The Beautification Project

I can almost taste the fresh fruit from the farm stand as we drive northbound to Hudson, New York. Our client, a famous beauty influencer, is stationed at a cool farm house in the Hudson Valley. We have worked for her before. We pit stopped at a local farm stand on the way home last time. I gave promises to my family to come home with a triple berry pie this time.

We drive pass fields of corn and sunflowers. Our clients neighbors have a problem. No, not with our client but rather with the black crows that want to eat the corn. The neighbors installed a bird scaring cannon system whereby a small blast goes off every 60 seconds. The blast was loud. It was also irritating after listening to it for several hours. Somehow, I managed to get used to it. My colleague, Sloan, did not.

We pull into the long driveway to be welcomed by the client and her young daughter, blowing bubbles. Oscar, the friendly golden retriever smothers us with love and, muddy paws. We carry boxes of product that we brought in our SUV. Lots of clear, plastic bins. Our job, if we choose to accept it, is to organize boatloads of beauty and makeup products in the....old basement.

The client walks us down into the not-so-creepy but old, basement. The walls are made of large fieldstones. There are boxes upon boxes of skincare, makeup and beauty products. I love makeup, so I am in heaven. Charlotte Tilbury, SkinCeuticals, VIctoria Beckham. I am excited! I love to explore new makeup and skincare products.

I find a Dr. Dennis Grossman SpectraLite Mask! Oh, I need that! Only $455.00 but worth it is every penny! "Experience real results with light therapy at home". Yes, please! I begin by gathering all of the skin care products. I separate the toners from the creams from the moisturizers. I gather all of the fun "tools" like the mask. There are jade tools, eye masks, lip masks, face masks, face cleaning tools, skincare wands and even facial massagers. I have a lot to learn. I am wiling! I am....vain.

Sloan is in charge of the makeup products. She is sorting the eye makeup, blushes, countless foundations, lip glosses, lip plumpers, mascaras and highlighters. I do not use highlighter. Do I need to? As can be expected, when one is a beauty influencer, one must experiment with a wide assortment of products. Voila, here we are.

The client's cleaning comes down to the basement frequently. Not to check on us but rather, to switch out the laundry. Housekeepers and other "help" often find us too intrusive. We are in their domain. We get it. Perhaps she is spying on us.

We brought large, clear bins with us. We sort all of the products into three categories: skincare, makeup and tools. It takes us the better part of the day to categorize it all. There are hundreds of products.

Sloan and I decide to take a fifteen minute break for lunch. We head back on upstairs to the kitchen. There is an antique rectangular wooden dining table. We pull out two chairs, admire the pretty flowers at the center of the table, and listen to the calming sounds of...the loud blasts from the neighbor. So peaceful. The client is currently in litigation with the noisy neighbor.

Break is over! Back down to our quarters we go. Once all of the products are sorted, we begin the process of labeling each bin. Then, we stack up all of the bins by category, to make it easier for the client.

The client comes downstairs to check on our progress. She is quite pleased. She tells us that we can each take two products. YES! I could not be happier. I do not have to think long. I grab the Dr. Dennis Grossman SpectraLite Mask and some LifeWave Patches. Winning!

Sloan and I say goodbye to our client. We pull out of the driveway and head over to the farm stand down the road. I buy apples, strawberries, honey, maple syrup, corn and the triple berry pie. My family is going to be happy to see me. It was a good day.