In the Eighties my mom was all about red and orange lipstick, to match her red or orange nails. It was an interesting time in the beauty world – in those days beauty was very much about power. In the magazines there were power suits armed with thick shoulder pads, and the perfumes of the era were pungent and had one word names like Poison, Obsession, and Ysatis. I found it all kind of comical. I remember my mom trying to tell me that shoulder pads made for a better silhouette. All of these years later…I’m thinking she might have had something there.
I didn’t want my first lipstick to be red, or orange. Because of my experience working at our family friend’s cosmetics and perfume store, I had the opportunity to become intimately familiar with the lipsticks for sale in Trinidad. I swatched every shade of Sacha Cosmetics lipstick that we had. And so when the time came for me to buy my own lipstick, I already knew which one I wanted. In this vintage post I mistakenly called it Copper Sunset. The real name was Copper Rosa. This was in the early Nineties.
Behold. Copper Rosa
Copper Rosa was subtly stunning – the kind of lippie that brown skinned beauties feel safe wearing. Not too bold and bright, and it went really well with my skin tone. I felt so grown up when I wore it. I think I was all of 13 years old. 14, tops. I remember bringing my beloved Copper Rosa with me to high school bazaars. Fatima Mayfair. The few precious unsupervised social events I was allowed to attend at that age. I remember sitting in Long Circular Mall’s food court with a group of girls I knew — and boys, ZOMG. I was carefully applying my Copper Rosa right there with everyone around when a loudmouthed older girl that never liked me (trust, the feeling was mutual) reprimanded me loudly. “You’re only supposed to put on lipstick in the bathroom! Not in front of other people!” Her intent was to make me feel ashamed, and I definitely did at the time. Please note that Emily Post doesn’t turn up her nose at quickly applying lipstick at the table.
Copper Rosa was my road buddy through the times where I agonized whether or not boys would like me, or whether or not my high school friends were truly my friends. My first lipstick. I don’t remember when we parted ways – I remember towards the end, buying my first lip brush to use the remants that remained. I don’t remember throwing the used tube away, but maybe I did when it was time for me to ship off to college, when I got rid of many of my childhood things.
Writing this post made me want to go back to Trinidad, so I could track down a tube of Sacha Cosmetics lipstick and remember the times.
Do you remember your first lipstick? Tell me about it! What was the brand and color, and where did you wear it?
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