13 Beauty Pros on the Products That Make Them the Most Nostalgic

Women in the beauty industry tell us about the products that send them back in time the most.

Amanda Bell

Pixi Beauty global colour ambassador

“As a child in the ’70s, I used to watch old black-and-white films and flip through Vogue with my incredibly beautiful neighbour, a woman who bought clothes in Paris and tasty morsels from Harrods. I would sit at her dressing table and admire her lotions and potions, but none was more beautiful and evocative than her signature scent Guerlain Shalimar. To this day, when I smell it, it reminds me of her and the many happy hours I spent in her company.”

Wendy Iles

Hairstylist and founder of Iles Formula

“I used to use Benefit Benetint about 30 years ago. I cannot even remember why I stopped using it. It was an essence of red rose petals—a liquid I used to rub across my cheeks with my fingers and stain my lips with. It gave me the freshest look, as if I’d been outside for a healthy walk.”

Veronica Chu

Makeup artist and CoverGirl makeup pro

“When I saw my mom curl her lashes for the first time, my mind was blown! Watching her go from straight to perfectly curled lashes, I literally thought she was a magician. To this day, I curl my lashes every morning and think of her.”

Sabrina Rinaldi

Editorial makeup and hair artist

“Although I was a kid in the ’80s, my older cousins were teenagers with acne, and Sea Breeze astringent promised to leave skin clear and fresh so it was THE product! I obviously looked up to them, so that, plus the fresh smell and cool tingle it left on your face, meant it was a product I wanted to use even though I was, like, seven years old.”

Madeline Poole

Global colour ambassador for Sally Hansen

“I remember putting on watermelon Lip Smackers lipgloss incessantly, particularly at the movies and around the time I had my first kiss. And I also vividly remember my hair getting stuck to my lips from the stickiness of it. At that time, there was no such thing as too much lipgloss.”

Rita Remark

Global lead educator for Essie

“To this day, Ralph Ralph Lauren perfume, with its distinctive zesty sweetness, still has the ability to bring me back to grade-school dances—wearing skater shoes and butterfly clips and wishing my new perfume would get my crush to ask me to dance to the latest K-Ci & JoJo jam.”

Ellis Faas

Makeup Artist and founder of Ellis Faas

“Up until the 1960s, my grandparents had a big beauty and hair salon in Amsterdam. They were the sole retailer for Guerlain in our country, so the very first memories I have of cosmetics were these luxuriously packaged lipsticks that had this heavy, old-fashioned smell and were so pigmented they would stay on forever. My grandparents also developed a massage and facial cream that they called Crème Faas. So having my own brand now probably means that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

Grace Lee

Makeup artist and lead artist for Maybelline New York

“Seeing images of Maybelline Kissing Potion instantly brings me back to my childhood and how much I loved collecting them. I can almost smell them, and the rollerball tip brings back memories of playing with them on my lips and fingers. It was a unique texture and smell that I will never forget.”

Janet Jackson

Celebrity hairstylist and owner of JouJou Hair Studio

“I’ve always seen my mom using Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula Body Lotion, and now I can’t live without it. I use it all over my body. I used it during both of my pregnancies—it’s great for stretch marks.”

Simone Otis

Editorial makeup artist

“My grandmother used to wear Robert Piguet Fracas perfume, as did my mother. Now I do, and I’ve given a bottle to my daughter. It’s a scent I find comforting and familiar and reminds me of all of them.”

Marilisa

Hairstylist and artistic director for Marc Anthony

“My mother used Roberts Borotalco, a softly scented talcum powder. Fresh from the shower, she would use it on herself; it became my first imprint of what a woman should smell like. We used to steal it and toss it all over ourselves while playing dress-up.”

Jen Atkin

Celebrity hairstylist and creator of Ouai Haircare

“I begged my mom for a red lip from the age of five. Remember Sade’s ‘Smooth Operator’ video? I fell in love with her and still love her to this day. That was my biggest ‘Oh my God!’ moment. Sade’s red lip was like a Revlon red, and my mom would let me wear it for special occasions.”

Tiffany Masterson

Founder of Drunk Elephant

“That would have to be two perfumes, because I had two grandmothers. Shalimar and Norell will both have a place in my heart forever. And Erno Laszlo toner, with the sediment on the bottom, reminds me of my mom!”