customer service and a glossy kiss

To be honest, I hardly ever shop at the mall anymore. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that I completely avoid going there. You see, I would so much rather just shop at thrift stores or discount stores such as Ross or Kohl's. There are varied reasons for this preference of mine, a few of them being the following: one, I am cheap; two, in my opinion, it is easy to start to look like everyone else when you shop at the mall; three, even though I like to look unique, I also love to shop, so I find waaaay too much stuff to buy whenever I enter the mall.

However, there is one thing you can't really find at my preferred stores, and that is good makeup. In general, I buy my makeup at WalMart or Target, like most good MidWestern girls do. I am so high class, I tell you. But since my bad skin is pretty much the bane of my existence, I finally decided that perhaps I ought to try some "good" makeup to see if that would help.

So, a few weeks ago, I ventured into The Mall. Eeek. I entered with a purpose and one clear destination in mind: the Bare Escentuals store. You see, my friend Brandie is a complete Bare Minerals makeup addict. Seriously, the girl practically has enough of their products to start her own franchise. And ever since I did this shoot of her a few weeks ago {note to self: I need to post more images from that shoot!}, I just couldn't get her makeup out of my mind!

See, I love to play makeup artist whenever I can for my shoots. So when I asked Brandie to pose for me, she showed up with her entire Bare Minerals collection. And I loved it! Each little pot of makeup was like a new tiny little pot of gold at the end of my rainbow! :) Also, Brandie's skin is just lovely, and she says it has everything to do with Bare Minerals makeup.

So I walked into the store. I had my makeup done by a cool chick. And I exited with less money, some Bare Mineral essentials, and the confidence that glowing skin would become my reality.

Fast forward a couple weeks to me arriving at home yesterday to find a package of goodies and a handwritten card from Bare Escentuals. Now, I am not quite sure if this is standard procedure for them or not. Because, of course, Brandie had originally met me at the store in order to lend her Bare Minerals expertise...and she was a little disappointed that I walked in and willingly dropped some cash, without them offering me any fun samples or such. So I'm not sure if she said anything later that might have resulted in my little thank you gift. But it doesn't matter, because I was and am extremely impressed!

Here's what I got...



and the card...



And here I am modeling the Cupcake lip gloss that I received a sample of...



Let me just say, I have always made a point of giving a handwritten thank you card to all my photography clients. So I was very impressed to receive the same treatment from a big company like Bare Escentuals, via the hand of "Beauty Ambassador" Shellica. {Thanks, girl! :)} And I especially liked the gold shimmery envelope the card came in -- Wait, scratch that. I especially enjoyed all the free makeup samples! :)

Well friends, I hope your weekend consists of good customer service experiences, fun makeup, or glossy kisses. Or a combination of all three. :)

~abi~