As a teenager, Boots was a shining temple of all things exotic and grown-up.
There was nothing more glamorous than a Saturday afternoon spent perusing the selection of blue mascara (for the hair and the eyelashes) and considering splashing out on a white musk perfume.Your birthday money could go far when butterfly clips were only 50p and Herbal Essences products were on sale.
Hours would be spent advising friends over the correct shade of white eye shadow, and the acceptable density of a pot of body glitter.
You might spot an older girl from school buying a mysterious bottle of Veet and wonder what beauty secrets she knew that you didn’t. You might also learn that Veet is not the ideal solution for the removal of unwanted body hair – especially if left on for two hours.
But, for me and my Saturday afternoon friends, there was the promise of complete and absolute transformation.
Excitement
There was such excitement and promise in all those little bottles and tubes; I wish these days I still believed a bottle of Sun-In and frosted lip gloss would change my life.
I’m not sure whether Boots remains the one-stop beauty shop for the teenagers of today.
Walking the aisles now, there are familiar products that have stood the test of time, such as Boots’s own brand mousse (so good if you want a big blow dry that lasts all day) but more and more nostalgic products seem to be making a return, as trends do.
Whatever about the stretchy chokers (just no) the return of the brown lip has me mystified.
But I think that is what happens as you get old and frumpy. Let’s just pray that the over-plucked eyebrow (see Drew Barrymore in 1990) isn’t next.
