Oldies, but Goodies...Beauty Products I Have Been Using for 20+ Years!

I have been a beauty product hoarder for as long as I can remember....I recall the days before even kindergarten when I begged for a new cherry Chapstick, so I could slather it on my lips like pretend lipstick.

One of the best parts of junior high was the freedom to ride my bicycle to the local Walgreen's to purchase drugstore beauty supplies with my babysitting money.  I wasn't thin, considered pretty, or popular with the boys as anything more than a friend, but I had this innocent hope that a beauty product could change my fate....all I needed was better skin, shinier hair, or whiter teeth and then I would be immediately sought after.

I have tried countless beauty products over the last 20 years and there are a few I discovered in junior high that I still use religiously, they have always been in my beauty arsenal.  Here they are:

1.  St. Ives Invigorating Apricot Scrub: Depending on how fickle my skin is feeling, I use this at least 3 times a week.  I like to put it on my beloved Clarisonic for my morning wash.  It leaves my skin soft, smooth, and glowing.  It is the prefect prep step for getting my skin ready for my daily argon oil. At around $4.00 a tube, it is a deal!  1 tube lasts me 2-3 months.

2.  Dr. Pepper Lip Smackers: This will always remind me of 7th grade...very bittersweet time.  I associate this product with the loss of innocence as I was wearing it when I received my first kiss. Anyway, this balm packs the perfect punch of great moisture and shine and a wonderful not too sweet smell.  Also, it has a lovely tint to it.  I often use it as a base for my red and matte lipsticks.  It is the perfect texture to allow the lipsticks to stick and set and not bleed into the corners of my mouth. It also eliminates lipstick flakes and crusties which gross me out.  I wear this to the gym for the perfect I am not wearing any lipstick, lip tint look.  $1.99 a tube.

3.  Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque: This is the real deal.  A green clay masque to scare people with while you wear your favorite muumuu and yell at your neighbors for being too loud.  I swear, it sucks all the bad stuff out and is very gentle.  I use it once every 2 weeks (typically on Sunday while I do my laundry) and it helps get those really hard to Clarisonic away blackheads.  Around $5.00 a tube and it will seriously last you a year plus.  Also, it if gets hard and you can't seem to get it out of the tube, simply fill your sink with hot water, plop it in for a few minutes, and you are back in business.

4.  Cetaphil: I have been using this since I was 11, when I got my first pre-puperty pimples.  It is super gentle.  Sometimes a bit too gentle depending on my hormones.  I use this as a face wash and often mix it will my apricot scrub on the prize winning Clarisonic.  When my face is really dry and flaky, I will put a thin layer on my face (and not wash it off) and sleep with it on overnight.  I wake up with super hydrated skin.  Also, I have a mild case of psoriasis and sometimes I shower with this as a body wash when my skin is acting up.  It is so gentle, it does the trick. $11.50 for a huge bottle that will last forever.

5.  Outrageous Shampoo: A little gem that will always remind me of a time when hair smelled yummy and not like sex, booze, guilt, and cigarettes.  This was a BIG deal around here in 1995.  The smell is VERY intense and perfume heavy and I LOVE it.  I hadn't seen it in years and then a few summers ago, I was up in Canada and saw it everywhere.  When I remember, I order it from a Canadian site and then wash my hair while I dream of some boy wearing black jeans, high top gym shoes, and a teal silk button down shirt as we dance to P.M. Dawn's "Set a Drift Adrift on Memory Bliss." while he compliments how yummy I smell. $3.50 plus additional shipping to US.