The Right Lipstick Is Everything

We all have those moments, those connections, those encounters and random interactions, that can strike a chord and suddenly become an event we will never forget.

Several weeks ago, a woman and her mother came in to my counter. I could see how close they were and how special their relationship was. The mother was quite frail but very animated and happy. She had a date with her 90-year-old husband that night, and the daughter wanted to help her mom look and feel beautiful—they were going to a ballroom dance at the nursing home. I distinctly remember that when we got to the lips, her mother wanted to wear a pretty red lipstick, so we found the perfect one, and she really did look fabulous. It was an Estee Lauder lipstick, and she loved it—she said it made her feel young again. I enjoyed those ladies and the stories they shared with me immensely. They made my day.

Today, the daughter came back, alone this time. She was bare faced and said she had left her house specifically to see me. She told me that she had lost her mother this week and was not feeling well. She asked if I could help her. I hugged her and got her into my chair. I deliberately worked slowly; she was talking up a storm, and it was helping her feel better. She remarked several times that her husband had said she should go see a shrink, but she told him no and joked that instead, she would just come see me.

She told me about seeing her deceased mother’s face for the first time, and she was so sad at how “flat” it looked. She ended up going home and returning with the red lipstick from our makeover session and put it on her. The funeral director remarked that it was “too bright” and suggested they try something different. The daughter said his comment upset her, and she was adamant that it not be wiped off because her mother loved that lipstick—it made her feel good—so that is what she would wear.

This woman shared a lot with me today. She kept apologizing for talking so much, but I told her that talking is what I get paid to do all day long: I share my passion, I connect, and I talk to people. There was no big climactic sale at the end; in fact, she didn’t buy a single thing from me today, but she definitely left the counter with what she needed.

What I do every day as a Beauty Advisor…what we do…we connect and touch others in a way that is so important. Sometimes we are girlfriends, sometimes we are teachers, other times students, and sometimes, like my experience today, we are therapists.

At my Fall lab for Estee Lauder, our instructor, Arlenis, mentioned a customer who said she felt like she was “lucky” to have had a good experience when she went to a makeup counter. Estee Lauder has empowered all of us BAs with the ability to use our talents to make others look and feel beautiful and for that, I think we are the lucky ones.

Leave a Reply