Clairol Illuminated Make Up Mirror
When I was a pre-teen/teenager in the 80s, the little white desk in my bedroom was a sacred space. Not because this was a place where I wrote in my diary, did my homework or where I penned letters to all my pen-pals (remember those?!). No, this area was sacred because it was the space where I put on my make-up every day. Fresh from the shower, I’d sit at my desk with my hair wrapped up in a towel, feeling like I was backstage on...
In the Mood – Mood Lipstick
I could write a book on my beloved 80s cosmetics. Maybelline Kissing Potion, Bonne Bell, Cover Girl Cheekers Blush, Shine Free and my staple brand Wet ‘n Wild. I wore all of it. At once. And this — remember this? Little tubes of green, blue and yellow lipstick that put the fear of God in your mom’s eyes when she first saw them on your bathroom counter, right? I remember these being super popular when I was in middle school – all...
Goodbye to the Legendary Lip Smacker
Whenever I find out something from my youth is going away I always feel a pang of sadness mixed with some sticky-sweet nostalgia. So many 80s things that were important have passed on but are not forgotten: RIP Jello Pudding Pops, Sassoon Jeans, Planters Cheez Balls, Shine Free cosmetics, and Original New York Seltzer. But when I heard the news about this next product going bye-bye, I have to say it made my pre-teen heart ache just a...
Am I Blue? Colored Mascara
By Lori Ferraro Because frosted blue eye shadow and electric blue eyeliner was simply not enough blue on our eyeballs back in the 80s, we also had this: Electric blue, red and yes, even yellow and green mascaras were available for our lash-lengthening pleasures. Blue was by far the most popular of the colored mascara colors. With my dark hair and olive complexion I thought blue mascara would really top off my look and make my eyes...
Beautifully Bushy Brows of the 80s
By Lori Ferraro In the eighties, we thought that skinny, over-plucked, penciled eyebrows were, like, totally for bluehairs. We wanted our brows to be luxuriantly full and natural, like chic little caterpillars over our eyes. The poster child of the full brow look was, of course, Brooke Shields. Here’s some footage of the Pretty Baby herself with her mother, Terri, and Barbara Walters showing just how lovely a natural brow can be: Not...
Lip Gloss: Pucker up, Buttercup!
Before we were allowed to wear actual makeup, girls of the 80s loved their flavored and tinted lip glosses. We stowed them in our purses, because periodic reapplication was a must. Those sheer colors and glossy shines didn’t last for long. But that was TOTALLY okay, because these luscious glosses were sweet treats as well! A little hit of Dr. Pepper or strawberry lip gloss was just as yummy as a mouthful of Nerds or Pixy Stix, but it...
Press-on Nails
By Julie Anderson It’s 1987. You need to be full-on glamorous (for, like, prom or homecoming) which means shoes dyed to match your gown, pantyhose, a labor-intensive hairdo involving LOTS of styling products, and long, polished nails. However, back in the eighties we didn’t have a Star Nails in every strip mall. Sure, fancy salons had manicurists who could give you acrylic tips, but after springing for our Dyeables and our dates’...
Blue Eyeshadow – 80s Eyes in an Instant
With neon clothes, hair elevated to new heights and shoulder pads a-plenty, it is no surprise that 80s ebullience translated into makeup trends as well. And, what better way to make a bold and sassy fashion statement than with blue. It was an era defining makeup look. No 80s makeup bag was complete without a variety of azure and cobalt shadow, liner and mascara choices. I mean, really, one shade of blue couldn’t possibly cover the...
In Search of Clear Skin
By Julie Anderson It’s the mid-1980’s, before Proactiv, before even Retin-A. However, even way back when Reagonomics was in full swing, women wore makeup (often LOTS of it) and teenagers got acne. We needed products to cleanse our pores, dry our pimples, and make us look all fresh and dewy and clean, at least until we spackled on some more Maybelline. I asked my husband this morning what products he used to wash his face in the...
Extreme Makeovers: 80s Style
by Julie Anderson Who doesn’t love a dramatic, life-altering makeover? From these awesome 80s makeovers, we learned that we didn’t have to, like, learn stuff and change on the INSIDE. Changing our APPEARANCE was the only requirement for a huge burst of personal improvement. Turns out that a crimping iron, lots of Maybelline makeup, and the removal of a layer of clothing or two were really all it took to go from drab to...
Making Up Is Hard to Do
Winter 2009/2010: 80s Makeup Trends Now, I love the 80s as much as any other girl who lived them. (Okay, I’m lying—I love them way more than most.) Even so, this resurgence of 80s makeup makes me nervous. Yellow eyelids? Bright blue lashes? Some things fall out of fashion for a reason. (And some things never do—NPR recently reported on new-found evidence that Neanderthals—the real ones, not the ones at the back of your junior-high...
80s Makeup to the Max
Every decade has its own style, and the 80s really had its own. From miniskirts to parachute pants and everything in between, the 80s saw a branching out to make things bigger and brighter. Makeup was no exception. A Case Study, Cyndi Lauper First and foremost there was just a lot of it. The girls of the 80s literally “painted” their faces on. The two defining makeup elements in the 80s face were bold eyes and blush meant to...
