I remember when I was a 9 and preparing to go to my friend's birthday sleep over, my mom handed me my backpack, the present with a huge pink bow, a bag of snacks, and a ziplock bag of some of her regrettable makeup purchases. Of course, I didn't know they were regrettable at the time, I was just completely fascinated by the sparkly disco ball-esque blue eyeshadow. 

I'm not the biggest fan of sparkly Barbie pink blushes, but apparently my mom was. She hit pan on her Lancome Blush Eclat in Rose ingenu 02, and according to her, this was her go-to blush that she had repurchased a couple of times. I guess the sparkly Barbie pink was a thing back then, as she proudly told me that people would always ask her what blush she was wearing when she wore this. As my mom had her fair share of purple and green eyeshadow palettes, she always had at least one neutral palette in her collection. Lancome Eye Colour Duo in Apricot and Chocolate Brule was the one that I dug out and popped into my collection. While I might not be reaching for the tan, orangey Apricot shade, the slightly maroon brown Chocolate Brule shade seems to be up my alley. But of all the makeup I was going through that day, what caught my eye the most and the product that my mom had the fondest, proudest memories of was Estee Lauder All Day Lipstick in Rich and Rosy. According to her, my mom always rocked the best lip colors. People, strangers would always go up to her and tell her that her lipstick was gorgeous. While my mom usually rocked neutral lip colors like it was no one's business, Rich and Rosy was her go-to lipstick when she wanted a brighter color and I can totally see why. In fact, it was the first time I've ever been wowed by a lipstick in the tube before even swatching it.The gorgeous blue-toned fuchsia with a slight sheen was so irresistible, I immediately applied it to my lips despite the tell-tale lipstick smell that meant it was ridiculously past it's expiration date and shouldn't be used anywhere near the lips anymore. I'm still holding onto this tube in hope that I'll find the same color. If anyone knows if Estee Lauder still makes this color, or the new name, please please please let me know! The last thing that I plucked from her makeup bag, or more like the thing that my mom thrusted into my hands, was a retractable lip brush. She knows that I'm a converted lip junkie and she just can't stand me applying a bright lip color sans lip brush. "You're messing up your lip shape! Stop being so sloppy!" and of course the, "What do you mean you don't have a lip brush among your kazillion brushes?" So now, I have no excuse of having a sloppy lip shape when wearing a bright lip. Seriously though, I think this might be the most valuable thing of the products I fished out from her old collection. It reflects my philosophy, that as long as you take good care of your brushes, they're going to be a great long-term investment. 

According to her, my mom was quite a classy lady when she was young. I'm sure she was classy and she's definitely beautiful, but sometimes, when I see her being all goofy, it's hard to picture her wearing full makeup and looking elegant. It was amazing to have a chance to go through snips and tads of her younger days and find things that I could add into my makeup bag. Maybe it's my Asian roots, but I love the genuine passing down of things through generations. Have you been through your mom's old makeup and found precious gems?