Good Friday?

There are days and then there are those days, yesterday for example.
Angry shouty woman at 10.30 am, bought fragrance and body lotion on Thur. Brought it back on Fri, because she had 'a reaction'. Couldn't show us the dreadful rash, stuck down the packaging with sellotape, insisted she hadn't used it and shouted a lot about us accusing her of lying.
So how do you get a reaction from something you haven't used?

12.20 pm Miss Marple answered the phone to a customer. This lady wanted to know the difference between the bottles of a particular fragrance in Edt and Edp. Only half way through the conversation did she say, 'I'm blind'. Then, 'it's the peach fragrance' and then said, 'I haven't seen the Edt bottle yet.' Even more bizarre was, 'well I don't have it with me.'
Miss Marple was not amused at having to state the obvious.
Now, we have a lot of disabled customers and we relish the opportunity to push ourselves when describing the smell, texture, colour or effects of our products. So please forgive us for sniffing out a bank holiday fake.

2pm and the Hall of Plenty's first aider was called to administer to a couple who had fallen over breaking a finger, losing their teeth and displacing a wig under the Spray Tester Stand.

About 4pm 'She who must be obeyed' nearly died when she handed a customer's husband a tissue. Busy using one of our cotton buds to clean out his ears, he smartly handed them back once he'd finished.
Nice!

Rounded off by the customer who's child wee'd all over the floor because she was too busy buying fake eyelashes to take him to the toilet, I was not surprised to find myself waiting for 'He who pays the Mortgage and the tiny hands' to pick me , stood next to a former Doctor Who.

Just one day in the world of cosmetics!

Sharing the Easter Love.

Easter is nearly here and the 'tiny hands ' are almost as excited as they were at Christmas. Half term has arrived, for the sake of my sanity and the safety of our hamster, I should have booked some holidays. Its hard to confess, but the sense of relief to drop them off at my parents and go into work was massive, it really does come to something when the Hall of Plenty is an ocean of tranquility compared to home.

And do you know, I'm not the only one, sometimes our counter has more in common with a therapist's. Having worked with some of my colleagues for a good while, we have noticed that there are times when a customer will confess their fears to us, share a story or confide in us when they probably wouldn't else where. There is a moment of trust when somebody strips you of your make up and reapplies what they feel you should wear. For us, that is a very precious thing.
Over the years I have had the privilege to meet some wonderful inspirational people, I say people, because they are not always women. Plenty of men purchase from us and they too share. Its easy in Cosmetics and Fragrance to only talk about the people who complain, return stuff or are just plain rude to us for no reason. But there is whole world of customers for whom we are a  support system. A bit of good advice, a shoulder to cry on, we have even reviewed cv's and boosted confidence before big interviews.
So while I won't be painting eggs or making handmade chocolate lollies, that's what Mum has planned to wear them out, I won't be feeling guilty.
We may not be saving lives out there but at least we can share a bit of Easter love.