FINALLY the sun is shining in Melbourne, and it has given me a spring in my step. The blossoms are giving way to fresh green leaves, the bulbs I planted are blooming, and everything around me looks so fresh and young, which is in stark contrast to my weathered visage, huddled under 14 layers of jackets.
Emerging from my centrally-heated cocoon, I’ve been having a little play around with The Body Shop vegan skincare and makeup lines to feel a bit fresher and not only do I now smell like the Queen’s garden on an English summer day, but my face is calm and cleansed, and my rosy cheeks are enriched with Community Trade 100% organic Aloe Vera, providing 12 hours of comfort and moisture (v. important after months of indoor heating, let me tell you).
I remember getting my first adult job at a newspaper and realising I was going to have to step it up in the wardrobe and makeup department. I went to The Body Shop, asked them for a makeup consult and then bought everything they suggested, some of which I still buy now. I appeared professional and pleasant while still looking totally natural, which was 100% the look I was going for. I’m excited for this new range, and I love to see how the products keep evolving over the years, but also still selling Passionberry lip balm that smells exactly like it did when I was at uni. It still reminds me of those days.
In a rad turn of events, one of you lucky readers will also be going home with a gift box of goodies for yourself, including:
British Rose Shower Gel
Infused with the essence of hand-picked roses from Britain, it is a soap-free cleanser with a thick, rich lather to get you squeaky clean. Except not squeaky, that would be bad for your skin.
Aloe Calming Facial Cleanser
Contains 100% organic, preservative-free Community Trade aloe vera gel and moisturising babsassu oil, ideal for sensitive skin. My face has had a daily party with it these last few weeks.
Down to Earth Eye Palette
This cute quad has a built-in mirror, and the individual shades all click in and out of the palette casing, so you can switch it up!
The formula has been enriched with babsassu oil and high purity pigments (it gives excellent colour and coverage), and all shades can be used dry as normal or used wet for a more vibrant colour (or to use along your lashline as eyeliner). I love how versatile it is! And this colour is perfect for using everyday or glamming up.
Makeup Setting Spray
I’m going to need this come sweaty summer, this weightless spray mist is anti-fade and anti-smudge, and helps keep your look in place all day.
Enriched with Community Trade Aloe Vera and suitable for sensitive skin, the formula locks in moisture along with your makeup (yay!).
Also suitable for travelling in its clear 60ml bottle.
Lip & Cheek Stain
This is instant colour in a bottle, so great for throwing in your handbag for when you feel like a little pick-me-up. The best part? It’s enriched with Community Trade 100% organic aloe vera from Mexico, so it provides 12 hours of comfort and moisture with its non-drying, lightweight texture. (I was sent the Pink Guava Lip & Cheek stain, which does contain Community Trade honey from Ethiopia, but the Pink Hibiscus version does not).
Facial Mask Brush
As someone who loathes getting their hands dirty, this brush with which to apply your face masks is an absolute god-send. It gives a smooth, even, and perfectly precise application (no more product in your eye!), and is made with a natural elm wood handle and 100% cruelty-free synthetic bristles.
Perfectly weighted for effortless application, this luxury facial mask brush is the closest thing you’ll get to having your own wand. Accio smooth skin!
British Rose Fresh Plumping Mask
We wouldn’t give you a fancy brush without a mask to use it with, and here is an utterly delightful one – the British Rose Fresh Plumping mask was inspired by European bathing rituals and is infused with real rose petals, rose essence, rosehip oil and Community Trade Aloe Vera.
Even better, it’s formulated without parabens, paraffin, silicone, or mineral oil. Reveal skin that’s replenished with moisture and visibly smooth with a youthful dewy appearance (remember those days!).
It slides on so smoothly and is perfect for chilling out in the bath so you get the extra aromatherapy effect… ask me how I know!
Aloe Soothing Day Cream
A super-smoothing, light-textured moisturising cream rich in organic Aloe Vera to help hydrate and restore delicate skin while protecting against environmental aggressors. No added preservatives, alcohol, colour, or fragrances which are common skin irritants, making it ideal for sensitive skin.
Leaves skin feeling hydrated and nurtured, and was exactly what I needed after winter and small children.
To be in the running for this fab face prize, leave a comment below answering the question: “what is your earliest makeup memory?” (mine involved an entire jar of cold cream and some very hard-to-remove lipstick that I thought went in your eyebrows. Cool.)
Entries close October 11 at 8pm and winners will be notified via email. One entry per person, Australian residents only (sorry!).
You can find the full terms and conditions here.
Good luck!
Getting my first makeup case – sturdy silver box filled with eye shadows, blushes, lipsticks and the make up brushes that my Mum saved up to buy from Myers for Christmas for me.
My very first step into make up world was me thinking I could fill in my dimples with liquid foundation. I got hold of my mums and piled it on in each dimple. For my efforts i ended up with gloops of liquid foundation plastered into the middle
Of each cheek (that was completely a different shade to my pasty white skin)… I’m am so glad there is no photo evidence of this. I do remember my mother almost wetting her pants from laughter when she saw me. I thought I looked good…. for the record my dimples remained and it did not work!
Liquid eyeliner!!! Ahhh putting that bad boy on my lower
inner eye thinking how gorgeous I was going to look
only to have the black line come straight off and onto the white of my eyeball. Have not used liquid eyeliner since 😂😂
Wow this pack looks absolutely incredible! I was a make up lover from a young age, I remember being maybe 5 and rocking a blue eyeshadow up to my eyebrows, bright pink blush on my cheeks and red lipstick haha! One of my earliest/funniest make up memories is when me and my little sister were younger, I use to LOVE doing her make up, I asked her what she wanted me to do and she said she wanted to be a bear – so a bear is what she got…entirely out of lipstick hahaha! I drew all over her face with my Mums brown lipstick and added a touch of pink for her nose, I thought it was a masterpiece..mum wasn’t so impressed haha!
Johnson’s Clean & Clear face moisturiser. Started using it at 13 and only replaced it with ‘real’ grown-up stuff three years ago!
An eye shadow duo bought from my local $2 shop, as all good beauty products are. I wore the pale shimmery blue practically every day, often accompanied by a velour tracksuit, and saved the darker navy blue for special occasions. 2001-2003 was a troubling period for me.
MY earliest memory would be wearing some random hand me down foundation to cover all my pimples and I’m sure it did NOT match my pale skin tone one bit and I probably looked more like an oompa loompah.
An amazing opportunity thank you.
I can remember begging my mother to allow me to buy and use blue eye-shadow to wear to a school dance. It came in a small tub and was like a heavy, glittery blue cream. She actually said yes. She told me years later that her thinking was that it would wash off and I’d grow out of it.
fake tan!! it was all the rage way back then. so much so that our form convener used to line all the girls in our year level up down the corridor, hand us each a cotton ball dipped in makeup remover and ask us to wipe it down our faces. if anything brown came off it was an after school detention!!!! (my girls are just dipping their toes into the make up scene and struggling to find sustainably, ethically, organically made stuff – so winning this would be awesome!! fingers crossed.) xx
Getting a super cheap pink plastic eyeshadow kit full of all the colours of the 80s you could imagine. Only to be told a week later that you should only wear neutrals 😭
My earliest memory of makeup was talking my sister into using my mum’s expensive lipstick all over her face. She looked fab but I got in more trouble ha ha
My earliest makeup memory is the brand Miki. I’m not sure if it’s still sold in regional chemists now, but it was so huge back then. I got an eyeshadow palette where the shades were truly terrible – lime green, fuschia, baby blue, all extremely sparkly – but it was packaged like a CD in a CD case! I thought it was so badass to have eyeshadow that looked like a CD that I carried it everywhere with me for the entirety of year seven.
My earliest memories of makeup involved watching my mum applying lipstick and powder for a night out. Later, when I was a teen getting myself ready, I’d ask her how I looked and she’d ALWAYS say ‘you need more rouge!’ I think of her words every day when I’m putting on my makeup.
I’d say my earliest memory of makeup would be my little sister trying to do my makeup. Needless to say, I ended up looking more terrifying than any clown…
My earliest makeup memory is pinching my older sister’s shimmery gold eyeshadow and covering my ENTIRE face with it. I think I was probably around 4 years old and I felt so pretty. I was told off for doing it but I did again when no-one was looking
Haha! Love the memories this brings back!
My friend Jack was over and I applied my mums makeup – lots of lippy, rouge and eyeshadow – all over his face, then dressed him in her clothes and pearls from her jewellery box! Both got in a lot of trouble for it and remember his face being red raw after she scrubbed it all off. She later told me she was almost crying with laughter at the sight of it all! Can’t wait til my kids do similar to me!!!!
My earliest makeup memory is dancing around my best friend’s rumpus room, watching the Spice World movie and experimenting with eye shadow. Inspired by Ginger Spice’s Union Jack dress we used her mum’s eye shadows to create a well blended and natural white, red and blue look (we looked like clowns). We are still best friends (20 years later!) but now only use neutral eye palettes.
It involved my sister putting makeup on me to convince a neighbour I was a long lost female cousin. Unconvincing I seem to recall.
Secretly using my mum’s blush on, then later on my mum looked at me, thinking, and said “are you wearing blush on?”. I was surprised she knew, but without batting an eye I said, “No”. The next time, I put on less blush.
My mom had this very dark blush that was a cross between orange and burgundy. The colour was beautiful, but it went on very powdery, so 6 year old me thinks, “Hey, let’s try some water on this so it doesn’t fall everywhere!” Get some water on the brush and get it in the pan…only to have it apply like this crazy heavy face paint. So of course I had to apply it LITERALLY ALL OVER MY FACE! Thankfully, we had two bathrooms, and I was upstairs, so nobody noticed me staring at myself and making faces for about a half hour. Then I decided I was hungry…but it was too late, and the blush left a stain on my face which scrubbing did nothing to remove. Oh man, the look on my mom’s face when she saw me! Priceless
…..and eating bonnie bell lipgloss. What do you mean it’s not to eat? It smelled so good!
As a toddler, I decided that my favourite dolls needed some subtle enhancement. To their faces. With a permanent marker. I thought their ‘lipstick’ looked beautiful!
My Grandmother. She was a proud elderly lady, not from many means. But I remember every morning, she would wake up and dress super smart, do her hair, and full face of make-up. Super classy. I use to love watching her do her face.
I was given a lot of makeup as a young girl but always thought the best way to use it was by painting my Barbie’s’ hair – hot pink nail polish, glittery blue eyeshadow, sticky lipgloss. She had highlights galore! Safe to say I had a vendetta against anything girly.
My earliest memory of makeup had to do with my mum. I used to go into her bathroom and watch her put it on and was always so fascinated by the whole process. The way she swiped her lipstick, the beautiful pink blush she would dust onto the apples of her cheeks and the way the mascara would make her eyelashes so voluminous. It had a huge impression on me and it’s where my love for makeup grew.
I still remember how when I was six years old, I went into my mums makeup bag and put just about everything on my face. Her expensive lipstick, blush, foundation and face powder. I ended up looking like a clown and even though my mum wasn’t too happy she did think it was funny enough to take a photo and show it to just about everyone growing up!
I remember my sisters and I stealing mum’s lipstick and my brother convincing us it goes on our cheeks. We were naïve…and very red faced!
Sitting on the bed during school holidays, watching my dear nanna powder her nose with her compact of starlet pressed powder. She smelt of roses and I remember thinking how beautiful she was and hoping one day I would be too.
I think the least I can do is have you smell like roses too! congratulations, you are the winner 🙂
My earliest make-up memory is from when I was around 12 years old. I went to my year 7 school disco, dressed up to the nines with a full face of make-up, including;
The wrong shade of foundation,
Powder,
Pink pink pink blush,
Pink eyeshadow; extra glittery,
Blue mascara,
Roll on body glitter; all over my cheeks!
I thought I looked like the bees knees! Now looking back at the photos, it was probably not my best look, but it was definitely the most fun!
I remember buying the wrong shade foundation for my skin.I had bad acne and had to keep it covered,so I had dark foundation and put light powder over top,and then after p.e(sport) when I had sweated my face was a mess, and I was so embarrassed
When I was 12 Mum was putting Avon makeup away for Christmas item by item over time for my older sister. I went Christmas snooping and tried some out thinking nobody would notice. Imagine my sisters and Mums surprise when the gift was opened Christmas morning and there were finger prints and makeup smudges all over the makeup and a very guilty, pesky little sister.
Doing modelling classes at the age of 12 and literally making a clown of myself when we were taught skincare and makeup
Doing my now late Nanas make up. I was four or five, and Mum said I could use her makeup to make Nan ‘beautiful’ if Nana said yes, to which she did. My goodness, back then I thought I’d done an amazing job, painted the poor old thing up with everything, slathered on foundation, heavily pressed on powder, more rouge than any woman should use in a lifetime, lipstick so garish and pitch black mascara on her brows too. All done and looking AMAZING, I insisted we go to the milkbar, a good half hour walk away, along main roads too, to which she obliged, looking all beautiful with her newly applied makeup. Cars were tooting, people jeering out of open windows speeding by, slowing down, and how important did I feel, all these cars and people totally impressed with how stunning MY Nan looked because of how I’d done her up. Well, now in hindsight, how I laugh. Fortunately Granddad with his much loved Polaroid camera, documented the heightened and enhanced beauty of his lovely bride hahahaha, making her pose like a model. As a kid I felt such pride, now knowing they were merely amusing me, their one and only Granddaughter. She looked like a gaudy clown, but what a good heart, so full of love and spirit to take it in her stride. So glad for those photo’s, capturing her spunk and spirit, and my first lame attempt at ‘doing’ make up. Have to say, fortunately my skills refined with age!!!
Going to Grace Bros to buy some Australis make up which was so hip and happening with the teenagers back then.
When my elder sisters drew new eyebrows on my using a permanent marker. My mother went berserk.
Dressing up with my BFFwith lots of make-up and doing a catwalk down our street in front of everyone.
After cutting my own hair aged 6, I apparently applied lipstick as an eyeliner. My mother never quite forgave me.
Sneaking into my mum’s room to put on nail polish. So much fun…just like painting.
My earliest makeup memory is being completely mesmerised watching my nanna apply her makep in the mirror.
My earliest make up memory is an Australis eyeshadow compact in some earthy-greeny-browny colours that I got for Christmas when I was about 12. I loved it but I was too self conscious to ever wear it out of the house!
My earliest Body Shop memory though is my grandad using their Cocoa Butter moisturiser. He has really awful, dry skin from working in the sun his whole life, and every night he used this while watching TV. I would sometimes go into Body Shop stores to have a smell and think of him but they don’t make it anymore. I check every so often to see if they’ve brought it back!
My sister and i completely covering our eyes and face with blue eye shadow. Such a laugh looking back now
My brother and I were young theatrical geniuses, or so we thought. One time we were putting on a “play” that had something to do with cowboys, and we broke into my mother’s makeup drawer and got some mascara and drew the loveliest cowboy beards onto our faces. I was maybe seven or eight and I did look impressively like a gunslinger with my mascara-beard. That was my earliest makeup experience.
Using a watercolours pallet to decorate my face when I was 4.
Mine is when our dad used to fall asleep in the lounge chair and we’d do his hair & apply makeup on him. 🤣
I remember the old mabeline glass bottle of liquid foundation and the loose powder to go with it. Then I always had to touch up with my compact.
There was a company in the eighties that is no longer in Australia that used to sell a makeup bag full of samples that I loved. I was a teen and my mother would buy me the bag as a gift and I would have so much fun with the teeny little lipsticks etc. The skincare products were botanical too which I enjoyed. I think this positive experience has lead me still enjoy trying new make up,and skincare, especially natural products.
I remember receiving a miniature set of makeup that came with a doll. I think I ate most of the lipstick because it smelled so nice. For the next few years Mum only let me have empty makeup compacts and packaging for me to “pretend”.
Wanting to look like mum when blue eyeshadow, red lipstick and red blush were the go. Of course as a child applying that…you just end up looking like a clown
I can’t remember what product I first bought but I do remember being very envious of the girl down the road whose mother was an Avon representative. All those teeny tiny lipstick samples. I’m still rubbish with eye make up but I like foundation and it’s sad to think there are still so many products that are probably tested on animals.
My earliest memory was my grandma putting some of her face cream she used. I remember it smelt of apricots. And my mothers lipsticks alway where flat and I never worked out how she got them like that especially as I got older and started using lipstick myself.to this day I don’t know how she did it.
My earliest make-up memory dates back to when I was about five or six years of age and the Avon lady would come to our house and show mum the latest lipsticks and perfumes. She’d give me miniature sized lipsticks to play with and keep, and she’d leave the latest Avon catalogue for us to look over. I loved those catalogues; so many beautiful products to admire and wish for.
When I was 3, my 13 yo cousin was staying over, and dad was napping. Being two easily entertained kids, we painted dads nails, put on eye shadow, blush & lipstick. When dad woke up an hour later, he had to pick up mum from work and didn’t check the mirror. Apparently he stopped at the grocery store first, and went to pay the teller when he saw orange nail polish on his fingers. Fast forward 25 minutes when he returned home and yelled at us. No regrets!
It was when I had a desire to impress,
I had just received a brand new dress,
So of course I had to have makeup to match,
After that boy next door was a nice catch.
Trying on lots of different lip sticks
A friend and myself got into’s my older sister’s makeup one day and ended up looking like clowns. My sister was not impressed when she came home and found all her makeup scattered everywhere.
I first used lip gloss when I was 14, it was banana flavoured and I loved it I never went anywhere without it and I kept it in my pocket for constant re-application, now anything banana flavoured takes me back to my early teens!!!!!
My earliest makeup memory came quite late…I was a bit of a tomboy! It involved me trying to apply eyeliner to varying degrees of success…that is if you consider success to be looking like a panda or trying your hand at the goth/emo look! Unfortunately to this day I am the exact same degree of awful at applying eyeliner despite all my friends efforts to teach me!
My earliest makeup memory involved my mums tub of make-up when I was about 3 years old (circa 1983) and going full drag queen on myself. I had THE best time EVER until my mum found me in all my glory and promptly banned me from all make-up for a further 15 years. It’s actually one of my earliest memories, especially of being in HUGE trouble. No regrets.
My first make-up memory is of my little sister applying red lipstick to my beloved ragdoll. It seemed like a great idea. I still have ‘Neice Doll’ with her red stained lips. Thankfully my subsequent make-up experiences were more successful.
My Christmas party, when I had accidentally waxed the eyebrow and used an eye brow pencil to work literally, magic!
I remember ordering a monthly makeup box full of little beauty bits and pieces, it was the start to my makeup obsession.
“what is your earliest makeup memory?”
It was the 80s – high school plus zits in very inconvenient places (end of your nose craters)!
I remember using the spot cover up stick Mum found at the chemist and it was thick and I put it on the ‘blemishes’ as it promised to ‘clear up’ but clogged things up and made me look horrid. (No wonder I hated HS – it was no musical).
I kept using it as lived in hope but until my sister pointed out just how I was looking – so much worse… Yeah I was.
I was outrageously gross teenager!
My sister actually began working at the Body Shop early 90s – we got amazing products half price :-))
We all used Body Shop products as not tested on animals (was a huge thing for me even back then).
Smelled delicious and our hair skin and face was finally rescued.
My earliest memory is playing dress-ups with Mum’s 70’s dresses (think glitter and flowing) , and trying on all the colours in her Mary Kay make-up palette. Lots of blue eye shadow and pink lipstick from memory, and a slathering of Ponds cold cream to get it all off. Those were the days. I don’t even know if those products are still around, but they were definitely all-the-rage back then.
Sitting in the bathroom talking to mum while she did her make-up, I remember how beautiful mum looked and how I thought it was magic 🙂
My earliest makeup memory is my lovely grandmother letting me do her hair and makeup when I was very young – around 4 or 5 – she’d inevitably end up looking ridiculous, with lipstick smudged all around her lips, and I’d get her to promise that she’d drive home to her house dressed like that!
I can very clearly still remember being chased around the house by my eldest sister for ransacking her make up in the bathroom I never touched her stuff again!
Mum’s bright pink lipstick! It was shocking pink and looked dreadful. With two little ones under two, she used it as winter lip balm at home rather than waste a perfectly good present from grandma. It was finally used up when we started school. She always had the softest kisses though so it served its purpose, lol!
My sister and I both had our first adventure trying to dye our hair with Grandma’s MAGIC SILVER ROSE! The bathroom was a disaster and we were no better with our purple locks…
My mum said I could wear mascara to school every day if I wanted to. And she gave me a very 90s CLEAR MASCARA. Still thought gut I was hot shit
I have much older sisters so I just remember them being able to play with makeup way before me and being jealous. My eldest sister had a big red professional makeup box that we weren’t allowed to touch. I remember one night my middle sister got home late and decided to use some of our eldest sisters skincare and smothered her face in some ‘face cream’.
In the morning she woke up and discovered that it wasn’t actually face cream she used but hair removal cream and she ended up with no eyebrows!!!
Using my mums Avon foundation ( wrong shade)Australis concealer and clear mascara with just a dash of Bonne belle lipsmacker that came free on the cover of Dolly in Yr 8 .Great combo of product less then desirable results
I was very badly burnt 3rd degree makeup covered the scars as I was very embarrassed to go out.
I remember being 14 and in the make up section of Myer trying to work up the courage to ask the make up lady how to choose foundation. I was so shy and nervous but determined to buy foundation and try out the make up tips I’d been reading in Dolly magazine 🙂 I had absolutely no clue what I was doing!!
My 5 yo best friend and I always used to love getting “fashionable”! We’d come out of the room after an hour with mascara eyebrows, bright red lips and always the beauty spot above the lip.
Earliest make up memory was raiding the bottom drawer of my parents 80’s ensuite and getting stuck into mum’s outdated make up – eye shadow sticks in silver, frosted green and blue (think roller disco). Like a Bic pen that hasn’t been used in a while and you have to scribble on a piece of paper to get the ink flowing again, these eyeshadow sticks were the same – except we were using our delicate eye areas to scribble back and forth until friction made them work again! So with frosted eyes in silvery hues with an aggravated red tinge around them my sister and I would pretend we were the dancers from Solid Gold with terry towelling plaited headbands and leg warmers.
One of my most earliest memories was getting into mum’s makeup that she kept on her dressing table. There was the mid pink lippy in the oh so pretty gold case, that had that unmistakable curb of hundreds of careful applications, it had to be applied with care to preserve the stick, far more care then an eight year old would exhibit! But my most favourite item of fascination was the pink loose powder pot with fluffy puffer! It smelt and felt like fairies on my face, but gave me the iridescent glow of a geisha with bad eyesight when applied libralley in only a way an eight year can! No amount of cheek pinching could give the glow that a smear of mum’s favourite lipstick did, much to her horror! So ghostly pale but cheeks that Rudolpf the reindeer would be proud of, trend setting in the 80’s that was me!