Ah, the ’90s…also known as my oily decade! I gotta give props to the face powders that got me through the oil slick years of my teens and early 20s — Cornsilk pressed powder, Coty Airspun Loose, the Clinique Loose Powder — and of course I have major love for the dark brown lipsticks I wore back then, namely Clinique Black Honey (old school!), MAC Paramount, Revlon Toast of New York.
As for face and body stuff, I went though countless bottles of Cetaphil face wash, and soooo many bottles and tins of Nivea Body Lotion and Body Cream…
Gosh, I used to love scooping that first scoop out of that thick body cream they sold in the blue tin! I wonder if that tin is still around? I gotta check next time I go to Target.
Oh! — can’t forget the Body Shop Grapefruit Shower Gel and their old-school Body Butters (back when they were thick and dense).
And for hair products, in college I loved the Herbal Essences shampoo and conditioner from the re-branding they did in the mid-’90s, and I also used a lot of Finesse shampoo/conditioner (in the blue bottles).
Remember the tagline? “Nothing less than Finesse.” 🙂
Then, after I started working full time after college, I was all about the salon lines, and I went through my share of Biolage, Rusk, Redken, and Bumble and Bumble.
It’s funny… You’d think that with my tendency to hoard, I’d still have at least a bottle, a tube or a compact of something I used back then, but I don’t. I wish I’d kept at least a few old tubes of lipstick…
Not to use, of course, but to compare the colors with how they are today!
Anywho, what are some of your ’90s beauty faves?
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Lipsticks, Stila Natalie was MLBB. I used to like the Prescriptives line in general and loved the Navy Rose lipstick.
There was a clear soap that Neutrogena used to make and I washed my face with that. My scalp was slightly oilier than it is now and my hair wasn’t as parched so I used to just grab whatever Pantene formula made sense to wash it with. I don’t even remember conditioning my hair back then.
Of course most of my eyeshadows were either drugstore or MAC back then.
Finesse…before you dress! Right?
Rusk! I was a diehard Rusk user. I used Bumble and Bumble too although I still occasionally get a shampoo or something from them.
MAC Spice lip liner! I loved it. However I recently tried it or the 2022 version and it was much too brown for me. I think I’ve gotten pastier since then. Clinique Black Honey was another fave.
Thanks for this trip down memory lane. My 19-year-old saw the Smashing Pumpkins and Jane’s Addiction in Denver last night so I’ve been having all kinds of 90’s memories today anyway!
I had pretty good skin then, and post college with a good job I began a lifelong love of beauty items. I used the Shishido basic set (clear bottles with a light blue lid) mostly because I loved the smell and wore their Zen perfume. You can buy Zen in the US still but it’s NOT the same formula that you can still buy in Japan so my husband picks me up some when he is there for work. And of course, a Caboodles makeup case to haul all my stuff in.
Clinique Sugar Bean lipstick – perfect 90’s brown for fair skin – and the 3-step skincare. Cover Girl blush in Sand & Sable. Aussie Mega shampoo and 3 Minute Miracle conditioner – or Nexxus Humectress & Therappe – and the Aussie hairspray with the loud grape smell. Calvin Klein Obsession perfume. B& BW Pearberry body wash & lotion. Lancome Eternicils mascara. Whatever eyeshadow came free in the Bonus Time gift with the cute pouch. And acrylic solar nails – squoval please!
I was a kid in the 90s, so most of what I wore to dance recitals has long been discontinued, but now I wear a few shades of Revlon lipstick that were popular then-Wild Orchid, Black Cherry, and Wine with Everything (I chose the pearl finish on Wine).
Definitely the banana shampoo and conditioner from Body Shop, and Calvin Klein’s Obsession or Eternity, the smell of both take me right back to highschool!
The mid-90’s would have been when I started wearing makeup. I wore a lot of Clinique. I remember the even better foundation and lipsticks in the silver swirly tube. I wore Bamboo pink which I feel like came in every GWP. I have a memory of something with “spice” in it as well. Otherwise Maybelline Great Lash and some brown liner. I don’t think I wore eye shadow or blush until later.
Skin care wise I was on various Rx for acne but I remember using Purpose face wash. St. Ives apricot scrub and the mint julep mud mask (can’t remember the brand) were also favorites.
Take me back to the 90’s for a day! 🙂
Ah, the 90’s. I started my obsession with Bobbi Brown Essentials. I loved her moisturizer, stick foundation, bronzing powder, eye shadows, lipsticks, you name it.
I also loved her namesake fragrance when it came out. I also loved Ralph Lauren.
be well.
The 90s! I was in hs and college as well and had limited funds, so I was choosy with the few beauty products I used. I always had a red lipstick (my very first tube was a Chanel from my older sister but I remember using Shiseido mostly), Prescriptives Camouflage concealer and their Calyx fragrance, and a Shiseido powder in the bright blue compact. I also remember using a lot of dark nail polishes from Wet n Wild and Hard Candy. My style icon was Miki Berenyi of Lush sans the cherry red hair!
I’m a little younger than you so my beauty budget in the 90s was super limited. I remember saving all of my allowance for MAC Spice lip liner, Clinique Black Honey lipstick and Hard Candy nail polishes. I recently tried Black Honey again and it did not look good on me. Maybe the formula changed? Or maybe it just wasn’t for me.
Okay, so you look amazing in this pic! Definitely making me miss the 90s. Makes me think of my days circa 1995 when I worked at a Prescriptives counter (what a fun job) and got all of the chocolate/dark plummy lipsticks and calyx fragrance in gratis. Love those days!
Yes, the brown lipsticks! I still love to wear them when I need a break from my usual red.
And the Body Butters from The Body Shop, I loved them too, but nowadays wouldn’t purchase them anymore.