In life, trends come and go. Things that we seemingly were never able to live without (the Spice Girls or Jessica McClintock prom dresses, to name a few) go away, and remind us of just how much we loved and appreciated those things once upon a time. Bonne Bell, the company that owns Lip Smackers, is one of those things.
Whenever news surfaces that a childhood staple of ours is now a thing of the past, there’s a small (OK, huge) pang of sadness that ensues. Even if you have not purchased or even thought about a Lip Smacker since the early 2000’s, you can understand the heartbreak that came upon reading this WYKC report that Bonne Bell is shutting down operations in its hometown of Westlake, Ohio; Lip Smackers will only be available in Asia, Europe and Australia come March 29.
Here at HuffPost, we’re devastated about the loss. Many of us grew up collecting every flavor, trading them with our friends and even sneaking in a lick (or three hundred.) So, in honor of yet another piece of our youth being nabbed away from us, we’ve rounded up the best reactions and memories from around our newsroom.
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And if these memorials aren’t enough of a tribute for you, here’s an entire eulogy:
“I have vague memories of eating half a stick of Strawberry after my mom sent me to my room without dessert (“This’ll show her!”) Years later, that visceral experience had apparently not reduced the romance associated with Lip Smackers. When I learned something about scent being associated with memory, I became convinced I had to train my very first “boyfriend” to love me by smell. The fact that he rarely wore deodorant (and that we mostly talked over AIM) was besides the point. When we had our fleeting interactions on the playground — before running away from each other in opposite directions out of sheer embarrassment — I would always smell like a hefty dose of strawberry-esque chemicals. RIP, Bonne Bell. My lips feel vaguely chapped already.” Lauren Duca, Entertainment Reporter
Protect your lips from the sun with these delicious sporty SPF 24 lip balms. #lipsmacker #lipbalm #summer #fun >A photo posted by Official Lip Smacker (@lipsmackerbrand) on May 29, 2014 at 7:35am PDT(h/t Cosmopolitan)
