Coco Chanel once said, “The best things in life are free, but the second best are extremely expensive.” She had it so right, yet so wrong.
I work in retail, which has a rep for being the worst. You know, dealing with bitchy clients, long hours, sore feet — which is true in some places…like, um, Kmart. But working at Nordstrom is fabulous — each employee basically runs their own mini business. Plus, it comes with luxe perks. My favorite, obviously, is the cosmetics swag! The cosmetics team is bombarded with an insane amount of beauty freebies — and after choosing their favorites, we get the leftovers. Of course, said “leftovers” include mascara, eye shadow and polish from brands like YSL, Lancôme and Chanel. The only issue? All that access to the swankiest beauty gems has made me an expensive makeup junkie. An unrepentant beauty snob. No DiorShow mascara at the giveaway party? Fine, I’ll just drop $33 at the Dior counter for a tube…and add a lipstick. And a blush. And that new primer! My budget just can’t take it anymore, guys. This spring, I decided to take an expensive makeup break…and the funny thing is, I think I found my eyeshadow soulmate.
I recently walk-of-shamed to work in date makeup from the night before. Every beauty junkie for miles gushed over my eyeshadew — a smoky golden bronze color that make my brown eyes look buttery. My coworkers were dying! Was it an Armani quad from last Christmas’ grab bag? A preview summer shade from Estée Lauder? Nope. It was Cover Girl Smoky Eyeshadow Stick in Bronze Fire – and my significantly less expensive shadow kicked off a huge trend at work. Despite being besieged by freebies, a good twenty Nordie girls are now addicted to these luminous Cover Girl sticks. The best part? Not one of my co-workers has the same coloring, but the shadows are so universally flattering that they’re perfect on each of their eye and skin colors. The only problem is, I love them so much…I bought two in every shade. I’ll never learn.
xo,
LaToya