Listen to Lena

Perfecting the Art of Conversuasion

Impulse Purchase.

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Impulse Purchase: An unplanned decision to buy a product or service, made just before a purchase. One who tends to make such purchases is referred to as an impulse purchaser or impulse buyer. Research findings suggest that emotions and feelings play a decisive role in purchasing, triggered by seeing the product or upon exposure to a well crafted promotional message.

Upon getting into the car…

Lena: So I made an impulse purchase.
Husband: Uh huh. What did you buy?
Lena: THIS!!! (Shows product.)
Husband: Why?
Lena: Cause it smells like the 90’s! OMG I used this ALL. THE. TIME.
Husband: Let me smell it. (Smells product.) Actually it smells like poison.
Lena: I know!! Isn’t it wonderful?

Ah, back to a more civilized time when face products smelled like the chemicals used to make them. Back to the days of being a Noxzema girl.

I spotted this little jar of Noxzema Cleansing Cream in the travel-size aisle and just had to have it. Oh, the memories! Dipping my finger in the jar to get at the hard, creamy substance; slathering it on my face and feeling the trademark cooling sensation. Washing it off – and noting with dismay that I still didn’t look like the girl in the ad. Persistence, Lena… persistence.

Now that I’ve bought the cleansing cream I haven’t actually used it yet… preferring to simply unscrew the lid and sniff it from time to time. (I totally just did it again.) Isn’t it funny how scent can evoke such powerful memories? Just one whiff and I’m transported back to 1992. I can actually see the bathroom in my old house; I can feel the sticky Alberto Mousse and smell the heady Impulse Body Spray.

(OMG. Remember Impulse Body Spray? I totally rocked “Night Rhythms”. <<< “When a man you’ve never met before suddenly gives you flowers, that’s Impulse.” >>> Hasn’t happened yet, sorry.)

Were you a Noxzema Girl too?

Reader Interactions

Comments

  2. Candi

    Not were, I am and darn proud.. My grandmother still uses this and has used this most of her life and we all attribute her lack of wrinkles and beautiful skin to it. I’m covered in it once per day at least and lucky me, I only have 2 little lines and I’m in my 40’s now… I don’t think I’d have them if I wasn’t so stressed all the time along with my lack of sleep due to family sickness. I swear by Noxzema

  3. Allie

    oh ya the smell can transport me back to when I was very little and my grandmother and cousin used it so then it used it as well to wash my face and for sunburns although I’m not to sure how good that was for you?? Thanks for a blast from the past lena!! Whats next “GEE YOUR HAIR SMELLS TERRIFIC” SHAMPOO!!!!!

  6. Flora M

    I was always a Nivea girl, now it is Olay. I tried Noxema once and my skin didn’t like it – the perils of having super sensitive skin LOL

  7. Heidi C.

    My mother and grandmother were faithful Noxzema users. I remember playing with my mother;s makeup and finding the best part was putting a thick layer of Noxzema on afterwards to take the make-up off. I can still smell that noxious smell but boy did it work!

    • Lena

      It does indeed! I took it along with me to BlogHer for the last two days and I can attest it wiped everything off my face!

  9. Christine

    Oh my gosh! This post made me chuckle! Totally something I would do. I was a Noxema girl in high school! Used it ALL the time too! For some reason, the smell brings back fond memories. Ahhh…nostalgia!

  10. Brenda Penton

    I didn’t have Night Rhythms but I had Malibu Musk and Exclamation. I’d love to smell them again! So many memories!

  11. Brenda Penton

    I usually have a jar of Noxema here tucked away. I think a jar lasts me a good 5 years, hahaha. Does this stuff have an expiry date? I should pick up another jar.

    • Lena

      Er…. I think the shelf life of most beauty products is about two years, so I definitely recommend grabbing another jar, LOL!

  12. Soozle

    There is complete scientific proof that scents can envoke memories…

    My grandmother passed when I was young, and for years after (and probably still would to this day if I had it) the scent of Rose Milk lotion brought her face to my mind..

    I recently found Exclaimation! perfume from the 80s – and yes, poison was apparently the strongest notes hah

    • Lena

      Oh, that’s wonderful Soozle :) To tell the truth, the smell of Rose Water also evokes strong memories for me too….

  14. Lena

    Right! Never actually clued into that, but it makes perfect sense now! And I was an epic NKOTB fan :)

    Of course I remember Exclamation! But I was more of a Tribe girl :)

  16. Victoria Ess

    What does it mean if this doesn’t jog any memories for me? Even so, I was dying of laughter at some of these comments!

    • Lena

      Hmmm… I’m not sure? Did you grow up in Canada? Can’t believe you don’t know about Noxzema!!

      • Victoria Ess

        I did grow up in Canada!! I even just googled Noxzema, hoping that something would ring a bell. The triple clean anti-blemish pads sound like they might be something I used in my adolescence… if a) the packaging has changed dramatically, b) I’m not actually thinking of Oxy pads, and c) my strong desire to be included in this conversation hasn’t led to self-implanted false memories…

        • Lena

          HAHAHAHA you’re too funny! Okay, I used Oxy Pads in the 90’s and you’re probably thinking of those. Huh, I guess you must have missed the commercials!

  17. Jessie Fortin

    OMG!I used Noxema in the ’90 and i loved it so much.I tought it doesn’t exist no more,i will buy it again for sure.

  18. Susan T.

    I loved Noxema cream! It still smells like summer to me, probably because I used it on sunburns. (The 90’s were so bad for skin!)