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What was the first beauty brand you fell in love with?
What was the first beauty brand you fell in love with? Do you still love it? Have you moved onto something else?
MAC made me fall in love with makeup. I don’t want to be the person who bemoans about the good ol’ days and how great it used to be. I want to talk about great it IS. Right now, I don’t love MAC (though there are MAC products I love), but I continue to hope to fall in love with them again.
Thanks to Amy for today’s question! Do you have a question idea? Submit yours here.
Pop Cosmetics.
The colours and the packaging are so much fun, and they have some really innovative products that I just loved to play with.
MAC. Other than Clinique freebies I’d get here and there, MAC was the first real “luxury” makeup brand I got to try. I’ll never not love their stuff (even if the exclusive collections don’t always have the best contents).
Like many others, MAC was my gateway drug. Now that I have a little more experience under my belt I realize that while they’re still good, they aren’t the end all be all of make-up.
I don’t have any one brand I claim to especially love because I think different companies do different things especially well. If I were pressed to make a choice I’d probably go with Urban Decay – they really do make a fantastic eyeshadow and eyeliner and since I generally concentrate on my eyes, that’s important to me.
Lancome – it was/is my mother’s favorite makeup brand and what they had back in the “old country” (Belarus) when she was in her youth. I remembered she would talk about them all the time when I mentioned that I was interested in makeup and she did finally buy me their dual finish powder which kind of led me into falling in love with them.
That said, I feel your pain with MAC – it’s not that MAC made me fall in love with makeup, it’s that MAC – at the time (which was back in ’08) had so many mediums that others brands I was using didn’t. No one else had shadesticks or fluidlines or dazzleglasses or paint pots or anything like that. MAC let me play around, MAC kind of let me see that there was more to makeup than just neutrals and looking “pretty” that you could experiment with color and express yourself. *sigh* I’m in the same place, MAC still definitely has some gems in its collection but it isn’t my end-all be-all.
The first beauty brand I fell in love with was Dior. My aunt went on a trip to France and she bought me a red Dior lipstick. I thought it was such a sophisticated and glamorous beauty item. I didn’t even used the lipstick though. My mom took it from me and said only “sluts” and “tramps” wear such bright reds. I didn’t wear lipstick for a long time.
Ouch, sorry that happened to you. 🙁
(Love from a proud slutty tramp, I guess.)
When I first got into makeup, I was really cheap and didn’t want to spend money on higher end cosmetics. I was like I will NEVER spend that much on makeup, so I was using mostly ELF products. I fell in love with MAC first on the high end scale and didn’t really use anything else for a while until I got my UD Naked palettes. After that I started using more UD products and now I love UD more than MAC! My favorite brands though, I’d say are WnW, NYX, MAC, UD, Milani, and Black Radiance. I don’t have much outside of those brands. I do want to give honorable mention to ELF though since that brand allowed me to experiment without breaking the bank. I do have some stuff still from ELF, but not nearly as much as I use to. Since it’s so cheap, I tossed a lot of what I had without giving a hoot, but I also gave away what I could.
Omg we’re exactly alike! I was about to write my answer, then I realize you took it away from me <3 From our first experiences with elf, to our love of urban decay, to our favorite brands, were identical!1 awesome
For me it probably was Bare Escentuals. I started using makeup fairly recently, in my early 30s and I was already using natural skin care, so I wanted to stick with cosmetics that didn’t use really bad chemicals in their makeup. Ever since they started their READY line, Bare Escentuals has become my second favorite brand, my first being Burberry Beauty (the only exception to my self-imposed rule for makeup). I certainly own a lot more Bare Escentuals products, but Burberry Beauty is my one true love :). That being said, Bare Escentuals products are amazing and I wish more people recognized what a gem this brand is.
It was MAC for me, too. I love many MAC products, and my collection is still largely MAC, but I don’t love the brand anymore. I honestly can’t say there is any brand I love. I like and use many. I feel like MAC got lazy…and cocky as f***. IDK. I just got totally turned off and stopped buying for a really long time. I want to love them again, definitely.
Aveda was the first brand I feel in love with (when I just wore makeup myself and didn’t do much on anyone else except friends for school dances, etc.). MAC was the brand that REALLY allowed me to fulfill all the creative ideas I had in my brain though.
It was pretty much MAC for me, too. Although I’ve liked makeup for as long as I can remember, it was around 2007-2008 that I really fell down into the makeup community rabbit hole! I still wish I had Femme-fi in Neo Sci Fi packaging, and the whole Alexander McQueen collection…bucket list material right there.
In terms of color cosmetics, I would have to say L’Oreal; they always seemed one step ahead when it came to eye products. To this day, I keep going back to Lineur Intense & Voluminous mascara. While I’ve gone on to try several other brands, I keep coming back to these, as well as pencil liners. There’s also something about the scent & taste of their lipstick, as well, that I really love.
As for foundation, it was always Max Factor. Every formulation I ever tried I fell in love with. Again, I tried others, but I kept coming back. A few years back, they were DC’d in the US, so unless I order from overseas or something, I’ll have to find something else (I’m still looking, though…).
HE was Lancome, but as of now, I’m not such a fan. The shadows just don’t seem as rich & pigmented as they did in the past. Now, I’m addicted to NARS & UD.
I would have to say Bobbi Brown–I started with her oil-free cream foundation and fell in love and then started experimenting with the other foundations, concealers, and finally eyeshadows, glosses, and blush. It still remains one of my favorite brands–Bobbi knows how to make timeless, wearable shades
Lancome.
The first makeup item I ever got (after doing loads of research!) was their Hypnose Drama mascara. Ahhh, I remember trying to decide between that one or YSL’s Faux Cils Volume Effet, and in the end, I chose Lancome’s! And I’m glad I did. It’s still my HG mascara to this day… after what, two years? 😀
MAC.I remember it was the Barbie Loves MAC collection. Then I got tired of the constant LE collections, purged my collection and moved on to other brands.
Benefit! Just the packaging makes me go gaga.
Thiiissss
Stila. I got a smudge pot in high school and loved to look at their products on sephora.
Urban Decay! They made me love makeup and want to learn more about it. Now that I own a lot of makeup I’m more selective about what I purchase but their eyeshadows are still my favorite.
For face products, I’ve recently gotten into Guerlain. I have the Cruel Gardenia meteorites from earlier this year as well as the Lingerie de Peau foundation. Both are awesome and make me want to try more of their products
Probably NARS or Illamasqua. I really really do love MAC though. They are a great brand. I ignore most of the limited edition products (I have only bought one limited edition product ever). I feel they take away from the brand instead of complement it (off topic, lol).
The first brand I fell in love with was MAC. It wasn’t the first brand I used, but MAC was the cause for my massive makeup collection. It started with their foundation,eyeshadow, and so on. I still love it, but I currently moved on. I don’t have a particular brand I’m sold to, but I do have a favorite product from each brand for different things such as face,eyes,etc.
Foundation:Lancome and MUFE
Concealer:Chanel
Eye shadow: Urban Decay
Liner:Lancome
so on..lol
At the age of 16 I moved from drugstore to high end. My first love was Estee Lauder 😀 , and my first product from them was a lipstick from the crystal line, Crystal Pink 😛 I loved it and I loved the brand. Then I also started to use Lancome and then abandoned both and went to Dior, Guerlain and Chanel. My number one now is Chanel, followed by Guerlain and Dior. When I don´t have money I buy Mac instead lol. It´s been years since I don´t look at the Estee Lauder counter with interest, maybe I should go again I may find something nice…fond memories, awesome question.
I fell in love with Bare Escentuals when they were sold only in a little shop in Los Gatos. Times change, companies are sold, and products change. I don’t use Bare Escentuals anymore, but I still have that one little powder shadow container of cornflower blue that I never use. A momento, I guess.
It was most definitely MAC. They weren’t the first brand I tried, I started with drugstore brands (Maybelline, Mac Factor), then when I started earning my own money I moved right up to Lancome and Guerlain!! Then I dabbled with Napoleon Perdis, then I discovered MAC and fell in complete LOVE with their price point and formulas. I’m only just coming out the other side now and
*and moving onto other brands.
Probably Chanel or Guerlain ?
First makeup I bought alot of was Clinique….but it was Chanel was my first love. I think Chanel was just introduced into the US market in the mid 70’s but I may be wrong. I started buying Chanel in 1980. I love purple back then…everything was purple in my life…shoes, clothes, hairstuff, purses…and there came along this purple/pink eyeshadow set. I still have it. But Chanel is expensive for a 15 year old…so I didnt buy alot, but still bought it. Then the next love was YSL…YSL was like cocaine when you look at the collection…and I havent even tried pot in my life. But I really loved Chanel then…
MAC! It was the first “high end brand” I used. Before, it was all elf and Maybelline (which still has some good products), and other drugstore brands. I first fell in love with the Prrr Lipglass (one of my favorites to this day), and continued buying their other products as well.
However, now I do not like MAC as much. Some of their products are better than others, but I would have to say my favorite brands now are Guerlain, Burberry, UD and Bobbi Brown.
MAC was a revelation for me. When I first tried StudioFix Powder Plus Foundation, I fell in love. I would get strangers coming up to me and telling me how flawless and beautiful my skin was. If they only knew what I looked like when I woke up! I used it for a decade before it started causing me to break out. So sad…had to stop.
My relationship with makeup started with my first boyfriend, MAC. I immediately was sucked in and started my collection quickly. Then, after beauty blogs, youtube videos, and of course you, Christine and your amazing site, I veered into brands I thought I would never try. I am in love with many of MAC’s products (Fix +, veluxe pearl e/s, Ruby Woo l/s…etc) but I so fell out of love during the past few years with the quality of their makeup. I feel it’s not as good as it was before and collections are spat out over and over again with the same colors and products, only named differently.
I now have moved on and fallen in love with other brands such as NARS and Laura Mercier. However, I still find myself making my way to MAC to check out what’s new and in stock.
I began wearing makeup later than most. It was second year university when I started wearing makeup on a more regular basis. Still, makeup was reserved for nights out and never during the day. It wasn’t until I started my professional career that I wore makeup regularly. My first brand love didn’t come until I was almost 30 and it was easily Prescriptives. Finally a foundation that actually came close to matching my neutral warm complexion. Nothing to date had even come close. Plus, I was a huge fan of their skin care serum “Line Preventor” which became “Super Line Preventor”, etc.. A complete face awakening product and I always started with this serum as a base. Anyhow, love is fickle sometimes, and I found myself straying..
Maybelline was actually my first big brand. The concealer remains one of my mainstay products when I need light coverage. For higher end lines, Urban Decay was probably my first love, followed by NARS.
It’s Chanel. Not even for the products themselves (at first! Now I have a lot of favorites) but for the memories: my mother always had the same makeup routine with the same Chanel products as long as I can remember, so to me, it has always been the epitome of elegance, since I was a child. I remember playing with the ribbons that came with the little Chanel paper bags and deciphering the names on it when I was four or five.
Now, my mother changed a lot over the years, and it’s a euphemism to say we don’t get along so well. But I deeply associate Chanel with that image of elegance and with a great childhood and a great mother.
So even when I wasn’t into makeup AT ALL, I was still somewhat attracted to Chanel. So it’s one of the first brand I’ve tried. I love and use some of their products, but discovered other brands, and I hate it as much as the next person when they have the guts to give mediocre products at such a painful price, but I’m still very partial to it.
MAC :)–So many people seem to have started with MAC..they have wonderful colours and foundation shades for a wide range of skin colours and pretty reasonable price for those wanting to start with high end makeup.I think it was Christine’s MAC love period when i first started reading this blog and naturally that influenced me too…but the number of collections they put out now are seriously overwhelming and i prefer brands like Guerlain and Nars…still cant resist checking out MAC display cunters when a new collection comes…i guess its true You never forget your first love 🙂
Dior… there was a Dior artist working for a print ad I did in Europe at 17… I made my first makeup purchase then and never looked back- still love them and always will, but of course I enjoy a huge variety of brands now.
Long, long before MAC even existed, it was probably Elizabeth Arden or Estee Lauder. Arden had what was at the time the only fatty pencils for lips and eyes and Estee Lauder always had great skin care and makeup. But in my more recent makeup addiction, it was MAC, hands down!
I’m in the same club… MAC was my first love, but we’ve had several tiffs recently. Hopefully we will fall in love again.. I still keep hoping. Right now it’s just a bit of lust and a lot of disappointment…
MAC, CHANEL AND URBAN DECAY!!!
Charles of the Ritz. In Bloomingdale’s on 59th St. I was 16 years old and they gave a class – made me up with all the wrong colors 🙁 But I got a credit for the cost of the class, and went downstairs and stocked up on more suitable colors and felt so sassy! First non-d/s mu I ever owned!
I remember Charles of the Ritz! I finally threw away a blush of theirs last year!
As a teen, it was Rimmel. As an adult, it was Stila …. until they discontinued their lovely lipsticks (Natalie was my favourite). Now I love Bobbi Brown, Dior and Chanel 🙂
Urban Decay was my first love, though I didn’t buy anything from them for years because I couldn’t really afford it. I liked their “image” and their fun eyeshadow colors. UD is still one of my favorite brands today.
my dad used to work for chanel in the late 90s so he always brought home goodies for me and my mom. it was amazing. my first real beauty brand that i fell in love with SPOILED me.
Almay of all things! It was over 10 years ago! That little black liquid liner did me in. I learned how to properly use liquid liner before I ever mastered(still haven’t) pencil liner. My older sister used it, so I did too. After spending a few years not wearing makeup, I rediscovered my love for all things makeup with urban decay. I bought myself the first book of shadows and I was sold!
Dior! I still think their powders and foundations work the best for me… At least I’ve tried a lot of products for my face .. But recently I’ve been to sephora and couldn’t resist buying Dior forever powder.. Guess what, my skin looks great in it! 😀 I also love their maximizer serum, nail polishes.. Shimmers were good, too! And their grand bal collection is awesome!
Bare Escentuals. I was hooked to watching it on QVC.
I still watch QVC a bit now – but so much stuff is not always a great $ deal by the time you pay shipping and then if you need to return – better for me to order from Nordstrom and get free ship on returns since I live in the boonies
I was always interested in colour and cosmetics, mostly things that I found in the drug store. I remember gravitating towards Revlon when I was young because even then I knew that they didn’t do animal testing. I remember when Urban Decay launched, I got a flyer showing their colours that I just drooled over, even though they weren’t available where I lived.
Mac was my first real love, though and I was fiercely loyal to them for years- I hardly bought anything else! I still find that many of their permanent products are among my favourites (Vex eye shadow!!!!), but their new products and shades have been less interesting to me than some of the older products they replaced.
Same here! I loved mac until a few weeks ago…
When I was a teenager, way, way back in the early 90s, Poppy King (currently of Lipstick Queen fame) released her first line of lipsticks, a range simply called Poppy. They were revolutionary at the time- amped up formulas with more pigment than anyone had ever dared put in a lipstick, bold, completely matte, completely opaque, rich statement colours that were unlike any lipstick that was around at the time. They came in lovely heavy black cases with a bright red poppy emblazoned on the top of the lid. I was absolutely besotted. There were originally seven shades released in the heavy pigment matte formula, each named after one of the seven deadly sins. These were the first lipsticks I had applied that made me feel absolutely like an absolute bombshell. I’ve always had the softest spot for lipsticks, so even though this was purely just a lipstick brand, it just felt so special, and was my first true make up love. The company went bust later in the 90s, and I was so sad using up the very last of my tubes, knowing I could never get them again.
I was so excited to see the re-branding of Poppy when Lipstick Queen was launched, and I haven’t been disappointed at all. The current Sinner formulation is very much like the original matte Poppy lipsticks (though from what I remember, the original Poppy was a bit heavier). I love the way the range has expanded, and that is still remains solely focused on lipstick, and still has innovative products. I’ve fallen in love with the Butterfly Ball collection, with its sleek bases and incredibly flattering turquoise iridescence throughout.
I agree with ALL of this! And I still have 4 of my original Poppy lipsticks (albeit only half full now) which I hoard carefully. They definitely are heavier and more opaque (though only by a tiny bit) than the current Sinner line. I will have to look into the Butterfly Ball collection that you mention. 🙂
I discovered MAC pigments and I was hooked. Eye shadows, blushes, lipsticks and powders followed after that. With recent quality issues, I don’t know if I’ll be purchasing anything new EVER, with the possible exception of lipsticks, maybe, but MAC is the brand that swayed me from drugstore brands. I’m not sure if it was love so much as lust…These days it seems like I’m kind of divorced from MAC and having affairs with UD’s 24/7 eyeliners and Maybelline’s Color Tattoos. Back to the drug store I go… 🙂
I used to be all over the place with brands – Clinique, Revlon, L’Oreal and Lauder. I would have to say, MAC was my first love, followed by IMAN. I still have some of her eye shadows and pencils from the line’s launch.
Oh, I love IMAN, too! Some really awesome, pigmented, affordable products that don’t get enough love.
I stopped wearing makeup until about 2 years ago. Although I bought products from different brands, I fell in love with Make Up For Ever. I love their products. They are generously sized, fairly priced, and of high quality. The packaging on most products isn’t that great, but oh well.
Dior and Guerlain. My mom and my grandmother are big fans of these two brands. As a child I used to play with their makeup. The scent of Guerlian makeup reminds me so much of my grandmother. I’m still a big fan of these brands. I own lots of Dior products, and splurge on Guerlian occasionally.
I didn’t think about it until now. I am 18 years old, but when I was 17 I was looking at Miley Cyrus’ music video Who Owns My Heart and I loved the lipstick she puts on during the video. I am a huge Miley Cyrus fan, so I googled it and it turns out she uses the Lady Gaga Viva Glam. I wanted it so bad because Miley used it and I eventually bought it. I didn’t use it or wear it, I just carried it around in my purse. Then I went shopping and saw the Viva Glam Nicki Minaj and fell in love with it too. After that I became a makeup addict and buy MAC, Urban Decay, Clinique, Too Faced, Smashbox, Tarte and much more. I also got introduced to Clinique around prom because they gave all the girls with good grades a free Clinique makeover and mini lipgloss.
MAC. They’re one of the first cosmetics companies I had ever heard of that loved color as much as I did (do?) and made base products (foundation, concealer, powder, etc.) in shades dark enough for women like me! I don’t use much from them anymore since I’ve found dupes of almost everything I love(d), but I have fond memories of going up to the counter, having their make up artists paint my face all pretty and leaving with lots of fun products. 🙂
It seems MAC is the “gateway” makeup for those of us journeying towards “high end” makeup addiction or the top of the line for the die hard “drug store” junkies. For now I’ve topped out at NARS coloured products and Lancome foundation on my beauty journey but nuff respect to MAC and Maybelline where I really began. 🙂
Honestly I’m not sure…I used a little bit of MAC years ago, when I was trying makeup, but I never fell in love with it and then stopped bothering with makeup all together. I did fall in love with the Buxom lip glosses for a while, and they were the only ones I used for a long time. When I tried makeup again I went the Bare Minerals route, but I didn’t love it and stopped using it mostly, and then I started looking at high-end makeup and fell a little in love with Chanel and Guerlain before landing on Burberry, which is my favorite brand and true love of makeup. (so far!)
tl;dr I guess I’ve had a lot of flirtations and a crush or two but didn’t fall in love until Burberry 🙂
I never really much cared about makeup until I tried Benefit’s Benetint for the first time. I loved the versatility and natural flush that it provided; and from there, I began to branch out onto their highlighters, concealers, and box o’ powders. Benefit really made me realize what “good” makeup can do for me compared to drugstore brands. Now, I use everything from MAC and Bare Minerals to Laura Mercier and Youngblood, but I never would have truly known the depth of makeup possibilities if it hadn’t have been for that little bottle of magical red liquid.
The Ford sisters created this for a topless dancer in SF.
I didn’t wear much makeup and only drugstore brands through high school and college. It was only after landing a great job right after graduating that I suddenly had a lot more disposable income and worldly female colleagues to emulate : -D
Sephora itself was my real revelation. It had never really occurred to me before that there was even something better than drugstore makeup. I suppose as far as brands go, the Bare Minerals starter kit was my first big step, but I was never particularly loyal to that brand… or any brand really. I actually tended to collect one or two “signature” pieces from each brand. I suppose Dior was the closest I got to being brand loyal in those early days.
I didn’t buy anything from MAC for quite a while, actually. It was really only a year or two ago probably that I started ordering a few things from them. I’ve never had a large collection of their products, however, and don’t consider myself to be a real fan of theirs.
MAC also made me fall in love with makeup and its also how I found your blog by googling about MAC products.
It was Jane cosmetics! Jane was a drugstore brand that had sleek black packaging, and helpful little pamphlets that described different ways to wear makeup depending on the style you were going for and even had life advice (LOL). As a highschooler at the time, this brand was targeted very well at me. I think the fact that this brand had free guides that I could collect really fostered my curiosity and creativity with makeup. They had a slide up lipstick much like Guerlain Rouge Automatique, and I had it in a vampy raisin red. I still have all of the collectible pamphlets. ^_^
Oh, probably Bonne Bell when I was a kid. I haven’t bought anything in years. I guess I’ve always been into makeup!
I remember when Bonnie Bell came out in the early 60’s.
MAC. I used Clinique pretty much exclusively and wore very natural, neutral makeup. Then one day I went to a new mall and it had a freestanding MAC store. I fell in love. All the colors and mediums…it was just beautiful. I returned to that store so many times and had one lady who worked there who I just loved. She taught me so many different techniques and was extremely patient even though I could only afford one or two things at a time. I still love MAC and still appreciate what they do, but I very rarely buy things from them now. Mostly I return to buy concealer and Wedge (my HG brow powder).
The first beauty brand I liked was MAC. My stepsister gave me Sable, Naked Lunch and 217. Then I started to build up my collection. 239, pigments, shadestick – the basics (whatever they used to have and then decided to discontinue it). Now, I’m in love with Chanel lipsticks. I fully agree that there are classic MAC products that will always be dear to our hearts but when they started to release collections after collections after collections, they compromise the quality of the products. That’s why I am thankful and appreciative for Temptalia/Christine – i always check it out before I buy anything. There are plenty of collections that look very lovely but after Christine reviews them, the appeal fizzles.
Once again, Thank You <3
for me it’s an italian brand called Pupa-unconventional beauty,
every year for christmas i used to get one of their super cute trousses from my mum and i wore the most purple eyeshadow everyday for school for the entire year… just loved the designes!
My God, yet another Pupa person! Yay! I loved them too.
Loreal, way back in the late 70’s/early 80’s when it first hit the drugstores. Everyone of all ages flocked to the displays. Loved their Visuelle line. That moment, when I bought foundation, powder, blush in Bebe, some purple and pink iridescent nail polish…I fell in love!
Urban Decay. My first-ever high end makeup product was an opaque violet lipstick from Club Monaco, but it was the beautiful colors of Urban Decay, and their hardcore/girlpower marketing that appealed to my fresh-from-the-Spice-Girls tweenaged self. There was so much glitter, and all the naughty names, and so. much. purple. I lusted after Asphyxia eyeshadow for YEARS. (It’s still one of my favorites to just look at!)
Bobbi Brown was my second love, makeup for my more grown-up self, but I will always love Urban Decay.
I grew up in Italy so for me, the first brand I fell in love with was Pupa and their gorgeous make up palettes when I was just a teenager.
Then came MAC when I started using foundations: Studio Fix Powder Foundation was my first “foundation” love and still is a staple in my makeup bag.
Pupa??!??!! *faints* Wow, I thought I was the only one here who knew about Pupa. I loved them and still have a Pupa lipstick (the age of which would horrify most people) that is in perfect condition and one of my favorite reds. That shiny red packaging…. such happy memories.
I love pupa too, ah the Diva Rouge number 21…need to repurchase that lol. A very nice brand, with good quality and lower prices compared to Chanel, Guerlain, Dior, Ysl etc.
Ha! I still have my first red Pupa palette…it has to be over 15 years old but I cannot get rid of it. I just can’t!
I live in Canada and the brand has started getting in stores here this year. They still have great quality and gorgeous packaging!
Wait, they still make Pupa???!?! And it’s not just in Italy or France any more? Plus, the quality is still as amazing??!?! THIS I have to go check out and find!
As for the age of your palette, don’t laugh but my favorite Pupa lipstick is over 30 years old! It’s never gone “off,” isn’t sticky, doesn’t smell, and has the same perfect texture that it always did. Pupa “The Lipstick” No. 22, a gorgeous red that’s like NARS’ Heatwave, only a touch brighter perhaps. And in honour of this thread, I wore it today. 6 hours later, through endless Diet Coke, it’s still there and unfaded. Quality… it really shows. I’m pretty sure I have more (ancient) Pupa lipsticks, makeup and palettes boxed up somewhere. And you’ve inspired me to go dig them up, Kym! 🙂
I swear, there are just some products that can last *forever*; don’t worry, I still have some products that are pretty old, too!
Ha! I’m glad I brought up Pupa then! I don’t know if you live in the US but it seems to be the *only* country that is not in their distribution list!
http://www.pupa.it/eng/distribution/default.aspx
Their products arrived in Canada last year and the quality is still wonderful…Let me know what you think if you take a look at their website or even find some of their new products!
Pupa packaging was real neat…nice engine red.
The Body Shop. I remember when they first came to my city some time in the early-to-mid 80s? I was an adolescent and already a product junkie but that store was full of things that weren’t like anything I’d seen before. They had a lot of good products that I used until they were reformulated but lots of other brands came along that were similar.
I don’t think I’ve ever loved a makeup brand. I’ve certainly never had any loyalty. It’s always fun to try new things.
Body Shop used to have great products….I loved the pineapple wash…helped my acne scars..
My first love was Lancome. Mostly their eyeshadow just dazzled me. Then, I became enamored with prestige brand skincare and that was just the tipping off point. I still buy Lancome shadows and I do love their eyeshadow base as well.
Cover Girl!
I was a teenager and I loved watching my mother do her makeup so I asked for a product (wichever). A couple of days later, she gave me a pink blush from Cover Girl. It was my first makeup product and I loved it! it was so simple and yet so meaningful to me. I clearly remember the scent of the brand, the texture and even the tone. I go marcel proust if smell one of that brand’s products, ha!
I was just so fascinated by MAC. I remember being 13 and not able to afford anything and would just stare at all the dazzling colors at the Macy’s counter. Most of my collection is from there and though I adore most of their products, it’s great to branch out and see the wonderful world of makeup.
Christine, you played a big part in this ‘obsession’ and I truly mean that in a good way. Makeup is the one place I can express my artistic and creative side. So thank you 🙂
My pleasure 🙂
The first brand I fell in love with is YSL. I still tend to by their products most, especially their eyeshadows. If a make up product is YSL, then it means quality and luxury to me. People are generally head over heels about MAC but that is YSL for me.
I sometimes even think about changing my blogs name into “my YSL passion” but that would be so particular then. lol
I share your passion for YSL which was also my first love! I wish more blogs would pay attention to it because none of the ones that I read ever cover it. It’s like the red-headed stepchild of high-end lines as compared to Chanel or Dior — quite unfairly, imo. I will have to see if I can Google and look up your blog, since I’m not sure if it’s okay to ask for the link here. 🙂
You just have to click on her name. Then you are redirected to her blog.
Thank you, Clara. I don’t know why that didn’t occur to me. I’ve pulled up Bengisu’s blog. Now I just need to figure out the peculiar Google translation from Hungarian (?) or perhaps it’s Bulgarian (?). LOL. Thank you again.
Maybelline, because it was the first brand I could afford :)! I remember being so happy with one pink lipstick, a liquid gloss that smelled like watermelon and a 4 color eyeshadow palette. I still like the brand, especially their Falsies mascara and eyeshadows. Later on I discovered the MAC world and it was WOW…I did not know so many products existed, everything from the amazing eyeshadows and lipsticks range to an incredible variety of foundations, powders, blushes, products like gel liners, paint pots and BRUSHES. I didn’t know there were so many brushes and it really made a difference when I started using them – it´s not that they made me an expert, they simply made makeup even more fun and my obsession got worse! I remember the excitement I felt when I bought my first MAC products…it was definitely love. Oh, and lipglasses were a dream come true – until then I believed glosses were transparent, to be layered over lipstick. I went crazy over the glossy colors of lipglasses (I don’t mind their stickiness at all)! As many others, it makes me sad that the overwhelming amount and frequency of collections has resulted in a decrease of quality. However, in my case, I cannot deny that my love for MAC is forever – I may not rush anymore to get their LE items, but there are basics I will always go back to.
Lancome, eventhough i couldn’t afford it back then! I was in high school, I depended on my mother to buy my makeup and she only baught high-end makeup. Lancome was one of the few brands that carried foundation light enough for my skin tone, that’s when it began. Years later I have tried so many other brands but lancome is still my favorite. I use their foundations, powders, concealer, brow pencil, blush, lipstick, artliner, eye makeup remover, and the hypnose drama mascara.
I first fell in love with Benefit – my friend and I would visit the counter at Marshall Field’s near Chicago every week or so and buy or just ogle. Of course, now I’ve graduated to brands like Chanel, YSL, and Guerlain – worse for my pocketbook, of course!
Very first, really passionate love? YSL, esp. back in its original Rive Gauche incarnation. I still have a palette from them in its beautiful royal blue and black packaging that I use constantly, maybe as much as 4 times a week in part. Although the first makeup I was given/bought and allowed to wear was Chanel, it never held my heart like the Rive Gauche or YSL stuff of my mother’s that I played with. (Except Chanel’s Blanc de Blanc. That was fabulous!) I also really liked Pupa & Bourjois at the time, but never to the same degree as YSL. (I “borrowed” — rather permanently — all my mother’s Rive Gauche and later, begged for much of her YSL to be donated to my worthy, desperate cause. *grin*) When I had money of my own, the first makeup (and perfume) I bought was from YSL. To this day, I adore everything about it, right down to its super-sexy, sophisticated collection photos. (I also have always prefered the clothes and perfumes over that of the other big houses, so my YSL love-affair is pretty deeply-rooted and all-encompassing.) Recently, NARS has joined the list of my favorites, but even that is still a few, microscopic steps behind YSL. (Well, except for the lipsticks. There, NARS will always rule supreme.) These days, I can’t afford an endless, constant haul of YSL, esp. in the quantities that I’d like, but I doubt any other brand will ever hold that really special, memory-driven, nostalgic place in my heart.
Mary Quant! Yes, I’m old, very very old! They used to sell it at Judy’s which was the cool store of the late 70’s in LA. They made a navy blue kohl eyeliner that was just gorgeous, my cousin was always trying to take it from me.
I am old so there were not a lot of brands out there available after WWII…ones that sound like drug store brands now were sold in what ‘then’ were dept. stores like MaxFactor and Maybelline. Those were my first exposure makeup lines as I can recall – least names that anyone would know of now. The first prestige brand I recall liking was Helena Rubenstein but it was out of my allowance range and mom did not buy it either so I could not raid hers. It was not until much later that I recall getting some Elizabeth Arden, Estee Lauder, Clinque when that came along and Ernest Laszo I was turned onto when I was in Europe.
I remember those days, too, LOL. I remember always taking a trip to the L’Oreal counter. For some reason, no other counter drew me in like that one. I can remember being about 9, and I told my mom when I was old enough to wear makeup, this was what I was going to wear. By that time, it had moved to the drug stores.
I guess it would have to be Bonne Bell, for me; Lip Smackers were my first cosmetic items, and I wanted them ALL!
I didn’t fall in love with MAC until my 30s. That affair went on for several years, but it ended early this year, and I now am happily involved with Inglot.
MAC! It was not the first brand I ever tried, but certainly the first that I fell in love with and wanted to buy everything from!
The first brand I was interested in was Barry M. I was totally hooked on their dazzle dusts – essentially, they’re pigments. I’d never seen or heard of pigments before so they were a totally new concept to me. I loved the vibrant colours.
The first brand I truly fell in love with, though, was Illamasqua. I had started watching Pixiwoo on YT and Sam recreated the Dystopia collection look and I was totally transfixed. I went over to the Illamasqua site and read their blurb about being non-conformist and “out there”…yeah that was enough for me haha. Illamasqua was the first high-end brand I purchased from, and I still purchase from them every few months. For the past two years I have been obsessed with MAC, and whilst I’m getting a little tired of the amount of collections coming out, I can’t help but buy from them. I’m careful with what I purchase these days though, I have so much makeup now that I really need to be careful incase I end up with too many dupes of things.
Chanel is another love of mine, but I don’t have too much of that, it’s a little expensive for me, so I only purchase when I know they have something that I don’t. I’d love to own more Dior, Givenchy and Guerlain though. For me, those brands are real luxury.
Lancome. I wanted to look just like Isabella Rossellini!
Estée Lauder it was the first brand of makeup I bought that was the correct color and didn’t break me out. I don’t use many of their products any longer, I will occasionally purchase their mascara.
Benefit, definitely! i was so enamored by the packaging and the face that it could make me prettier in one simple step. It was the first highlighter i ever used, first cheek stain, first undereye brightener, first lip scrub, first concealer, i could go on…
Sheseido. When I was 13 my mom took me for a makeover at the Sheseido for my birthday. I was always doing my makeup completely wrong, and being thirteen, didn’t want to listen to her advice. So, she took me for the thrill and education. It meant a lot to me and if I have a daughter someday, I plan to do the same for her.
Mine was MAC too, it was the “cool” counter at the department store. Now I love Burberry and my hg La Mer Foundation. Christine, I am really curious, did you ever say why MAC didn’t send you promotional samples of the Holiday Collections this year? I was so worried that I would miss out on something (due to sell-out), I ordered …only to be disappointed. I hope they read your blog so they will know how many hearts they have lost!
maaaaaaaaaaaaac <3
still in love with it!
The first brand I truly fell in love with was Urban Decay. I feel like every product I’ve tried from them has become my HG, like their eyeshadows, eyeliner, and super curling mascara. The colors are stunning and the textures and quality are the best I’ve come across. The fact that they don’t test on animals is really important to me. Another thing I appreciate is that I think they are always improving and listening to their consumer in areas like their packaging, ect. I’m not one to be all about a particular brand but UD has turned me into an addict 🙂
Urban Decay. I don’t even wear many bright colors but I just can’t seem to pass up their palettes!!! lol
Urban Decay was my first love. The ads in Seventeen made me swoon but I wasn’t able to buy any products until much later in life, even if I had saved up my money I had no idea where to buy them xD
Annabelle/Marcelle! (But let’s be honest; this is not surprising in the least.) I got into beauty as I blogged about it, so I already knew what to expect from most brands — and, as a result, I just wasn’t as charmed by them.
When I was first introduced to Annabelle, though, I was really taken aback by the quality of the products, and there’s something to be said for the good ‘ol homegrown charm, you know?
the first beauty brand i fell in love with was Ere Perez, i have sensitive skin and when i was working i couldnt find makeup that worked but was soft and gentle, i stumbled upon her range in the burwood plaza health food store ad havent looked back, love her beetroot lip & cheek stain as well as her signature almond mascara! other brands i love are kora, jurlique and zuui organics (errr, a little pricey though)
NARS. absolutely, NARS make-up was the first thing I ever felt sexy wearing….I guess I’ve never been that comfortable with my body, so I never looked to clothing or shoes to feel feminine or pretty…. there is just something about NARS that does it for me… the unusual colour combinations, the saturated and yet glowing blushes…. I feel like when I use NARS a make-up artist is advising me and I feel like the colours themselves are really special and sophisticated. I look forward to getting even just a peek at the new collections first seeing new products crop on the runway at Thakoon or phillip lim… seriously, its a love affair
MAC was the first brand I fell in love with. I no longer love MAC because they changed their status and are no longer cruelty-free. It was kind of a tipping point for me. I’d already become disenchanted with MAC because I feel like they keep pumping out tons of collections, though I was still purchasing products that I liked here and there. Now I refuse to purchase from them again unless they change their stance on testing. I started buying brands other than MAC in 2008 and I haven’t regretted it. I’ve fallen in love with a lot of different products since then!
Fashion Fair I was in love with their lipsticks it was the only thing I would repurchase from them back in the day
MAC was the first makeup I ever bought. I loved it immediately. Over the years, I’ve grown less attached. I still buy but I’ve skipped over most of the collections in the last 3 years. So love has turned to enjoy. My current love affair is with Illamasqua.
This is a GREAT question! I don’t remember being in ‘love’ with a beauty brand until I somehow got my hands on a Benefit catalogue. I was probably 13 at the time I think. Oh, the cheeky names! The packaging! And High Beam! It was several (almost 10!) years after that when I found Pixiwoo. It all changed from then onwards! I no longer question huge prices for makeup – the quality is there. My next love was then Illamasqua with their crazy colours. I haven’t yet fallen out of love with them, though their latest collections haven’t impressed. The next brand I fell in love with, funnily enough, was Estee Lauder. I always thought it was an ‘old ladies’ brand. How wrong I was! Something that broke my heart and my love though was a lipstick from Bobbi Brown, Jewel Red. I didn’t know I wouldn’t be able to ever get it again. Still haven’t forgiven them. Though their correctors are their only redemption for me at the moment!
Dior
I am 36 so first was Bonne Bell when I was 10, then came Clinique when I was 13, then Lancome at 19. So those were my first three 🙂
No competition here for me…Make Up For Ever definitely! When I decided to start investing in high-end make up, I tried quite a few products from other brands before I found my dream products from MUFE. What really turned me into a MUFE fanatic was their foundations. I had been searching for a holy grail foundation for months when I finally got my hands on MUFE F&B, which turned out to be love at first use for me. Success with their foundations lead me to try other products from the line, and I have yet to be disappointed by anything I’ve used from the brand. I think many people are turned off by the prices of MUFE’s products, but in my experience, their products last me FOREVER (no pun intended) and do exactly as they claim so they are well worth the price to me. If I had no other option but to buy make up products from one brand in the future, I would definitely make all my purchases with MUFE!
The first makeup I could afford with my pocket money was by Manhatten.
But I really fell in love with MAC in 1999 and it was special just to buy one product with my money (I still went to school and later to university). I still own my first lipstick and eyeshadow.
Now, 13 years later, I still love their eye shadows and the blushes, especially with the refill system. I use Painterly Paintpot and their brushes every day. Their Cleansing oil is adorable, I have gone through at least 12 bottles and I will continue using it at night.
Releasing several limited editions each month makes me thoughtful. I have the impression, that the number of new / other products leads to less quailty. And one reason for buying MAC products was the relation between quality and price. I don’t want to buy a product, especially their quads, and I really have to work to see results.
I believe there are other brands on the market, who preform better compaired to MAC. I recently fell in love with the Armani Sheer lipsticks and Nars blushes and lipglosses. These products now preform better for me.
Estee Lauder. 100 years ago when I was 15 and in high school, my mom gifted me a massive EL package including eyeshadows, several lipsticks, and 3 full-size fragrances. I hated the perfumes (although me BFF who was 14 fell in love with Beautiful, and to this day it’s her #1 scent), but OMG those lipsticks!!!!!! I had never had anything so awesome in my life! I’d tried all the drugstore brands, and Coty’s Moonsilk was my “signature” color, but nothing could hold a candle to the Estee Lauder products. Years later, I tended to buy Cover Girl for work a lot, but I had a ton of problems with it, as well as many other DS products. Splotchy, fading, creasing, lack of pigmentation, and my favorite: triggering horrid eczema breakouts. I eventually caved and bought some new EL stuff in my mid-20’s, and all my eczema problems subsided. I still have DS makeup phobias due to the years of Eczema breakouts those products triggered, but I now am a huge MAC junkie, and I love many, many other quality products, too. Funny that I started out with “old lady” makeup at 15, but wound up with a lot of “hip” makeup as I start becoming an “old lady”; secretly… I still love EL, and do buy my fair share.
I used a lot of Maybelline, L’Oreal, and Cover Girl back in high school, although my first high-end purchase was from Lancome when I was 16. But I think my make-up love affair didn’t really start until I went into Sephora for the first time and discovered Urban Decay eyeshadow palettes and eyeliners. It’s all been downhill for my pocketbook ever since.
Maybelline.
MAC! yeah that Carbon eyeshadow is AMAZING! I hit pan on it and I don’t want it to end!
But I don’t love the fact they release LE stuff like crazy, I focused more on the permanent line 🙂
My favorite brand right now is Urban Decay 🙂
I started out with Estee Lauder because my Mom and Gram wore it, I then graduated to Prescriptives, and I started to go bolder. But then a group of MAC folks were having a workshop at the hotel I was the Chef at about 10 years ago and left me a bunch of samples, I was hooked!!! I’m a diehard MAC girl and if I wasn’t a Chef I would totally be working for MAC.
I think it must have been CLINIQUE. I remember seeing their chubby sticks once, and I just really wanted it! I got CLINIQUE sets for Christmas a few times now and I think they have a lot of outstanding products.
the balm is my favorite!
I’m a bit older- my first real couldn’t-live-without-it was Elizabeth Arden foundation. Her original colors, I looked like a movie star and was treated like one too. With inflation, it would be $120 USD a bottle today but I was young and wore great make up and never paid for anything else. Woo Hoo! Seriously- I got comped, guest list, drinks just appeared, people thought I was somebody important. Or rich. It was marvelous! Beautiful lipsticks too.
One day the company was bought out and the colors dropped for the pink/ yellow Lauder model. I sobbed like my dog died in a huge department store. Tragic! I’ve never found anything as good either.
My loyalties are to specific products. Every brand has hits and misses.
It’s Nars, always has been Nars and always will be my beloved Nars!!