Throwback Thursday with Cosmedicine

Who remembers the skincare line called "Cosmedicine"?

Cosmedicine was a brand that was introduced in 2006 (I think), and was supposed to be a Sephora exclusive brand for at least five years after it debuted.  Unfortunately, I don't think the brand lasted that long.  At least, not as a Sephora exclusive.  I remember seeing it in Meijers (a grocery store chain here in the midwest) a few years later.  The brand is now defunct, as far as I can tell.

Throwback Thursday With Too Faced

Does anyone remember the Too Faced Couture Eye Shadow Luxe eyeshadows?

They had adorable packaging, and I remember the formula being pretty fantastic across the board.

The shape of the compact kind of reminds me of a meringue pie or cookie.

Socialite is a super pigmented deep sparkly shimmery copper.  Gorgeous.  It has quite a bit of sparkle, which produces a certain amount fallout.

It looks like I haven't made a dent in this from the angle of the photo.

I think I acquired this shadow in 2005 or 2006.  I'm not sure when they were discontinued.   Possibly 2010 or 2011.

Throwback Thursday With NARS

NARS used to have liquid eyeliners in nail polish-type bottles.  I believe they were introduced around 2001.  The three that I own probably date from 2005.  I'm not sure when they discontinued this type of packaging.

The shades I have are Neverland, Showgirl, and Silkwood.

There weren't any brushes included with these, so you had to supply your own.

Here are some swatches I did using q-tips.

from left: Neverland, Showgirl, Silkwood

The colors are pretty awesome, aren't they?  I think I used these once or twice and I kind of remember not being very good at applying them.  I'm now afraid to use them because they are so old.  I think they are destined for the trash.

I received these as gratis when I was working at Sephora years and years ago.

Throwback Thursday with LORAC

Does anyone remember the LORAC Cheek Stamps (c. 2008)?

The packaging for these is rather neat, with the pressed powder blush housed in the bottom of the jar, and the lid screwing off to reveal a sponge that sits in the blush.

All you had to do to use them is to press or puff the sponge on the cheeks.  It's possible to apply too much blush this way, so sometimes blending with a brush was necessary.  You could also just use a brush to grab some of the blush from the bottom of the pot if you thought using a sponge was too yucky.

The blush is silky and quite pigmented.  There were maybe five shades available.

Pink Paradise is a cool, blue-based, matte pink.  Hibiscus is a warm pink with sparkle.

from left: Pink Paradise, Hibiscus

I really liked these and will still occasionally use them, although with a brush and not the sponge.

Cute and cool, right?

Throwback Thursday with Benefit Kitten

Benefit's Kitten Powder was (and still is) an awesome sparkly/glittery body powder.

There were three of these powders, and each had different colored glitter.  "Kitten" (this one) has gold glitter, "Kitten Goes to Paris" had silver glitter, and "Kitten Shops New York" had copper pink glitter (I had to look up this last one).

It has a huge puff.

Sparkle, sparkle!

I believe these were introduced around 2002, and discontinued in 2010.

I still use mine on special occasions.

Throwback Thursday with RareMinerals

Before BareMinerals had a proper skincare line, they had "RareMinerals."

RareMinerals Skin Revival Treatment was a nighttime treatment for the skin that was meant to be used over all the rest of your skincare.  The weird part?  It's a powder.  It's packaged in a jar with a powder puff on top, and it came in four colors (clear, light, medium, and tan).

I think this was introduced in 2006, and it was discontinued in 2011.  One of the selling points of this "treatment" was that it was made from "Jurassic, virgin soil."  I remember this because RareMinerals was introduced to the market when I was working at Sephora, and we sold it.  In fact, we couldn't keep it in stock the first few months it was out.

This product was marketed to be a nighttime skin treatment, but also a nighttime makeup.  It was marketed for the person who wants to shrink their pores, even out their skintone, and improve their skin; or for the person who was uncomfortable with their significant other seeing their completely bare skin, and wants something to wear to bed; or for the person who is always in a hurry (or running late) in the morning and wants to be able to roll out of bed and have a little coverage on their skin; or for the person who thinks their BareMinerals is "so natural, you can sleep in it."

swatch of Clear

The RareMinerals Skin Revival Treatment was really nothing but a mineral powder.  It seemed gimmicky to me, and seeing how it was discontinued after only 5 years, maybe so did everyone else.  I didn't think it was really a great idea to wear a powder to bed, but I had to try it, of course.  All it did for my skin was dry it out.

Convenient mirror on the top of the lid

I do think this was a pretty unique product.

Do you remember RareMinerals?  Did you ever try it?

Throwback Thursday with Benefit

Who remembers the Benefit Show Offs!?

These are beautiful loose powder pigments.

The packaging for these is pretty terrible.  The tube container thingy is about the same shape and size as a MAC lipgloss.  In other words, not a nice short, squat pot that is appropriate for loose powder pigments, but a tall and narrow shaped tube that has the tendency to tip over and spill the contents everywhere.

I can't find the name of either of these anywhere on the package.  It's possible they had stickers on the bottom of the tube that fell off long ago.  I'm pretty sure I had more of these, but I suspect they were nabbed by my sister.

I haven't been swatching or reviewing any of the "Throwback Thursday" items because many, if not all, are long discontinued, and I didn't think it would be helpful (or fair) for me to do so.  Would you like me to, though?

Throwback Thurday with Estée Lauder

Estée Lauder used to package their Pure Color eyeshadows in little cubes that looked like ice cubes with color in the middle.  They also had a lip lacquer packaged the same way.

The adorable mini eyeshadow must have come from a free gift.

There is even a mirror in the cap.

I love the packaging of these, and I think it was quite unique.  The compacts the shadows come in now are chic and everything, but kind of predictable.

Throwback Thursday with Benefit Lemon Aid

Benefit's Lemon Aid has been around for ages, but it wasn't always housed in a round compact.  It used to look like this:

I'm not sure if the scrolly thing is supposed to be a "b" or what.

I'm pretty sure it came with a couple of little brush applicators, but I seem to have lost mine long ago.

The new packaging is definitely an upgrade.

Throwback Thursday with Sally Hansen

Ahhh, the Sally Hansen Nail Prisms.  Some of the most awesome nail colors ever.

This is my second bottle of Amber Ruby, which is why it is in better shape than Golden Cinnabar.
I don't want to use it so I can save it for special occasions, which will probably never happen.

Why oh why did they ever get rid of these?

Throwback Thursday with Urban Decay

Once upon a time, Urban Decay made a dual colored lipstick that was packaged to look like a bullet casing.

The colors are a burnt brownish copper and a white silver, and are both super metallic.

I didn't find this to be particularly wearable, but, boy, it is cool looking.

Throwback Thursday with Too Faced

I have decided to do a "Throwback Thursday" series.  I thought it would be fun to take a look at some of the ancient cosmetics in my beauty vault.  I'm thinking it will either help me get rid of some old, unusable stuff, or simply decide to be a collector and give up on getting rid of something and just keep it for sentimental reasons and stop feeling guilty about it.  Most of the products I have that are rather old were gratis from when I worked in the cosmetics industry.

Today, we have the Too Faced Quicky Chronicles face palettes.  There were maybe ten of these released, but I only have four in my collection.

My favorite is probably "The Sweet Tarte" because of the art on the cover (plus the colors are nice).

Anyone remember these?