Both the Beauty and the Ugly in the Beauty Industry

By Liliana Gonzalez
Motlow Buzz Contributing Writer   

         

            SMYRNA -- I was about 15 years old when I first started wearing makeup. At 16 years old, I remember trying to glue on a pair of eyelashes for the first time, and it was a nightmare! It took a whole 45 minutes to glue them on correctly. Halfway through the process, I glued one of my eyes together.

Now I think back and laugh at that memory. I can get both eyelashes perfectly on in a total of five minutes. At the age of 20 today, I have worked in the beauty industry for two years. I was a prestige makeup artist for Ulta Beauty for two years.

I have learned many things while working in the beauty industry, including networking, upselling, and most importantly making the customer feel beautiful. There are a lot of perks that come with working in this field. However, there are also many negatives.

In this article, I will share what it is like to work at a retail beauty store, some beauty tips and tricks, how to not break the bank when buying makeup, and the experiences I have gone through.

            When you are working for a retail beauty store, the goal is obviously to upsell the most you can. When a customer asked us for help, we were trained to listen to the customer and always start with the most expensive high-end product to recommend to the customer.

 I believe this way is flawed because I knew that there were products that worked just fine that were lower priced. For example, a customer would ask for a glitter primer. My job was to recommend the “Too Faced Glitter Glue Glitter Shadow Primer,” which retailed for $20. This was even though I knew that the “NYX Professional Makeup Glitter Primer” retailed for $6.49 and worked exactly the same as the higher-end one.

I could not tell the customer my personal knowledge and experience while comparing the higher-end products to the lower-end products. I did not like that, so I always broke the rules. In my opinion, that is the right thing to do. Women of all ages would come to me and ask me in confidence what best suited them. Morally, I felt like I had to be honest with them. I knew my morals were not lining up with the company’s ethics. Although this was one negative, I believe the positives outweighed that.

            My favorite part of working in the beauty industry was practicing the craft that I adore, all day, every day. My job was to make women and men feel beautiful and help them when they came to me for advice or for a makeover. It felt amazing when I knew I was teaching someone something new and their eyes would light up with excitement as they gained knowledge. I always gave it my all when it came to giving people makeovers. My clients would always return to me, and that felt amazing!

People are always curious to know if we ever got free makeup. The answer is yes, all the time. Apart from having your major discount of 25 percent off various products (which is a lot when it comes to buying expensive makeup), sometimes the brands will double this amount to 50 percent. For example, our normal discount was offered all the time, but some weeks a brand would double it. Brands do this because they are fighting for the employees to try their brands, so that we can sell their products to customers and increase sales. I also networked a lot with the different makeup companies’ vendors. The vendors are the people who represent a brand at the store.

Every week, there were vendors who came in for every brand. Your goal was to be their friend and act like their brand was the best one in the store. It was all about getting close to the vendor. That way, they could give you free products in return. I know it sounds bad, but that was the way it worked. You had to be likeable and sell yourself to these brands.

For example, the "TooFaced" brand vendor would come into the store, and I would have to fight with the other girls for attention. Not literally, but we would all try and get alone time with the vendor and try to talk to them as much as we could. I have to admit I did get free makeup this way. I got the “Too Faced Sweet Peach Eyeshadow Palette” for free, which retails for $49. Another perk was the training for new product launches.

In the beauty industry, new products are being launched all the time, and customers are always looking for the newest, hottest products out there. We would have parties in the store for employees only when a product would launch. We would get to try new products that had not hit the shelf yet and take it home for free to try it out. That is where our knowledge for products would come from. With so many products in the store, we could not give customers advice if we had never personally tried the product.

One of the major things I have learned from working in the beauty industry that I am sharing with you today is to not always trust the sales reps at beauty stores. They are always going to try to upsell to meet their personal goal. They are most likely lying half of the time when talking about a beauty product with you.

I made the mistake of trusting a different beauty store representative when I was 15 years old. I walked in not knowing what I was doing, and I asked an employee for help. She convinced me into buying expensive items that were awful. When I got home, I cried. I learned my lesson and turned to watching makeup tutorials online instead for advice.

The online beauty world is so massive today that you can get all of the latest info every week from hundreds of girls on YouTube. They are sent makeup for free encourage them to give their honest opinions on it. They share to the audience what is actually worth your money, and they will even teach you techniques on how to apply the makeup. That is truly the best way to go into the makeup world.

There are many online beauty bloggers with the latest tips and tricks. A very popular one can be found at https://intothegloss.com/

Overall, working in the beauty industry is fun and exciting. I encourage every beauty fanatic to try it.

The most important thing I can leave you with is a quote by Coco Chanel: “A smile is the best makeup anyone can wear.”

Makeup empowers people of all ages and genders, and it is a beautiful artistry in which you can express yourself any way. 

Tips and Tricks for a Great Salon Experience

By Lindsay King

Motlow Buzz Contributing Writer

                 

                                                           

SMYRNA-- For years now, most women follow the beauty trend of doing their nails. But the question is, “How do I know which salon will best fit my needs?”

Personally, I want quality nails at pocket-friendly prices. I do not want to break the bank. Unfortunately, sometimes “quality over quantity” comes into play, as some salons are less talented than others, resulting in poor quality nails.

            I like to refer to some people as salon shoppers. They visit different salons to see which ones are best and the most affordable. A popular question asked is, “How do people choose between all of these different salons?”

            In my personal opinion, when browsing for a nail salon online, chain salons like Nails So Happy usually do not have the best quality, although they are a chain salon. In my experience, local salons cater more to my needs, while providing friendlier service for their clients. I have found that reading online customer reviews helps you choose the best salons. Being able to frequently visit a local business always helps foster pleasant relationships with the nail beauticians.  

My Personal Favorite:

             I have been going to “T-Salon” for about two years now. Out of all of the salons that I have tried in the past, I have found that they do the best job and truly care about their customers. When trying new nail techniques like the SNS “dip” technique, T heavily informed me on the process as well as the removal. I really appreciate that he educates his customers on each process to ensure satisfaction. The staff there are friendly and very talented in their work. I’m always sure of having a good set of nails when I go to T-Salon.

Articles like http://www.nailsmag.com/article/121846/tips-on-dips can be very helpful to salon owners and employees. They are able to educate themselves, as well as their customers on each technique.

What I Liked About My Experience:

Every time I enter T-Salon, I am always greeted with the same friendly faces of the owner referred to as “T” and his long-time faithful employees. While I am in the salon, I get to catch up on “International House Hunters”, which I believe must be T’s favorite show. It is playing every single time that I am there. I really enjoy that every time I visit T-Salon salon, they always cater to exactly what I want, as opposed to what they want. I really appreciate that the employees are never pushy towards me, nor try to upsell me, which results in a possible overcharge.

Which Technique to Choose:

            My new personal favorite technique when going into the nail salon would have to be the Dip. I prefer the Dip simply because of the fact that they hold up much longer than gel. They do not hurt my nails like acrylic. For those who are unfamiliar with Dip, it is a new alternative to acrylic nails and is healthier for the growth of the nail.

When using the Dip, the process is still rather similar to the acrylic. They still use a drill on your nail, but only for a short amount of time as opposed to the acrylic option. Your nail is then painted with a clear “dip polish” and “dipped” into the nail powder color of your choice. The process is repeated several times to ensure durability. Dipped nails typically last about four weeks with no cracks or chips depending on how fast your nails grow.

After reading Julia Gsell’s in-depth blog https://www.houstoniamag.com/articles/2017/7/13/i tried-it-dip-powder-nails covering her exploration with dipped nails, I came to find that she also had a successful experience with the SNS nails.

The only thing that I don’t really care for about the “dipped” nails is the removal process when going to get a new set put on. The technicians drill the nail and then place your finger on a cotton ball drenched in acetone. They then carefully wrap it inside tinfoil and let it sit for about 10 minutes, which makes the process a lot longer.

What Could Have Been Better About My Experience?

            My nail-salon companion, Olivia, accompanied me on my recent visit. She received a pedicure that was not quite up to par with past visits. She received a cut from a nail buffer. The nail tech then poured acetone on top of her nails, resulting in a painful experience. It was decidedly not her favorite outing to the nail salon.  

My Experience as a Whole:

Overall, my whole experience at T-Salon recently was rather exceptional, although I did have to wait around 30 extra minutes to get my nails done because of under staffing. However, it was well worth the wait. I was pleasantly surprised when I went to pay my bill and saw that it was less than usual. To my surprise, if you still have on a full set, the price is only $36 instead of the normal price of $41, which is a great deal and definitely worth it. All in all, I was very pleased with my nails, even though it took longer than normal this time around. The color coral pink that I chose complimented my nails beautifully.

Be Beautiful the Natural Way

By Shanice Green

Motlow Buzz Contributing Writer

SMYRNA--Do you suffer from sudden breakouts, load of acne, or annoying black spots from applying makeup? It is highly important to take care of your face if you use makeup daily and even more important to make sure you are using the right products that are perfect for your skin.

Continuing to use toxic ingredients from makeup on your face will eventually harm you and will cause health problems. Using all-natural based makeup products will not only keep your face healthy and beautiful, but it will allow your face to stay young and glow.

Cheap makeup brands are affordable, but some of the drug store brands will break your sensitive skin out.

“It’s important to read the label and look for products that work best for your skin type,” according to a recent story in the publication Medical Daily. Dr. Lindsey Bordone, a dermatologist, also mentioned that even if a popular “natural” makeup has aloe or other natural ingredients, that doesn’t mean it is best for you. The skin on your face is valuable and deserves products that will keep your face hydrated and healthy.

To learn more, visit https://www.medicaldaily.com/skin-clearing-makeup-organic-makeup-healthy-skin-387932.

For example, brands like Tarte Cosmetics are made of all-natural products that are extremely healthy for your face. These ingredients include acai berries, which come from a species of palm trees in Europe.

Another antioxidant brand is Physicians Formula that was especially made for women with sensitive skin. Physician’s Formula uses non-toxic ingredients and is hypoallergenic.

Popular makeup brands tend to lead you on like they are all-natural or that they are good for your skin, but sometimes that is not the case.

            For instance, the Vitamin C in fruits is good for your skin, and this is why makeup brands usually take this for an advantage. Fruits like blueberries, kiwi, pineapple, papaya and strawberries are parts of Vitamin C that help with blemishes and allow your face to feel and look radiant. Brands that use Vitamin C in their products are more likely using it to appeal to you.

Vitamin C

            Everyone will eventually age, but using all-natural makeup products will prolong the wrinkles.

“Wrinkles and age spots are the inevitable result of time, but skin aging may be sped up by overexposure to the sun and tanning beds…treat your skin kindly an optimize your nutrition by eating antioxidant-rich fruit,” said BBC’s Good Food magazine.  

Women should monitor what they eat, how they sleep, or what they do that could harm your skin. Taking care of yourself, including your face, is very important to maintain a healthy, everyday life.

For more information, visit https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/eat-your-way-fabulous-skin.

            In fact, using organic and non-toxic makeup products are best to use for women with health problems and sensitive skin. These all-natural makeup products soothe and heal your skin for the better. Putting harmful and toxic chemicals on your face will put you at health risk and make your face lose its natural beauty.

            As the result, acne is the biggest threat to using makeup. Makeup acne has its own special name called acne cosmetica. Acne cosmetic is tiny, red bumps that appear on your face that block your pores.

“Acne cosmetica occurs when oils from your makeup collect in and clog your pores, so thick liquid or cream products are more often culprits than are lighter products like powders,” according to an article in the Health section of How Stuff Works.

Be careful when you apply makeup on, and remember not to use too much and create a cake-like look. This blocks your pores and creates negative reactions.         

To learn more, visit https://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/beauty/skin-and-makeup/makeup-affect-your-skin.htm.

            In my own experience, applying makeup was an everyday thing that I loved to do. The issue I had with my face was my sensitive, oily skin. I needed makeup products that would keep my face from sweating the makeup off and also keep it from breaking out. I even had to spend extra dollars on better makeup brands to keep my face healthy.

All-natural make up and skincare

Regrettably, I was spending hundreds of dollars on makeup to make my face look good. To prevent me from spending more money than I was getting in, I had to talk with a makeup specialist at Ulta Beauty. She surprisingly told me that I did not have to spend as much as I was to keep my face healthy. The specialist said for me to try drug store brands with antioxidant ingredients and she was right. As soon as I started buying antioxidant makeup, my face was clear, hydrated and healthy.

            Listen ladies, if you cannot afford expensive makeup, then do not buy it! You do not need it to make your face look good and clear. Speaking from someone who knows where you’re coming from, you just need all-natural makeup made from all-natural ingredients. Use the safe route when it comes to your face, because your face has the most precious skin.

The skin on your face is the hardest part of your body to keep clear. This is why it is highly important to watch what you apply to your face. Even try sustaining from applying fragrance-free products to your face, because they can cause negative skin reactions. Your face may not look like its suffering now, but underneath your pores, it causes a problematic long-term effect.

            It is at most importance to apply all-natural makeup products to your skin to hold on to your youth, beauty and health. Wearing makeup daily is normal and perfectly fine. As long as you maintain a healthy routine by cleaning your face and using suitable products for your skin, your face will thank you. You do not have to wear makeup to be beautiful, but if you are a makeup lover, using the healthiest makeup products will benefit the future you.

For more detailed information on healthy makeup brands check out, visit www.thegoodtrade.com/features/18-natural-organic-makeup-brands-your-face-will-love-you-for.

For more face care tips, visit https://www.aurorahealthcare.org/patients-visitors/blog/is-your-makeup-safe-5-skin-healthy-makeup-tips.