Fashion
8 Women Reveal Their First Beauty Memories (Spoiler, They Involve A Lot Of Razor Burn)
Pluck. Shave. Wax. Whiten. File. Moisturize. Line. Powder. Repeat. Most women across America perform variations of this intricate dance every day in the privacy of their bathroom. While the patterns of women's beauty routines are private to all eyes but theirs', the procedure has been memorialized in movie scenes ( the opening credits of The Devil Wears Prada ) photography (pretty much anything by Ellen Von Unwerth), on television (Carmindy's infamous makeup makeover on TLC's What Not To Wear) and can probably be seen on your backstage Instagram feeds of New York Fashion Week. But how do these commonplace beauty regimens come to fruition? Did Moses inscribe "Thou shalt wax unibrow" on the tablet of the Ten Commandments? Like menstruation, is there an unwritten biological rule to womanhood that includes mascara application at 8 a.m.? As a woman, I can share some insight: We don't wake up with a physical manual to womanhood in our hospital bassinet.
For some, these regimens are handed down from Mom. For others, from Dad. To some women, YouTube was the best classroom while for others, a visit to Sephora is still an undesirable task akin to navigating Pan's Labyrinth.
Regardless of how, women all over America have developed very deliberate routines (or lack thereof) through the trial-and-error processes of their formative years, much like potty-training or riding a bike. Here, eight women recounted their beauty first-times for us, no matter how dreadful.
Image: Aliaksei Lasevich/Fotolia
Some Real Damage
“My mom refused to let me shave my legs and kept insisting I was too young. So I took matters into my own hands and shaved them myself. Three cuts later and in what looked like a pool of my own blood, I screamed for help. My mom came to the rescue bandaged my legs up and tried her best not to laugh or yell too hard. The experience terrified me, but pushed my mom to give in and teach me before I did some real damage to myself.” -Bianca, 24
Four Days
“I tried waxing once, but I have really sensitive skin, so it was a disaster! I broke out all over my body for like 4 days.” -Wicca, 22
A Shaped Brow
“I vividly remember getting my eyebrows waxed for the first time. I was terrified because my sister used Retin-A for a bit, and sometimes when you use it and wax, the skin around your brows bleeds. Obviously, we live in a world with lots of beauty norms and people get very touchy if you do or don’t wax your brows (amongst other beauty rituals), but I keep doing it because I like to see a shaped brow.” -Maggie, 20
My Dad Took Over
“I feel like I went through everything later than most girls — the fact that it was my dad who did my makeup for my first ballet recital (and taught me that lipstick as blush always looks good) says a lot. My mom was clueless in the bathroom so my dad took over. That’s the way it was with everything else: He bought me my first perfume, my first Dior lipstick. He was the one who convinced my mom that shaving and tweezing weren’t terrible ideas.” -Kim, 22
At the Cosmetic Counter
“My mom worked at Macy’s 34th street in Manhattan at the cosmetic counter for years. Being a redhead herself, she taught me all there was to know about redheads and makeup, what colors to use, which colors will pair with my complexion. I really learned the majority from my mom.” -Erin, 22
A Whole New Woman
“My mom had always been against me using a tampon no matter how heavy my flow and one day we were all out of pads. I was alone with no car and stuck with a box of my mom’s tampons. I ponied up and ventured into the bathroom expecting to lose my virginity to a tampon. Instead, I wasted one because I couldn’t do it right. Once I got it in properly, I felt like a whole new woman.” -Jacqueline, 23
The Scraping of Skin
“I remember the scraping of skin and the fierce razor burn all over my calf as I shaved my legs for the first time. I was in fourth, maybe fifth grade and one of my friends was telling me how she shaved her legs and I remember the foolish envy I felt in not also participating in this right of passage. I recall pulling a discarded pink plastic razor out of the garbage and leaning over to run the metal across my skin. I was unaware that my skin should be wet or moisturized or that there was usually a shower/shaving cream involved. There were long lines of red and little bumps that followed. My legs were patchy and painful, but I felt accomplished. ” -Sarah, 36
It Was So Cheap
“I got a kid’s makeup kit from my Grandma for Christmas in elementary school and was really excited because my older sister — who is 5 years older than me — wore makeup and I wanted to wear it too. The kit had lipstick and eyeshadow but it didn’t even show up on my skin because it was so cheap.” -Corinne, 21
