The one(s) that got away

Have you ever had a favorite food product or consumer item discontinued after you fell in love with it? Are you the angel of death for products you love? Do you find something and then discover it has been heartlessly ripped from the shelves of your local emporium?

I've gathered you here today to tell you about three things I loved that are gone, probably never to return. I say probably because, well, just keep reading.

I loved this gum. I don't like Altoids mints because contrary to peppermint's ability to calm an upset tummy, the curiously strong taste of an Altoid mint has the exact opposite effect on me. But the cinnamon gum! I found these one day during a trip to Ohio and I bought them faithfully. At some point, they began disappearing from shelves in various stores until finally, the last store to have them, which was Trader Joe's in my area, stopped carrying them as well. Apparently, they are gone. Sad.

Here is the product that changed the lives of many a teen-aged girl a few decades back. Oh man, how I miss you! This stuff was identifiable in a busy high school hallway more than any perfume back then. Back in the early 90s, I went into a small, old-fashioned drug store in Topeka, Kansas. They probably don't even have drugstores like the one I visited anywhere in the United States anymore. I went in and I was looking around, killing time when BOOM! I saw a few bottles of this stuff sitting on a dusty shelf. I bought them right away.

The problem with this shampoo is only that they stopped making it. You can buy a reformulated GYHST from Vermont Country Store, but it doesn't smell the same and it doesn't have the staying power in the slightest. The VC Store comments on the website that the original formulation included deer musk, which is no longer considered an acceptable ingredient, so at least we have some information. But it isn't the same. Not at all. Sad.

I came across this compact powder on vacation one year. I was at Walmart because all vacations center around a Walmart visit sooner or later and I needed something with sunscreen in it that I could reapply during the day during travel. I saw this with sunscreen, so I snapped it up. It's fantastic! Miraculous! I don't wear a lot of makeup mostly because it all comes up off my face and mingles with other elements of makeup, smears, flakes and so on. It doesn't seem to matter if I use expensive or cheap or somewhere in between, but let's not get me started on my makeup woes. I have fully accepted the fact that in truth, life with almost no makeup is just a lot easier.

This stuff goes on smoothly and it COVERS things like little sun spots and redness. It's absolutely amazing. Everyone should be wearing this stuff every day of every year. So what does Physician's Formula do? They stop making it.

The good news is that maybe since it isn't in stores anymore, people have forgotten it and I just bought two more compacts from some company selling through Amazon. It said "only 2 in stock" so you bet your sweet bippee I bought both of them. I'm about 90% certain they were in an acceptable shade.


Do you have any former loves that are no longer available? Is there anything you'd like to get off your chest about a favorite product you can't find anymore? Do you have a success story?