Beauty is Pain

Friday evening I received this e-mail:

Subject: Beauty Sale

Beauty Sale Tuesday May 20th in the conference room

12:30 - 1:30 for Magazine staff only

2:00 - 3:00 for

company employees

Please remember to bring cash and a bag (and a blunt weapon).

Today was Beauty Sale day.

I had my cash.

My bag.

And my blunt weapon. Just kidding.

Most of the women's magazine's at my company hold beauty sales semi-annually, once in May and once in December. A conference room table is covered with boxes and bins of hair care products, body lotions and skin care products. The conference room chairs are moved against the wall, on them are bags filled with mascara, eye-shadows, lipstick, foundation, cover-up, fake eyelashes, eyeliner, blush, and every other kind of make-up product in existence. Needless to say, there are tons and tons of quality beauty products, literally tons and tons. There are brands such a Nars, MAC and Bobbi Brown. Expensive right? In the real world, yes. In beauty sale world, $1. Everything is $1. ONE DOLLAR! Now you understand the need for a blunt weapon.

My first beauty sale landed me in a lot of trouble with Chicken Noodle Soup boss. I was a recent college grad on a tight budget, I was ecstatic for my first beauty sale. I didn't tell Chicken Noodle Soup boss where I was going and I spent an hour at the beauty sale. During that hour, Chicken Noodle Soup boss needed me to work on a "project" for her. The project: send issues to a client. Not exactly what I would call urgent. When I returned, Chicken Noodle Soup boss yelled at me about the importance of good communication between and employee and her boss. She was basically saying "don't go anywhere without telling me because you are my personal slave." It was awful, I wanted to cry. But the make-up was so worth it.

Today's beauty sale was conveniently scheduled during lunch. My co-workers and I and lined up outside the conference room doors at 12:15 PM. The line was already 10 people deep. At 12:30 the door opened. Women (and a few men) made their way into the conference room. There is some pushing and shoving. An evil eye to two. The room is small, people begin to sweat, the room begins to smell. But if you're really in it, you have your game face on and you ignore everyone else. And that's what I did. My strategy: grab as much as I can, edit down my bag later. I spent a hour and a half at the beauty sale and I spent $45. I left the beauty sale and felt like I had just run a marathon. My hair was a mess, my face was pale, I was dehydrated, I was starving, but I was so happy. Beauty sale day, as stressful as the time at the actual beauty sale is, is a really great day.