In Memorandum: Products that have left us too soon.

Companies discontinue products for a number of reasons. Perhaps something is not selling as well as they hoped it would. Perhaps a style or a scent is no longer "en vogue". Perhaps they are doing a complete re-boot of their line and something just doesn't make the cut.

Problem is, I feel like my favorite things are constantly getting the ax. The surest way for a product to meet certain death is for me to fall in love with it. My love is a death sentence. 

Gee... That sounds kinda like a county song.

Now, is this an exaggeration? A bit. But I do have a handful of products that I did dances of joy when I when they came into my life and sobbed big tears of sadness when I found out they were no longer with us. I present a list of a few of my lost gems... and here's hoping that this blog topic is not a continuing theme.




* Suave Professionals Healthy Curls Anti-Frizz Cream

When I was in college, anything gentle on my practically non-exsistent budget was my best friend (To speak truth, little has changed there). When I started college, I was using a product to control my frizz that was pretty darn good, but it was about $10 a bottle. With thick, curly hair to the middle of my back, I went through one every couple of weeks. Not good for the poor theatre majors wallet.

Enter my fellow thick, curly, long-haired friend Amanda.

She introduced me to this product and it was love at first application. And, I kid you not, I think it was all of $2.04 or something ridiculous like that at the time. So very affordable. As I've said before, I've been pretty impressed with the Suave products. I remember it making my hair soft and less frizzy and giving it a pleasant scent. It was my staple for years. Until one fateful day when it vanished off the store shelves.

Big tears of sadness from both Amanda and I.

I've found a suitable replacement in the Fructis Curl Sculpting Cream Gel. But I know deep in my heart that it is just not the same.


* C.O. Bigelow No. 1036 Foaming Facial Wash for Very Oily Skin and the orange toner of the same "very oily skin" line that I cannot find the proper name for.

I worked at Bath and Bodyworks for several years. In addition to their own line, they carry a few other brands. One of them is C.O. Bigelow Apothecary. Many of the girls that I worked with swore by their skin care line. I was always interested, but it wasn't until a customer came in raving almost to the point of hysterics about how the line had changed her skin that I said, "What the hell..."

And once I used it, I understood her hysterics.

I have pretty oily skin, especially in the T-zone area, and I've struggle most of my teen and adult life with mild to moderate acne. After using the Very Oily Skin Face Wash and Tonic (with a lotion, of course, because even oily skin needs moisture) for a few weeks, I was all but acne-free and my skin was completely matte. No more oil slick. Hardly ever a blemish. The face wash and tonic smelled like a delicious citrus drink. It completely took off all my make-up. It was, in short, a miracle product.

Then I came to work one day and found my belovéd face care in the clearance bin.

"It's not going away," they told me. "They're just repackaging the whole line," they said.

LIES!!!!

To be fair, they did bring back a snazzy packaged new face care line, but it was much less diverse. And my skin saving products were gone. Discontinued. Forever lost.


The Body Shop's Tea Tree Line has become my substitute. And I do love it. It dramatically helps my skin and reduces my break outs. But that magical oil erasing effect I fear is forever lost.

That was until I found...


*Good Skin's All Right Mattifying Gel 

Shortly after my skin care line was discontinued and I was searching for something to help the oil field that was now found on my face, I came across this little product at Kohl's. It was only $12 and the description on the box made it seem like it was what I was needing, so I bought it. I got into my car and applied a little to my forehead in the rearview mirror.

It was as if someone cast an "oil-be-gone" spell on my face. It was truly magic.

I used it under my make-up on my T-zone. I used it as a touch up throughout the day. If I had been on youtube making monthly favorite videos at the time, it would have been the first thing I swooned about.

I don't know when Kohl's decided to stop carrying this product because my one little tube, even with using it several times a day, lasted me forever. I think I bought two before it just disappeared into thin air, never to be heard from again.

I am still searching for a replacement for this product. Any leads? Send them my way in a comment.

* C.O. Bigelow Tinted Lip Balm in Ginger & Lemon and Blackberry & Lemon

I'm picking on C.O. Bigelow, but that is only because I love their products and they keep discontinuing awesome ones.

One of C.O. Bigelow's hero products is their Lemon Lip Balm. It's de-freaking-licious. One year, they expanded this product line to include three tinted lip balms: Strawberry & Lemon (a lovely light pink), Blackberry & Lemon (a deep wine) and Ginger & Lemon (a perfect nude). All three tasted like candy and were fairly universally flattering color-wise. I personally adored the Blackberry and the Ginger. They were all I wore for months. The Blackberry one was just dark enough to be dramatic but not so dark that it was vampy. It very much reminded me of Clinque's Almost Lipstick in Black Honey. And the Ginger was my nude shade match made in Heaven.

Of course because I loved them, they were discontinued the last year I worked for Bath and Body. I still have two Blackberry ones that I am savoring. But my one and only Ginger accidentally when through the wash and I have yet to find a good dupe. And I certainly won't find one that tastes so scrumdiddlyumptious.

*Brown Sugar & Fig eau du toilette from Bath and Bodyworks 

I'm a Bath and Bodyworks freak. It's one of the reasons why I worked there for four years. And any fellow Bath and Body freaks know that if you're gunna be a fan, you have to be ok (or at least be able to suppress your anger) when they discontinue your favorite scent. Because IT WILL HAPPEN.

Brown Sugar & Fig was my signature scent. I wore it all the time. It was sweet without being overpowering, feminine and youthful without being "tweenie". So when I heard it was being discontinued, I hoarded it. Last year they brought the scent back and updated the formulas as part of their fall traditions line. So I hoarded a little more. But the perfume was long gone, only to be found on ebay for three times the original price.

My only consolation is that, in my body product stash, I have the holy grail: an unopened, unused bottle of EDT. And I shall cherish it. Forever. And call it my precious...

I would love to hear your tales of woes of products that are gone but never forgotten. Or if you know of a dupe for any of my departed five. Leave me a comment below and we will commiserate together.