueing it down. Anyway they made a fantastic red gel cheek stain and that was my first buy. Amazing stuff! Healthy glow.
Bonnie Bell got squelched and it’s ideas of the healthy glow for the fit athlete girl disappeared but too late! Anybody here play soccer? Run? They made an impact. Wear that Dr. Pepper stuff proudly girls!

If you hate the history posts I’ll try to quit, but the brand explosion and new images in the last 35 years are the story of women with their own money and very new ideas about beauty. From barefaced and pregnant to The Pill and nail polish that lasts a whole week instead of two days. Yes, it’s all of a piece but not assured yet. Be ever vigilant about backlashes.

Ana Avatar

The first product I bought with my own money was MAC’s carbon eyeshadow! I was introduced to the brand by watching Lauren Luke’s (panacea81) channel 🙂

starfish628 Avatar

OMG I had forgotten about Yardley. I remember a metal paint box style Pallette that you used wet. And of course the perfume was Loves baby soft!

Safyre Avatar

I remember my mom wouldn’t let me wear makeup until I was in high school. But in the 8th grade she got me a covergirl mascara. As for something I bought myself, I want to say it was a Lip Smacker’s gloss, but I don’t really remember.

Pamela Avatar

When I was 14, my aunt gave me a CG palette that included three shadows, one lipstick, blush and eye liner. I loved it until I hit the pan. The colors were purples, mauves and blue which in retrospect were the worst colors on my yellow skin but that gift got me excited about cosmetics. Thanks Aunt Viv!

Hanne Avatar

A Gosh due eyeshadow palette back in 1995 i believe. It was light grey and charcoal and matte and i absolutely loved it. I wore it out every weekend in my teenage years. I regret not keeping it cause it would be fun to compare with the eyeshadows i have today. i remember it being long lasting and a great texture but then again back then that was my only eyeshadow.

Swimsalot Avatar

Maybelline Kissing Potion. A glass rollerball
The original Bonne Bell Lipsmackers in Dr. Pepper. It smelled great tasted like the soda an tinted lips a cool red

cyndi Avatar

yea in high school my friends and I went to the mall for the first time without our moms, and i went to sephora for the first time ever and at the time smoky eyes were like the big thing to have blackened smoked eyes so i saw an urban decay single eyeshadow in oil slick and it was the prettiest black shadow with silver sparkle and was $18 and i was like i need to have this. I actually still have it to date haha. Its a memorable treasure <3

i think the second products i ever bought were from victorias secret the eyeshadow quads. =D

Nina Avatar

The first “good” makeup I got was MAC’s “Love Alert” lip gloss from my Aunty on my 15th birthday. Ever since I’ve been obsessed with mac and have over 100 of their products!

Regina Avatar

Probably Mac’s Zoom Lash or Smashbox’s mascara. High end makeup here is really pricey so it was either a mascara or a Benefit lip gloss.

Of course my first ‘makeup’ was lip smackers lip glosses. Used those when I was 10 years old or something.

starfish628 Avatar

Maybelline Blooming colors eyeshadow along with the Maybelline cake mascara in the red box. Bonnie Bell lipgloss in a tube. First skin care product. Bonnie Bell 10-0-6 lotion. Loved that smell.

mahima Avatar

at 16, my mom took me to the estee lauder counter and we picked out a lipstick – Dusky Mauve – which I still have 🙂

i also received a beautiful makeup set (also estee lauder) from my aunt. it had two large shadow palettes with blushes i believe, eyeliners, lip liners, etc… i had no clue what to do with it and ruined it. i now cringe at the thought…

Wendy Avatar

My first purchase: Bonne Bell Rasberry Lip Smacker from JC Penny’s-1976 (4th grade, lol).
First item purchased for me: Bonne Bell lip gloss in a frosty pink-1978
First rogue & out there purchase: Borgese Nail polish & lipstick in a frosty, muted teal, from Macy’s 1983. It was in 17 magazine, I thought I was so cool, the teal looked great with sheer pink lip gloss…oh the ’80’s.

Yumi Avatar

lip smackers and maybelline mascara overall
high end, the first thing i bought was laura mercier’s oil free foundation primer! too bad i never repurchased because it smells horrible!

Nikki Avatar

YES!!!

The first make up product I ever purchased was NYC’s Clear Strawberry Gloss that came in a roller ball tube! I first bought it when I was 11 or 12 years old (because it was the only make up my mom would allow me to wear lol), and I loved that stuff. I went through multiple tubes of it for years until I branched out as I got older. =)

Jane Avatar

Crayon Strawberry Red. a make up line for young girls in the 70’s I can still smell it if I close my eyes.. also Bonnie Bell Lip Smacker and Maybelline kissing potion. lol.

gabriella Avatar

I think it was lancome… I bought a juicy tube and something else and got a GWP. Lol either that or estee lauder can’t remember!

Elisa Love West Indies Avatar

Yes, it was a birhday gift for my friend: an eyeshadows trio (Covergirl). I was 19 years old, i knew nothing about makeup. I feel uncomfortable to put those eyeshadows because i was to shy

Nic Avatar

The first makeup products I bought myself were an eyeshadow trio, concealer, mascara and lipliner by Manhatten.
As a little girl I received an eyeshadow palette by a friend of my mother. I often played with these bright pink, blue and green shadows and pink and peach blushes.

Pam Avatar

My first ever makeup was given to me by my mom for my thirteenth bday. It was a pale pink frosted lipstick by Yardley. My other bday present was Sargent Pepper’s, which was ‘the’ album of the year. LOL

Jennifer Avatar

When I was younger I used to buy drugstore brands like Covergirl. The first higher end brand I ever tried was Prescriptives. Guess they’re not really around anymore.

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