Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Adventures in Beautyland: The Lipstick That Started It All

    Somewhere between this nursery school Halloween photo and this first grade photo, I fell in love with lipstick.

    I think the first lipstick I ever owned came with a perfume which sadly spilled all over "Bear" the larger-than-me polar bear my Mom had made from a McCalls pattern for Christmas. I think I received Bear, and the cosmetics set, while in kindergarten, when I was still too young to name stuffed animals with monikers more clever than "Bear".

    Over the holiday break I was at my Mom's, going through old glassware and school items, searching for my Indian headdress that said, "Little Black Gorilla" from nursery school.


    Lucky for us, we found it. But even better, I found my first lipstick.


    It was by a company fittingly called Princess Play Cosmetics and doesn't appear to have a real name that relates to the color. The lipstick still works. And it still packs a lot of color payoff. Also very fittingly, Kat Von D has the same color in her current collection and it is named Underage Red. I kid you not. My first lipstick was Hooker Red.


    Why did the Princess Play Cosmetics company sell Hooker Red to tykes? And why did I like it so much that my Mom thought to save it for 32 years?


    I suppose I loved it because even at that young age, I realized its power to transform your appearance into something more glamorous, exotic or exciting. Even if it only made you feel that way while going to the grocery store.

    While I still love lipgloss, I am moving on to the less sticky and longer lasting lipstick. Somehow, I have managed to overlook almost any lipstick that has made its debut in the last several years. As for this particular Princess Red, I don't think it fits me very well today. However, maybe I will frame it and give it its due. After all, it is the lipstick that started it all. For me, anyway.

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