Beauty Products You'll Only Remember if You Grew Up in the 80s

By Mary Shannon Wells

If you were blessed to grow up in the 1980s, you witnessed some of the best (and let’s be honest, worst) beauty and fashion moments in history. The fragrances were strong, the lipstick was bright, and the hair was big. For a little trip down memory lane, we’ve rounded up some of the best beauty products the 80s delivered. Break out that Caboodle for stashing your favorite Bonne Bell Lip Smackers flavor. These vintage beauty products will hit home, whether yours was stocked with Pantene, Finesse, Flex, or Salon Selectives. No 80s style would be complete without a helping of hairspray, and Aqua Net and Rave were, well, all the rave. These items bring us back in time, and we're happy to take that stroll. 

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Here Are Some Of Our Favorites:

Get out the hairspray, honey.

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Maybelline Kissing Potion

Pinterest/The Toast

Would Maybelline’s flavored roll-on glosses entice your biggest crush to kiss you after school? Probably not, but this lip gloss was popular enough to make you think so.

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Lauren by Ralph Lauren

Pinterest/Tumblr/Retro Advertising

Lauren was Ralph Lauren’s first fragrance for women, and its popularity spurred the creation of modern scent favorites like Romance by Ralph Lauren. 

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Love's Baby Soft

Pinterest

There wasn’t a tween or teen in sight that didn’t smell like Love’s Baby Soft in the 80s.

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St. Ive's Apricot Scrub

Pinterest/Fashionista

If you weren’t viciously scrubbing your face with St. Ive’s Apricot Scrub to achieve perfect skin, what were you doing? Probably using the equally aggressive Sea Breeze Astringent or Noxzema the Original Deep Cleansing Cream, of course.

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L’Oreal’s Studio Line

Pinterest/Like Totally 80s

Regardless what type of hair you had, you were using L’Oreal’s Stu-stu-stu Studio Line. We know you remember those commercials.

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Crimping Irons

Pinterest/Ebay

If you weren’t curling your hair or getting perms, you were crimping. We’re unsure why the crimped look was ever in style, but worse things have happened in hair history.

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Clairol Hot Rollers

Pinterest

Despite the leaps and bounds that have been made in hair-care, some women (talking to you, Mama) still can’t let their hot rollers go. An honorable mention goes out to Clairol Blenders, the brand’s foam rollers that were also extremely popular at the time.

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Aqua Net Hairspray

Pinterest/Beauty Desk

How else were you going to keep that perm in place? Since there couldn’t be just one hairspray on the market, Rave and Aussie were also big sellers. And if you were going for the “scrunchy” look, Aussie Scrunch Spray was your thing.

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Lee Press-On Nails

Pinterest/Blue Maize

Just seconds away from a perfect manicure!

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Caboodles

Pinterest/Caboodles

In 1987, People magazine reported that Vanna White used a tackle box to organize and store her makeup. The Caboodle was released soon after, and the brightly colored organizers are still around today.

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Pantene Hair Care

Pinterest

Pantene’s “Don’t Hate Me Because I’m Beautiful” marketing campaign was enough to put it on the map as a mainstay. Because the 1980s were all about hair, Pantene wasn’t the only hair care company that did well during the decade. Finesse, Flex, Pert, Wella Balsam, and Salon Selectives were stocking up showers everywhere.

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Bonne Bell Lip Smackers

Pinterest/Fashion Trends Daily

The best for last! Admit it—you tried every flavor at least once, but you and all your friends had your signature Lip Smackers flavor. Dr Pepper was a favorite of the time.

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