Last weekend, I was doing some major decluttering of my makeup collection. Expired mascaras, wonky lipsticks, old eyeliners went to the bin without even a bat of an eyelash. Soon, it was time to check my eyeshadow palettes. What’s to be given away, what’s to be chucked, I wonder?
Then I stumbled upon this.
It’s an old Dior quint eyeshadow palette that I haven’t used in a very long time. This was actually the very first high-end makeup that I purchased.
When I started working years ago, I would spend most of my pay on books and the latest electronic gadgets. I was the first in my family to get a digital camera (with some help from Dad of course; an intern’s pay was shithouse as you can imagine). I changed mobile phones every year (quite unheard of almost 10 years ago). I had iPods, cameras, MP3 players, etc. I call it my decadent (i.e. silly and spendthrift) 20s. But the last thing I’d spend a lot of money on was makeup.
My makeup then consisted of a tiny set of plastic drawers that was hardly even full. I used drugstore makeup from Silkygirl, Maybelline and Revlon. The most expensive item I had in there was a MAC foundation that I actually repurchased. The thought of paying over RM100 (approximately AU$33 now) for makeup at that time was out of the question. Dior? Chanel? Sorry love, I’d rather use the money on books or save them towards another electronic equipment. Nerd. 😛
My mindset changed when I came to Australia. LeGeeque probably doesn’t know this (well, she does now!), but she was the one who got me into trying out Dior. I told her about the cheapie makeup I use and she suggested I try out an eyeshadow palette by Dior. I decided to bite the bullet and get this eyeshadow palette from Strawberrynet. It’s a beautiful palette and is something I’m proud of because I finally owned something from the luxury brand that is Dior.
As for skincare, I did purchase a lipbalm from Kanebo once, many years ago. It cost me almost RM300 (approximately AU$90+ today. A lot more back then). It was a spur of the moment purchase and I was talked into it by the sales assistant at Kanebo. It was a really good lip balm, mind you, but again, in hindsight, it was a crazy amount of money to splash on a freakin’ lip balm. It doesn’t last very long so a couple of years later, into the bin it went.
Needless to say, I didn’t end up chucking that Dior palette. I’m probably not going to use it any more because it’s now at least 6 years old but hey, it’s part of my makeup history and that shouldn’t belong in the bin.
I’m actually struggling to remember this. I’m guessing it could have been a Dior quint when I first started work in Malaysia? I was very fortunate because rental of an apartment was low in Penang. I didn’t have to pay for a car I was zipping around in and I started off with relatively high pay because I, errr, negotiated the hell out of it 😛 (I’m quite a beesh when it comes to salary negotiation) So, my pennies were spent on: makeup, weekly indulgences at Starbucks, Borders, petrol & toll driving back to Ipoh and electricity bills. Dear gawd, I must have my AC all the time so I paid a lot for electricity 😛 I did indulge in tech gadgets but I didn’t see a need to change them unless they died. So, in a way I was extremely fortunate to be able to indulge in high end makeup.
WAIT! WAIT! I RETRACT ALL THAT! Must have been 18! I had horrible acne then and I plunged head-in into the world of Dermalogica. 😀 Mum paid for it all though 😛
I went a bit nuts with tech gadgets. When I came back from Japan for good, first thing I got was a flippy phone ‘cos it was all the rage in Japan. 😛 Not to mention the number of digital cameras I got, MP3 players, DVD players, etc. Truly am my father’s daughter ‘cos he’s a tech gadget freak too. Hence my lust for the Google Glass now! Damn, now I want my 52 Week Money Challenge money to go to that instead of a bag. 😛
My first ever high end product I would think would be the Tom Ford lipstick. OMG it was like a match made in heaven…which reminds me I have to start using that one again. No point buying only to wear it a few times. :p
Norlin recently posted..Fashion Day: What I Wore For My Teaching Rounds
Wahhh Tom Ford! So luxe 😀
Hey, that’s still a pretty palette! Love those shades. Honestly, I can’t even remember. And I’m not sure what counts as high-end. I guess it would be a red lipstick that I bought years ago from Chanel. I thought it was so sophisticated, but then I realized I hated the scent and almost never wore it. 😀
Allison recently posted..Tarte CC Matte Be Mattenificent Shadow Palette
Hehehe it’s still a Chanel. Will always be sophisticated. 😉
Lovely palette but it doesn’t look like to used it much 😉 . My first high end product, apart from some Clinique products that I was talked into buying and didn’t impress me much, I’d say was a foundation by Estée Lauder. Lovely product but sadly discountinued. It is just as well because with the addition of 2 kids, my wallet doesn’t stretch to high end products anymore!!
Haha don’t worry about it; there are heaps of great drugstore products. Don’t need high end ones. Now if only I’d listen to what I preach too. Tsk tsk. 😛
Gosh good question – I can’t remember 😛 I believe it’s a Dior Addict lipstick actually. They used to hold warehouse sales and I’d snap up loads of Dior makeup! How else is a struggling wage earner fresh out of uni supposed to buy good, high end makeup I ask you? 😛
Paris B recently posted..Clarisonic Aria: The newest Clarisonic Sonic Facial Cleansing Device on the block
Aww man, you guys had (and still have) warehouse sales! Can’t get those in Penang so everything had to be in retail prices. No wonder I never bothered getting any back then. Mata terbeliak tengok full price of a Dior lipstick. Kekeke!
Clinique’s Almost Lipstick in Black Honey.
I can remember it clearly as it wasn’t that long ago, Dec 2012.
This was my first ever high-end splurge as I had just started working full-time, fresh out of college 🙂
I still own and use it, and its almost done. I intend to repurchase it as I love the shade and its quite sentimental for me (since its the first high-end item I ever bought)
Ooooh that lipstick’s awesome! It’s actually also my first high-end lipstick (wore it in my teens) but I didn’t buy it; it was a hand-me-down from mum’s gift with purchase packs. 😛
i think the most expensive makeup i ever purchase was either the Laduree Rose Petals, or the Guerlain Rouge G. I can’t remember which came first, but sad to say I am not using the rose petals as much as I should for the fear of losing them ><
xin recently posted..NOTD: Bones and Paws
Haha I’ve only used the petal blush twice. Bloody expensive (so crazy expensive for a blush, right?) indeed. I sold my container to a friend who really wanted it because it was taking up space. Now, the petals are in its cheapo plastic case. Sigh.
eh no…think it was a Chanel liquid lipstick…!!!!
xin recently posted..NOTD: Bones and Paws
This is such a lovely post because I had to jog my memory to remember. LOL. My first high-end beauty product was a starter pack skincare from Clarins consisting of cleanser, toner and moisturiser. I bought it when I first started working in my 20s and I can still remember how starry eye I got using something from a departmental store brand. Hahaha. I used this for 1-2 years and eventually switched to SKII (not the whole range though). I had to go back to drugstore brands later as my then meager salary could not afford the rise in product cost. Hahaha.
Aww thanks for sharing Victoria. I know exactly what you mean because the day I purchased a beauty product from a departmental store and not Guardian or Watsons was the day that I thought “finally. No more Biore.” 😛
I had a hard time remembering this, but it has to be at least 8-9 years ago, I bought a full face set of makeup from Merle Norman, I still have the blush, eye shadow quad and actually the eyeliner pencil!
Wow 9 years ago and you still have the makeup! That’s awesome. 😀
it was a dior lipstick tine..and your pictures are always so superb
Aww thanks Anusha! x
My first was a YSL lipstick. Still have it. It’s not fantastic but I can’t bear to part with it, because of the gorgeous gold packaging.
Chelsea recently posted..Schwarzkopf Professional partners with Jamie Ashkar at MBFWA
Omg I know what you mean! I still have a Dior lipstick that has the classic blue hexagonal packaging with the words Christian Dior on it (not just Dior). The lipstick probably smells awful now but I just can’t bear to chuck it.
For me it was Shu Uemura blush. I had no idea how I ended up buying it but for sure I loved it and I actually finished it up.
That’s fantastic when you finish an entire blush up! Yikes it’s been a very long time since I hit pan on a blush. >.<
I don’t remember the very first one I bought… I think it might have been Shiseido’s toner, since I was friends with the lady at the counter. Her name was Linda, and she was so, so very pretty. Lucy Liu-level of gorgeous, even without makeup. She turned me on to using a lot of colours that I wasn’t used to, and I drew out some palettes that she hadn’t used. ^_^ I recall that I also bought my first high-end lipstick from her- the beautiful Cabernet red from Prescriptives, which was discontinued a year later. The whole Prescriptives line! It’s still the red that stays most true on my skin, where others turn brown, orange, or neon pink. x.x This is a bold, fire engine red, with a wine-like stain underneath. I still have just a little bit left in the tube that I bring out for special occasions. I have “cheap” reds for other days!
BebeTaian recently posted..Vintage Beaded Haori Himo for Kimono Kitsuke – Faux Coral Gold Beads KimonoHIME by BebeTaian
Aww thanks for sharing your story! Lucy Liu gorgeous must be one heck of a gorgeous indeed! 😀