Vintage Vault: Wet n Wild Edition

Of all the requests that I receive here at Nouveau Cheap, the most popular request by far goes something like this:

"G., will you please bring back the Vintage Vault?"

So I'm delighted to tell you that, beginning with this post, I am officially bringing it back! I may not post weekly, but I'll do my best to publish at least one or two posts per month, from here on out. I LOVE that YOU love these posts, and I'm so excited to bring them back. So thank you, thank you, thank you, for those requests!

For those new to the Vintage Vault, this is where I take time out from "new product sightings," etc., and focus on VINTAGE drugstore beauty products. The majority of what I cover here is from the 80s, 90s, and early 00s, but I may go back even deeper into the Vintage Vault as time goes by!

If you would like to see all of my previous Vintage Vault posts, just CLICK HERE (and be sure to click "older posts" when you get to the bottom of the page, for even more).

To kick things off, I want to extend a HUGE thank-you to reader Elizabeth for uncovering something I never, ever thought I'd see again...

image credit: Elizabeth for Nouveau Cheap

Wet n Wild magazine ad in Women's Wear Daily

(circa 1994)

Do you remember a few weeks ago when the Lipstick League Question of the Week was about the first lipstick you remember purchasing? In that post, I mentioned that the first lipstick I remember buying with my own money was a Wet n Wild lipstick in one of the original white tubes (which I wore to my prom). I could not find a photo online of the original white lipstick tubes from Wet n Wild, and neither could any of YOU (thank you so much to those of you who tried!).

Well reader Elizabeth did some serious beauty-sleuthing and managed to uncover the Wet n Wild ad you see above, which ran in WWD (industry magazine) back in 1994. And in that ad are the original white lipstick tubes! AMAZING, right?

Here's a closer look:

image credit: Elizabeth for Nouveau Cheap

Looking at the photo below, you can see that this ad was published back when Wet n Wild was still owned by Pavion LTD. (they have since changed owners and now belong to Markwins). Also interesting to note, in addition to Black Radiance (which is still a sister company to WnW), is the reference to the brand Solo Para Ti (see pic above). I believe this was the original name of the brand Tropez, which was Wet n Wild's sister company geared toward Latina customers. Tropez went out of business fairly recently, actually. I reviewed some of their products when I first started my blog back in 2008, and I blogged about them going out of business HERE (March 2010). I still contend that the Tropez polish, Blossom, is one of the prettiest lavender polishes I've ever owned (you can see my really crappy, really old swatches of it here). 

image credit: Elizabeth for Nouveau Cheap

But now on to my favorite thing about this ad: the makeup!

image credit: Elizabeth for Nouveau Cheap

I compiled all of the product shots into this little collage above, and that tube you see circled is what I believe to be the red creme lipstick I purchased, and wore, to my senior prom! You have NO IDEA the flood of emotions and memories that came rushing back to me when I saw this lipstick again. Almost brings a tear to my eye! 

Here's another version of this collage, after I sharpened the images and enhanced the colors a bit:

image credit: Elizabeth for Nouveau Cheap

Do any of you remember those Lip Tricks mood lipsticks (green tube in upper right corner)?? And how about those eyeshadow quads and blushes? MEMORIES! 

And I know several of you remember those nail polishes--both the core polishes and the "Crystalic" polishes (you can still occasionally find those Crystalic polishes at Big Lots, Ross, etc.).

If you are too young to remember when Wet n Wild nail polishes looked like what you see above, here's a photo from one of my previous Vintage Vault posts (this post is worth a read; it contains my first WnW, Sinful Colors and Zoya polishes and it's fun to look back on how the bottles have changed!):

My first blue nail polish - ever!

(Wet n Wild circa 1994)

Unless you were around and wearing nail polish in the early-to-mid 90s, it's hard to explain how desperately we all wanted to get our hands on "unconventional" colors like blue and green. We all take blue and green nail polishes at the drugstores for granted now, of course, but I vividly recall a time when THE ONLY BLUE POLISH at the drugstore was the one you see above, by Wet n Wild. My friends and I all had like ten back-ups because this blue was constantly out of stock (because hello! It was the only blue nail polish at the drugstore and we all wanted it). 

I hope you enjoyed this little walk down Wet n Wild Memory Lane, and if you remember any of the WnW products in that ad, I would obviously LOVE to hear from you! 

Once again, if you would like to see all of my previous Vintage Vault posts, just CLICK HERE (and be sure to click "older posts" when you get to the bottom of the page, for even more).

I cannot begin to express my gratitude to reader Elizabeth for uncovering this vintage ad and for sharing it with us. Elizabeth, I am forever in your debt. Thank you, thank you, thank you!