Okay, I admit it: I'm a bit of a packrat. I've been known to keep things around for ages, particularly if they have good memories associated with them. Case in point? I still have a dusty, nearly empty bottle of Love's Baby Soft in my perfume collection.
Like many girls who grew up in the '80s, this was my first favorite scent. There were always ads for it in 'Teen magazine, it was an alluring shade of soft pink and it was really cheap, so your parents would actually buy it for you. The perfume itself was exactly what the name implied: A light, innocent, powdery scent that wasn't entirely inappropriate on a 9-year-old. One year for Christmas I got an entire set of Love's perfumes, and I was absolutely thrilled! I still have fond memories of Soft Jasmine, Rain Scent and Fresh Lemon in their lavender, light blue and pastel yellow bottles. Sigh. But of course my youthful lust for beauty products wasn't limited to fragrance; I also wanted makeup!
Maybelline's Kissing Potion Lip Gloss in Bubblegum was my first gloss, setting off a lifelong addiction that I continue to struggle with to this day. Lip gloss addiction is a medical condition, people, and I'm here to raise awareness! I kid, I kid. Kissing Potion was fabulous though - a thick, shiny golden liquid in a glass vial with a rollerball top and pink cap, it tasted and smelled exactly like bubblegum. Plus, the name was ever-so-alluring. This ad, from the '70s, was a little before my time, but it still gets the point across - and is that Kim Basinger?!
As much as I loved my Kissing Potion, however, it wasn't the makeup I miss most from my childhood. That honor goes to Tinkerbell's Brush-On Peel-Off Nailpolish. Oh, how I loved this stuff! First of all, look at that ad! I remember that ad. I adored it! Something about the comic strip format combined with the wide-eyed little girl and her youthful-looking mother hoisting the enormous, triangular bottle of "Bo-Po" into the air...I was sold. This stuff was, as I remember, a little on the goopy side and a chalky, Pepto-Bismol shade of pink, but it a) smelled good, and b) peeled off. Peeling it off was actually the biggest selling point, not actually wearing the polish. So desperate am I to relive this fun that I just did an online search for modern day peel-off polishes...alas, to no avail. Please, if you happen to find any, send them my way!
So those are my favorites. What were your childhood beauty must-haves?
