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Do you remember what your very first makeup product was?


Do you remember what your very first makeup product was? Share!

I believe it was Benefit Show-offs and three MAC eyeshadows (I always want to say Antiqued, Coppering, and Bronze…).

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91 Comments

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Yen.Lin Avatar

I was a figure skater as a child, so there were a few products I used primarily for ice shows. I had a L’Oréal HIP Eyeshadow Duo (bright pink and brown), Almay Liquid Eyeliner in a pot, a Maybelline Blush Duo and a bright, frosted magenta lipstick from Prestige.

My first drugstore purchase was probably a Maybelline Watershine Lipgloss, Maybelline Volum Express Cat Eyes Mascara, and an eyeshadow duo from Yves Rocher (turquoise and brown).

My first high end purchase was Benefit’s Hello Flawless Powder Foundation in Me, Vain? and Bobbi Brown’s Creamy Concealer Kit in Warm Sand and … it’s all downhill from there.

Nancy T Avatar

I remember my Mom bringing me to this very upscale drugstore in my hometown, Tenafly, NJ. They sold cosmetics that ran the gamut from DS-Luxury. She let me go on a haul of sorts! Well for that day and age, anyhow. I remember a lavender and a green twist-up cream eyeshadows (crease city on my oily, hooded eyes!), a gorgeous dusty turquoise matte powder eyeshadow, and a frosty blue one, a peachy-pink blush, mascara and a light peachy-pink lipstick. Forget foundation, we always had a terrible time finding a decent match! For reference spring 1972! LOL

Dana Avatar

Technically hello kitty red mini kids lipstick. As far a real makeup, it was a red weird name lipstick I stole from my mom and put on after I got to school. I think I was in 5th grade!

Quinctia Avatar

Haha, yeah, my mom gave me Illegal Lengths mascara in Brown Black, a dual pan blush that was peachy, and a Naturistics stick lipgloss in Peach. I got it for Christmas when I was in 7th grade. That’s the first makeup I had that wasn’t for Halloween and I didn’t surreptitiously “borrow” from my mother. (Unless Lip Smackers count. I had me quite a few Lip Smackers.)

Ironically, I went years without wearing mascara, blush, or lipgloss. I used to be powder foundation + cream eyeshadow on a daily basis for a long, long time.

Lacey Avatar

I remember being allowed to play with makeup from very early on, so I can’t say for sure. But I do remember having a Lipsmackers trio in preschool or so, if that counts as makeup! I think the flavors were peppermint, grape, and strawberry.

Kelly Avatar

A Clinique eyeshadow duo! It was called “ash violets” IIRC. They don’t make it anymore, sadly. My first lipstick ever was cliniques chubby stick in grapevine and I was only allowed to wear one or the other to middle school in 7th grade!

Katherine T. Avatar

Oh boy, probably a clear lip gloss — Maybelline Kissing Potions, came in glass tube with a roller ball, was super shiny (like putting baby oil on lips) with different artificial flavors like strawberry, vanilla, etc. I would roll it onto my lips and pout away. But if it leaked, it made a sticky mess in your purse.

Lindsay Avatar

My first high-end makeup was MAC shadows in Brule, Vex, and Patina, with a 217 brush as well as a 22 angled liner brush (which is now the 263), and Verve lipstick with Spice liner. My first of any makeup was definitely a pressed powder and mascara from The Body Shop, though!

helen Avatar

OMG, i was afraid to mention Bonnie Bell (it seems like 1,000 years ago) along with my favourite scent, Love’s Baby Soft. I AM 1,000 years old…..

Mimi Avatar

I join you! Bonnie Bell moisturizing lotion when I was 12 due to dry skin from the chlorine in the pool and the glass rollerball clear lip shine that was strawberry. I was allowed to wear mascara to school once a week in senior year of high school and other than that, clear or pale pink lip gloss. Nobody wore foundation or blush because we lived at the beach and we had tans and naturally pink cheeks. No one wore powder, brow pencil or lip pencil. We had Dippity Do hair gel for setting your hair, and hair spray, cheap rough shampoo like Prell or Breck. My mother has 2 lipsticks, one red and one orange, a brow pencil and Maybelline cake mascara, and that was it. All from the drugstore and only worn when going out for the evening which was not often. My mother was gorgeous and didn’t need makeup but it’s kind of criminal that she didn’t have more to have fun with.

CJ Avatar

I suppose the Dr. Pepper Lip Smacker lip balm doesn’t count… so I think I used CoverGirl powder foundation to cover blemishes and gradually added whatever I could steal from my older sister.

Kat Avatar

Aww, the memories! The first one I remember was my mom bought me a Pink Cotton Candy Smackers lip balm when I was in elementary school! I felt like a real grownup, with my very own “lipstick.” Those were so yummy, I also remember loving the Dr. Pepper flavored one. My first “real” makeup item was a Physician’s Formula concealer stick in middle school I believe! It was pretty awful, all dried up and totally the wrong shade.

Michele @Binxcat4ever Avatar

When I was 12, my Mother took me to Merle Norman (are they still around?) for a complete makeup/skincare lesson. The woman, who at the time I thought was 100+ years old, put me in all bronze/copper. I thought I was all that. Looking back, it was pretty horrifying. Bronze and copper and probably the two worst shades for my skin tone! Oh, and thanks for bringing back THAT memory 😉

Deidre Avatar

Yes they are. My mom took me to Merle Norman at 13 as I had to be wanting to wear makeup since I was little and she never really wore any so she wanted me to learn how to put it on properly. I remember them putting pinky colors on me but does a 13 year old really need a full face of makeup?

Mariella Avatar

I’m pretty sure it was a Cutex lipstick in the colour Peppermint Pink (it was also flavoured like peppermint – each of the shades had a “taste” name and was flavoured like the name, though some – I remember getting a butterscotch or caramel one – didn’t really taste like they were supposed to but the peppermint one did, since peppermint is a pretty easy taste/sensation to put in most things)

Sabrina S Avatar

Oh man, thinking waaayyyy back, it must have been some NYC powder foundation. My god, I still remember how I caked it on and it looked so powdery and bad (and orange). I would make sure to do it when my mom wasn’t looking, as I was probably in 11 or 12 at the time. Then I progressed up to loreal stuff, mostly their mascara. I think my first high-end products were by mac! I went into their store with a huge list of shadows, eyeliners, lipsticks, mascara, etc, and I dropped about $250 that day (I was 16 at the time).

Veronique Avatar

Tinkerbell peel-off nail polish! Otherwise, when I was in high school I bought (at the recommendation of a friend) a CoverGirl pressed powder foundation in a colour that was waaaaayyy too dark.

The Silver Nail Avatar

I wasn’t allowed to wear makeup until I was 13, and on my 13th birthday I’m pretty sure I used some of my babysitting money to buy a pressed powder compact (Cover Girl) for my oily skin and one other thing. I can’t remember now, 40+ years later, if it was a Maybelline eye shadow or a Bonne Bell-type lip gloss. It was something cheap from the drugstore! 🙂

Linda Avatar

Borrowing my mom’s foundation in gr. 7 because my skin was so bad. Pretty sure my first purchase was L’oreal bottled foundation that’s been looooong discontinued. (L’oreal Mattique)

Leah Avatar

My first “high end” product was a gwp lancome eyeshadow duo from my mom in 2005. It had a plum and champagne gold. Made my green eyes stand out but I still didnt know about makeup

Nicole Avatar

I can’t remember my very first. I’m sure my sister gave me lip glosses and that kind of stuff. But, my first memory Clinique foundation, concealer, and powder. It was the summer before starting Jr. high. I had some acne going on. It was a huge deal. Pretty much full face make-up started there.

Alecto Avatar

I really don’t remember, but it was probably either powder or foundation, since my skin went sideways early. I do remember being frustrated, fairly young, over the mismatch of foundation to my skin that I couldn’t afford to get right (buying it on an allowance, I had to keep using it until I had more money).

jaz Avatar

A brown lipgloss from the beauty supply store at 12( I wasn’t allowed to wear makeup our in public until I was 13). Mom had a fit when she found out

SusanG Avatar

It was likely Yardley Pot o’ Shadow in a baby blue colour. You just swiped it on with your finger. I also had a Pot o’ Gloss lip gloss in a bubblegum pink. Ah, the memories!

Pearl Avatar

I wasn’t allowed to wear makeup or use hair gel/mousse/spray until I was 15. I can’t remember if I was given my first eye shadow “palette” – 5 colored orangey frosty brown thing from Aziza or Covergirl – or if I’d borrowed my friend’s makeup but I went to town with that thing. Had no idea what I was doing but I wore every color all the way up to my eye brows. I was making up for lost time!

When I was on my own, I know there were incidental drug store purchases along the way, but I remember in the beginning my first splurge was a Lancome eyeliner in a purple shade that I wanted to use all the time and then a bunch of Ultima II stuff from JCPenney. It was shortly after that my obsession with MAC began.

Kat Avatar

Not counting what few items were given to me or products I asked for and just pretended to use when I was a kid, my first-ever loved and actually used product was Urban Decay Midnight Cowboy. I remember I discovered Urban Decay and I was enamored, so I asked for some for my birthday and my (modest income aunt) bought me that and a UD mascara — not sure which. I was disappointed that tyat

Kat Avatar

Not counting what few items were given to me or products I asked for and just pretended to use when I was a kid, my first-ever loved and actually used product was Urban Decay Midnight Cowboy.

Chris Avatar

Mascara by Nivea Beauté and a brow-pencil by astor in goldbrown. I startet to wear this Combo at about 14 or 15 years on a daily Basis for the next decades.

Marissa Avatar

i mean, the first first first one was a traslucent powder and a clinique clear lipgloss my mom gave me. But my first one when i became a makeup fan was MAC Candy Yum Yum, and then it all began and here i am reading this blog everyday lol

Anne Avatar

I didn’t personally buy makeup for a long time so I kind of forget. I know my sister got me some Benefit Box’o’powders (Dandelion and Georgia Peach) and some of the Bare Minerals foundation and eye shadows. I think the first product I picked up for myself was probably MAC’s Ruby Woo.

mish-mash Avatar

OH YES, it was a Maybelline cake mascara I stole from my mom, she stashed dozens of them when they discontinued it. We went from store to store buying up all we could find….
It was fantastic…

Brenda Avatar

I remember sneaking a red lipstick (a super dry matte) to school in grade 3, and subsequently getting in loads of trouble!
My first purchase at age 12 was a double ended eyeliner from The Body Shop. One end was gold, other end brown. I still miss it!

Stacy Avatar

Hah! It feels like hundred years ago… Avon had a line for young girls called “Sweet Honesty.” They made these sticky, pasty-cream eyeshadows and lip glosses that came in little squeeze tubes. I had a green eye shadow and a pale peach lip gloss. That’s the first makeup I can remember that was really mine, and not just something I swiped from my big sister (I think I was about 11).

Ann K Avatar

My first interest in products was when my antie gave me a travel sized cleansing kit .But my first purchase was a green eylinner by Rimmel in 1968 and my first purchase when our new currency started in 1971 was an eye shadow pallett containing 12 colours and it was 29p from Woolworths

lorelei marie Avatar

My mother never wore makeup and still does not. Nothing. Because of this she would never buy me any. Now in a round about way she does by giving me gift cards to CVS or Sephora. So when I was 12 I saved up money from somewhere (holiday cards from relatives, chore $) and bought Maybelline Great Lash in the blackest shade they had and a Wet n Wild Black Kohl pencil…it was life changing! It was the mid-90’s and I totally rocked that black smudgy heroin chic look….

Adrianna Avatar

The lip gloss in the glass tube with a roller ball and those red Maybelline eyebrow pencils in black.
We’d heat up the tip with a match or lighter so it would go on smooth..
This combo was standard issue for high school in the early 80’s.

Genevieve Avatar

Yes – a Revlon foundation and a small quad of creamy eyeshadows in a frosted blue, green, cream and purple. I was in heaven. This was the sixties and I was in Year 7. I thought I was really glamorous.
For my first high end purchase, it was an Estee Lauder lipstick in coppery bronze colour.

txabela Avatar

A humble black eyeliner pencil from the brand Pinaud when I was about 13. Originally bought for a fancy dress event at school…. but a friend told me that my eyes looked “nicer” and a bit “exotic” so I started using it …discreetly when going out to the cinema with my friends etc,etc….. Oh.. happy times!!!

Rachel R. Avatar

The very first colored cosmetic I owned was a red plastic lip-shaped compact form Avon that had two lipglosses in it. A frosty pink and a frosty peach, I believe. I was 10 or 11. (So circa 1980.) After I used the gloss up, I would refill it with Avon lipstick samples in shades too light for my mom. 🙂 I think I still have it, but it’s packed in a box somewhere.

This is it: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/90635011226005004/

Before that, I had clear Maybelline Kissing Potion lipgloss in a couple flavors (strawberry, and I think bubblegum), and a little collection of Village Lip Lickers balms in different flavors.

Stephanie Avatar

I’ll never forget my first Mac lipgloss. It was a hot pink with shimmer called acrylika. I loved it but was too nervous to wear it to school. Ah! Gotta love Mac

Kayle Avatar

technically some crappy lipgloss in those kid’s makeup sets but like for my first serious purchase that i willingly made, i believe it was revlon lipgloss in fire! it was only a few years ago so i’m pretty sure i have that tube in my bag somewhere, i haven’t touched it since i discovered how much i liked matte lipstick!

Ginny Avatar

Mine was a dark brown eyeliner, dark brown eyeshadow for smudging along my lash line, cover girl powder for matteness and bonne bell lip slackers. I was a teenager in the 90’s, clearly.

Tessa Avatar

Mulch and All That Glitters by Mac! My mum took me to the counter and the salesperson suggested those two. I still use them. My first lipsticks was also Mac, called Crosswires.

Rafaella Avatar

I think that was three itens of boticario, in Brazil. One brown mascara, shinny lipstick, and a wonderfull rose and brigth blush. This one i still have.

Lindsey Avatar

I LOVED Benefit show-offs. They were super pigmented, I still have mine, lol. I bought extras I loved them so much. The gold was my fave. But my very first was in one trip was
Cover Girl foundation,
Cover Girl pressed powder,
Cover Girl brown eyeliner (also used as lip liner)
Wet n wild 666 lip pencil
Cover Girl maroon-ish dark lipstick (the 90’s, LOL).
Maybelline great lash Mascara
I was in 7th grade (that was junior high high in my area), the age when my mom allow us to wear makeup.

Shanna Avatar

In middle school I was gifted many Avon makeup items from my mother, and it started a huge thing for me. I loved their glimmer sticks eyeliners in sparkly purples and teals, and copper and gold eye shadows. My first purchase I made myself was jane lipstick in a sparkly brown (ohhh the 90s) and more glitter than any one child should ever wear. I really liked this micro fine silver wet n wild loose glitter that I put on everything.

My first high end purchase was a variety of Urban Decay shadows (asphalt!!!) and liners. They’re still my favorite.

Adrienne Avatar

I had a little mini lancome lipstick my mom got in a gift with purchase. It was a nude pink color in a red tube. At about 12 my aunt took me to sephora and bought me a frosty blue single eyeshadow, and then my mom took me to the drugstore and bought me the cover girl foundation in a squeeze tube that had Taylor Swift as the face. I was 14. The obsession began.

Kim Avatar

At age 12, I bought myself a Cover Girl powder blue sparkly eyeshadow (quite the surprise for my mom)! It irritated my eyelids to the point I had to go to the dermatologist. After that, I only used hypoallergenic brands like Clinique or Almay thru high school. Luckily, I’ve never had a reaction since then, and I use dozens of brands.

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