Back in the Day...

I recently purchased Freeman Peel Off Cucumber Mask at CVS.  If you have been following me on twitter, where I have disappeared to, you know how excited I was for the Nuance BOGO sale.  But to my disappointment, both my area CVS' do not have Nuance skincare or cosmetics in stock, and only one has Nuance hair care. 

So in an effort to use my $5/$25 coupon, I grabbed a few things, one of which being the cucumber mask of my youth.  I used Freeman for years.  All throughout middle school, high school and college.  And for some reason in my mid 20's, I stopped purchasing.  But why?  It is just how I remembered, clean, cool, crisp smell, peels off in one sheet.  Maybe a little gentler, maybe a little less drying... 

Ah but the cucumber peel off mask reminds me of my youth and how simple my routine was back then.  Staples I always had, which was probably a lot back then...  Freeman Cucumber Mask, St. Ives Apricot Scrub, Queen Helene Mint Julep Mask for the occasional blemish as I was lucky enough never to have acne, Clearasil Foaming Face Wash (which my sister still uses!) for the morning, Clearasil Deep Cleansing Pads at night, and Oil of Olay Beauty Fluid, day and night.

Make up routine consisted of "cover up" patted on some translucent powder as I could never find a matching foundation, which I still struggle with today!  After that a curl of the lashes, mascara, liner that I always smudged out and cherry chapstick for a hint of color and shine.  That was it!  I also had a brown eyeshadow quad and a purple eyeshadow quad from Covergirl.  Everything fit in one small (teenie tiny by today's standards) makeup bag.

Today it's makeup remover wipes, face wash, Olay cleansing tool at night, Clean and Clear Morning Surge power cleanser in the morning, and then tonor, followed by serum, moisturizer, and eye cream, separate products for day and night.  Same tonor...  Then on to primer, BB cream, setting powder, blush, bronzer to contour, highlighter, lip primer or stain, gloss, sometimes a sheer lipstick, liner, mascara, eyelid primer, 3-4 different colored eyeshadows, on top of a cream eyeshadow base...all in several different colors and brands, indie, drugstore and high end.

Ugh, I think I would like to go back to my old routine... or do I?  Getting ready in the morning is truly the only moment I get to myself.  Most days it is 30 minutes of un-interrupted me time if I get up early enough while my family sleeps!  And I'm not limited to browns and purples.

It's a beautiful thing for sure...