It came up on my Laptop Screen uninvited: Revlon’s Super Lustrous Lipstick Crème in Fire and Ice #720. There it was, claiming to be Number One of the Top 10 lipsticks of all time. I started to cry, that was my Mom Ruthie’s one and only lipstick. She couldn’t be without it, but kept losing them. On most days, she had a tube in her pocket, another one in her pocketbook, one on the bathroom sink, and one in the basket of her walker. The only memory I have of my mother without her lipstick on was on Saturday mornings when she washed her hair and let it dry naturally, hanging down her back while she baked.
Sold in drugstores, it apparently has been a top seller since the 1950s. Revlon has 72 shades, Ruthie only wore one, Fire and Ice. I wasn’t allowed to touch any of her makeup growing up so I grabbed it and put it on whenever I could. Ruthie slathered awful tasting cold cream all over my lips to take it off.
The bold, bright red complimented her natural blond hair and sparkling blue eyes. I remember one day when we were shopping in the drugstore, suddenly her walker veered left. “Let’s check out the lipsticks. Last time I was here the manager said she thought Fire and Ice was being discontinued”
“Oh, no, then what will you do?” I asked.
“No worries,” said Ruthie. “I’m buying it all up so I’ll have plenty on hand.”
That particular day there were five tubes in stock. I put two in our basket; however, I was quite amazed when all five tubes appeared when we were checking out. Now I’m glad she kept so much Fire and Ice in her own personal stock. I found tubes in her nightstand, in the medicine cabinet, and in pocketbooks she hadn’t used for years. I gave some away to my nephew and grandchildren to remember her by. And I kept a few for myself. I’m glad Revlon continues making it. I would just like them to change the name to Ruthie’s Fire and Ice.
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