This is a story...

...about a girl who spent almost every Saturday of her teenage years in Superdrug and Boots stroking eyeshadows, swatching lipsticks and sniffing anything that had a scent. This girl was an advertiser's dream, eager and willing to believe the promises of a happier, radiant and more beautiful life that came with purchasing anything from a shampoo to a lipgloss. She wanted all of it. Everything that was on the shelves and beyond the shelves, everything in the magazines and on the TV. If only she had that lipstick that she always saw in Just Seventeen, then she too would suddenly be as gorgeous, glowing and grown-up as the impossibly beautiful teen model; the one who obviously had the perfect handsome teen boyfriend who would take her out to dinner (not to McDonalds, but a to "real" restaurant, like Pizza Hut) and then to the cinema to see Return to the Blue Lagoon. She hankered after a clear, peachy complexion as promised by Clearasil and Aapri, she craved the silky straight hair promised by Salon Selectives and Vidal Sassoon, she desired long, elegant,  almond shaped nails promised by every nail polish advert she laid her eyes on....

Just Seventeen, June 1991 (That's 20 years ago folks!!!)

So.... fast forward 20 years, and obviously the girl is me and while all the above is true, please forgive the somewhat melodramatic and lyrical intro! Indulge me a little! It's been a long time coming that I write about my passion for all things beauty, and indeed, all beautiful things. I've been itching to re-live my past via a journey into retro-beauty land, and to perhaps re-awaken a little of this nostalgia in others.

I can map my way through my life so far using perfumes, lipsticks, soaps, shampoos.... etc. They are my milestones, anchoring memories firmly in my mind with their scents, textures and colours. Products that I use now on a daily basis are becoming part of my history as I write this, and in 2, 5, 10 years time they will evoke this particular era in my life. Of course, I'm always looking for ways to add to the memories, so to speak, hence nurturing the continuous desire for the new and innovative and the old but untested.... that's a long-winded way for me to say I'm still shopping a lot!