I stopped using StudioFix C3 after probably ten years when I realized how chalky and fake it made my complexion in my 30s. I still see it around in TV studios because nothing works better for completely blocking any underlying tint or complexion flaws on camera! 😄
I wore green and/or blue Hard Candy polish on my toes because our school’s dress code didn’t allow noticeable nail polish. No one can see my toes. Well, unless you’re in swimming, but gym teachers pretend to ignore it.
Was raised in 10.0.6 and might as well have used acetone on my face- my mother convinced me to use it but she could never convince me to adopt Jean Nate!
OMG please find us, Dineh. I really could have written 3k words just on Hard Candy and all the related nonsense. Dineh is helping Halsey with About Face (or she used to) I think
MAC used to be my makeup of choice, so it's interesting and a bit sad to see it flounder. (I also kind of forgot it existed, which might be telling? :/) Also, that's the first I'm hearing of the War of the Roses remake--with that casting, I am *so* in.
Yeah I wonder why we all stopped using it? I mean Lipglass is just Too Much, and MAC is known for its pigmented colors and I’m sort of a gentle neutral wash of color kind of lady these days
Yeah I don’t know… like maybe it didn’t grow with how we evolved, but then didn’t connect with the people who wanted the party colors when we didn’t need them anymore? Chestnut color is evergreen but I haven’t used a lipliner in decades
Me too! It was probably the first line that had colors that worked for me and the lip and eye products seemed so innovative. Sad. Omg right?! Olivia will be so good and the supporting cast sounds fun too!
In my memories, MAC was the first cosmetics brand marketed to people of color; it was always recommended to me for this reason. I wonder if the fact that several other inclusive lines like Fenty Beauty exists diminished MAC in the marketplace.
That is a good point. I’m trying to think of what brands I liked before Fenty… probably Stila and Nars which had wider ranges of colors but their products didn’t feel as innovative as MAC in the ‘90s and early aughts.
This is true and a great point - MAC was and still is very inclusive but they couldn’t compete with Rihanna’s star power at the time. (Fenty is also really good) And MAC was fantastic at doing the trendy stuff, but there are too many brands competing now that are cheaper
Has anyone noticed that in The White Lotus, Carrie Coon wears a pastel lilac that we probably never would have if it wasn’t for Hard Candy! But she also said on the official podcast that Laurie, as the odd one out, would always have an element that’s “wrong” and the nail color is one of them.
Where to start with all the nostalgia?!!! 😭 The SUN-IN bottle from the 80s I remember in UK was hot orange, white spray lid, never did anything than turn my mid brown curls a burnished copper, while I tin-foiled and carrot-oiled in the back garden, oh dear... and BONNE BELL!! I just remember the ads in Seventeen, but we had Bonne Bell rollerball lip glosses!!!! I Amazing to read this deep dive as an English Gen Xer!! Also, the Neneh memoir, Fawnia 🙌 and the DKNY TEES!!! (You know I clicked the link-wish I'd kept my promo tee from when the first store opened on Bond Street, ended up as a PJ tee, why?!!! 😭) Cheryl, can you do a summer edition on Coppertone, the early self-tanners, sun oils from the 80s... did you guys get Bergasol? XXXX
I resisted!! And you had a body—the DKNY icon!! But so many memories of back-in-the-day… have you tracked down Cashmere Mist there to try yet? I’m in London this week, so I’m going to see if it’s in Selfridges! Happy weekend!!! 💖
Not yet but hope you have some successful shopping! I’ll ask you for some tips soon. I might be making that up and I had a ‘90s dupe. My memory is so bad now!!
The OG Stila and OG Urban Decay product design and products themselves still thrill me to this day. So iconic! I remember begging my mom for the pastel Hard Candy dupe nail polishes Delia’s sold.
Sun-In!!!! I'm triggered! It did not have the same effect on me (brunette) as it did on my beautiful blonde friends! 🤣🤣🤣 I started high school with a hair color not found in nature. And my mom made us get family pictures that same week. I will never live it down!
I used to steal the rings off the Hard Candy bottles at Sephora so people would think I had enough money to have as many Hard Candy colors as they did. The complicated machinations of a 12-year-old financial aid kid at a private school.l :(
Yeah i found old articles about how expensive they were. Like $18 in 1997 or something. Aw I’m sorry for 12 yo you - middle school can be a diabolical time
At least that You Were a Beautiful Baby commercial gets to the root of why blonde hair is considered desirable, it’s literally the hair color of many a white baby.
MAC makes good lipstick. If I am going to spend $$ on a lipstick, I’ll likely end up at the MAC counter in my local Ulta. I have searched in vain for that perfect non-drying, red, stain lipstick, and the closest I’ve ever come was via a regular MAC lipstick.
A+ reporting here, Cheryl! I recently found a few original bottles of Hard Candy in my nail polish drawer—think I could sell them on eBay? 😉 Also, Bonne Bell Kissing Potion in Va-Va-Vanilla was my secret weapon well into college!
Thank you! Wow which HC colors do you have?? Oh the whole Kissing Potion universe was supposed to be in this post but it was already too long so I’ll do that one another time. So many kissing products
OMG, I forgot about 10-0-Six!! The burn - how you know it’s working! I admit I am still a MAC girl, especially the eyeshadow. My first eyeshadows were Bonne Bell!
Thanks as always for the excellent article, Cheryl and Fawnia!💕
I worked for a retailer when Hard Candy launched and a department manager got into 'trouble' because she wore the polish, because it might have been 'fashionable', but it wasn't 'professional'. I believe she threatened to go to Corporate HR and they backed off.
My brother was a natural blonde but my mother put Sun In on him anyway during the summer "to keep it that way".
I was a 10-0-6 girl, and found some Bonne Bell products at Ulta a few years ago, bought the clay face mask to use occasionally between my teens and myself.
I know Bliss had been at Target for a few years, but haven't looked recently.
I stopped using StudioFix C3 after probably ten years when I realized how chalky and fake it made my complexion in my 30s. I still see it around in TV studios because nothing works better for completely blocking any underlying tint or complexion flaws on camera! 😄
I wore green and/or blue Hard Candy polish on my toes because our school’s dress code didn’t allow noticeable nail polish. No one can see my toes. Well, unless you’re in swimming, but gym teachers pretend to ignore it.
Gym teachers for the win
Was raised in 10.0.6 and might as well have used acetone on my face- my mother convinced me to use it but she could never convince me to adopt Jean Nate!
Gonna need Dineh to pop in here and tell us some stories 🤣
OMG please find us, Dineh. I really could have written 3k words just on Hard Candy and all the related nonsense. Dineh is helping Halsey with About Face (or she used to) I think
Woah this took me back. I was obsessed with Bliss and Mac in the 90s!
MAC in the ‘90s was a game changer!
MAC used to be my makeup of choice, so it's interesting and a bit sad to see it flounder. (I also kind of forgot it existed, which might be telling? :/) Also, that's the first I'm hearing of the War of the Roses remake--with that casting, I am *so* in.
Yeah I wonder why we all stopped using it? I mean Lipglass is just Too Much, and MAC is known for its pigmented colors and I’m sort of a gentle neutral wash of color kind of lady these days
Yeah I don’t know… like maybe it didn’t grow with how we evolved, but then didn’t connect with the people who wanted the party colors when we didn’t need them anymore? Chestnut color is evergreen but I haven’t used a lipliner in decades
Me too! It was probably the first line that had colors that worked for me and the lip and eye products seemed so innovative. Sad. Omg right?! Olivia will be so good and the supporting cast sounds fun too!
In my memories, MAC was the first cosmetics brand marketed to people of color; it was always recommended to me for this reason. I wonder if the fact that several other inclusive lines like Fenty Beauty exists diminished MAC in the marketplace.
That is a good point. I’m trying to think of what brands I liked before Fenty… probably Stila and Nars which had wider ranges of colors but their products didn’t feel as innovative as MAC in the ‘90s and early aughts.
This is true and a great point - MAC was and still is very inclusive but they couldn’t compete with Rihanna’s star power at the time. (Fenty is also really good) And MAC was fantastic at doing the trendy stuff, but there are too many brands competing now that are cheaper
Has anyone noticed that in The White Lotus, Carrie Coon wears a pastel lilac that we probably never would have if it wasn’t for Hard Candy! But she also said on the official podcast that Laurie, as the odd one out, would always have an element that’s “wrong” and the nail color is one of them.
Where to start with all the nostalgia?!!! 😭 The SUN-IN bottle from the 80s I remember in UK was hot orange, white spray lid, never did anything than turn my mid brown curls a burnished copper, while I tin-foiled and carrot-oiled in the back garden, oh dear... and BONNE BELL!! I just remember the ads in Seventeen, but we had Bonne Bell rollerball lip glosses!!!! I Amazing to read this deep dive as an English Gen Xer!! Also, the Neneh memoir, Fawnia 🙌 and the DKNY TEES!!! (You know I clicked the link-wish I'd kept my promo tee from when the first store opened on Bond Street, ended up as a PJ tee, why?!!! 😭) Cheryl, can you do a summer edition on Coppertone, the early self-tanners, sun oils from the 80s... did you guys get Bergasol? XXXX
I don’t know what bergasol is but wow yes a summer edition is a great idea! And I really need to discuss kissing glosses very soon in a future post
🙌!! Would love!!! 🌞 (What is it about sun cream, specifically, that has such strong scent memories, too?!!)
Omg yes. I always say sunscreen “smells like vacation” (coconut)
Did you buy any vintage DKNY? I feel like I had a bodysuit. Ah memories!!
I resisted!! And you had a body—the DKNY icon!! But so many memories of back-in-the-day… have you tracked down Cashmere Mist there to try yet? I’m in London this week, so I’m going to see if it’s in Selfridges! Happy weekend!!! 💖
Not yet but hope you have some successful shopping! I’ll ask you for some tips soon. I might be making that up and I had a ‘90s dupe. My memory is so bad now!!
Dupes count!! 🙌🙌😄 We definitely need to talk London soon! 🛍️ 🇬🇧 ❤️
The OG Stila and OG Urban Decay product design and products themselves still thrill me to this day. So iconic! I remember begging my mom for the pastel Hard Candy dupe nail polishes Delia’s sold.
Yessss and Stila is actually staging a mini comeback at the moment too. I am worried about UD though!
Oooh we shall see!
Sun-In!!!! I'm triggered! It did not have the same effect on me (brunette) as it did on my beautiful blonde friends! 🤣🤣🤣 I started high school with a hair color not found in nature. And my mom made us get family pictures that same week. I will never live it down!
You are not alone in this unfortunate photo timing. Sun-in lied to us all!!!!!!
I used to steal the rings off the Hard Candy bottles at Sephora so people would think I had enough money to have as many Hard Candy colors as they did. The complicated machinations of a 12-year-old financial aid kid at a private school.l :(
Yeah i found old articles about how expensive they were. Like $18 in 1997 or something. Aw I’m sorry for 12 yo you - middle school can be a diabolical time
I mean that’s clever! I was just saying to someone that I remember the polishes being expensive, too, especially as a student.
At least that You Were a Beautiful Baby commercial gets to the root of why blonde hair is considered desirable, it’s literally the hair color of many a white baby.
MAC makes good lipstick. If I am going to spend $$ on a lipstick, I’ll likely end up at the MAC counter in my local Ulta. I have searched in vain for that perfect non-drying, red, stain lipstick, and the closest I’ve ever come was via a regular MAC lipstick.
It’s true!
A+ reporting here, Cheryl! I recently found a few original bottles of Hard Candy in my nail polish drawer—think I could sell them on eBay? 😉 Also, Bonne Bell Kissing Potion in Va-Va-Vanilla was my secret weapon well into college!
Thank you! Wow which HC colors do you have?? Oh the whole Kissing Potion universe was supposed to be in this post but it was already too long so I’ll do that one another time. So many kissing products
OMG, I forgot about 10-0-Six!! The burn - how you know it’s working! I admit I am still a MAC girl, especially the eyeshadow. My first eyeshadows were Bonne Bell!
Thanks as always for the excellent article, Cheryl and Fawnia!💕
The burnnnnnnnnn. And MAC’s quality is good! They just can’t be everything to everyone anymore because there are just too many brands
I worked for a retailer when Hard Candy launched and a department manager got into 'trouble' because she wore the polish, because it might have been 'fashionable', but it wasn't 'professional'. I believe she threatened to go to Corporate HR and they backed off.
My brother was a natural blonde but my mother put Sun In on him anyway during the summer "to keep it that way".
I was a 10-0-6 girl, and found some Bonne Bell products at Ulta a few years ago, bought the clay face mask to use occasionally between my teens and myself.
I know Bliss had been at Target for a few years, but haven't looked recently.
I saw Lipsmackers at a drugstore recently! I think they’re owned by different people now.