nostalgic trip into my 12 year old bathroom

I was at the drugstore the other day, and came across something I had blanked out of my mind.


Teen Spirit ACTUALLY existed and it's somehow still being mass produced! I think this blew my mind. Now, it's odd that I had shelved this in some dark cavernous part of my brain because this deodorant inspired a classic grunge hit. I should KNOW THIS. But for some reason, I kind of thought it was all a weird pre-pube dream I had from back in the day. No. They really made this shit, and I bought a truck load of it. Not only was there the deodorant, there was also the shampoo and conditioner. Which probably competed in my shower stall with:


Salon Selectives. Every girl I knew in middle school would strut down the hall, swinging her apple scented hair thanks to this product. I really loved it. I don't think it's on the market anymore which is too bad.

Also, seemingly on the way out is Jane cosmetics.

When Jane first came out, I was totally obsessed. I blame Seventeen magazine and their huge marketing campaign for the new brand. It was cheap. It came in cute packaging. They had little mini lipsticks to try out for only $1, and I could fill my caboodle with them.(Let's not even start on Caboodles. I had like 6 of them.) I actually still used Jane powder and eyeshadow up until about a month ago, when I realized I just couldn't find it anymore. It's a shame. I feel like my youth is dying.

How is Jane dying, and Bonne Bell still huge?

Almost every girl I know had a load of lip smackers in her backup. This seemed to be a great "first makeup" along with clear mascara. Thanks mom. Maybe if I layer on enough Dr. Pepper, it'll actually make me look like I'm wearing some. Or that I have fruit punch mouth. It just inspired me to steal her aqua eyeliner and color my whole eyelid with it. Oh well. Bonne Bell is still around, and every once in a while, I'm suckered into buying some sort of smelly gooey lip gloss thing. The vanilla is especially yummy and tastes like frosting.

And everyone also wore this? Right?

Another long lasting trend, Baby Soft came out in the 70's and became the classic "go to" girl perfume. I definitely wore this in the 80's, probably dousing myself in entire bottles. I wonder if they still make it? I'd love to get my hand on a bottle and see if it still smells as nice as I remember.

And lastly, the dreaded Sun-In.

Tempting mousy haired brunettes into thinking we would have gorgeous blond waves if we just sprayed a little of this chemical in our hair and sat out in the sun for a few hours with a Christopher Pike book. The result was horrifying. I spent most of my teen years with a brassy orange mop on my head thanks to Sun-In. My mom was dead set against me coloring my hair, but somehow I thought sneaking Sun-In wouldn't be noticeable. As soon as I graduated high school, I spent a good chunk of graduation money on professional highlights. And you know what? Now I'm just back to plain brown, and I kinda like it.