Approximately one billion beauty products have launched since the first issue of Allure hit newsstands in 1991, but some are so classic, so nostalgic, we just can’t part with them. For our 30th Anniversary, we’re introducing Allure Recommends to celebrate the beauty innovations we’ve loved over the years and still use and cherish today.
Without fail, whenever there’s a listicle or a meme carousel regarding kids and teens who grew up in the 1990s, Caboodles makes a cameo. And as someone who indubitably qualifies as a ’90s teen — those were my middle-school-through-college years — I can attest, Caboodles accompanied me along the way. Even when my budding makeup collection was nothing more than two CoverGirl Lipslicks and a Cheekers (if you know, you know), long before I could justify owning a case that holds dozens of beauty products, I decided I needed one. It was a rite of passage.
But, like so many of my now nearly (or decidedly) middle-aged peers, I didn’t leave Caboodles behind in the last century. I’m in my early 40s now, and as a beauty editor, my product collection is far too vast to be contained in one of the brand’s instantly identifiable, bulbous cases. But even though the colorful, plastic, markedly youthful containers may clash with some of my more sophisticated decor (why yes, that is the Rooms to Go East Side Avocado sofa, thank you for asking), and even though I have drawers and shelves full of countless other products, I still keep my most-used makeup in two classic Caboodles On-The-Go Cases — one in a hot-pink “jelly sparkle” finish, and one in a two-tone seafoam/lilac combination.