The Upsell

This past January, to celebrate the Presidential Inauguration, my boss invited a bunch of women to get makeovers at Saks with the makeup artist who does her makeup. I'm not necessarily a fan of getting my makeup done - I have found that generally they use more makeup than I like - but my boss' makeup is well done and I'm always open to learning something new about how to apply makeup.

When I arrived with the wife of one of my colleagues, the makeovers were already in process. She and I had been downtown witnessing the Swearing-in on the national Mall. As a result, we had been in the sun, in the cold (although it wasn't that bad), in casual clothes, and no makeup. Not exactly perfect preparation for the rest of the day - dinner at the Ritz in party clothes - but we'd brought our clothes with us and we were there to be made up.

Unfortunately, I didn't think my makeover was particularly good and ultimately it didn't make me feel pretty. Which to me is what makeup is all about. I didn't think my eyes popped, and I think my eyes are my best feature. And I was a little insulted when she told me that I should use this special cream to fix my skin.

I've struggled with acne my entire adult life. I didn't ever outgrow it. In fact, in my 30s, it even got worse. For years, I used antibiotics - pills and topical creams - to give myself clear skin. In the past few years, I had stopped using the pills, but I was still using the topical creams. And they did a pretty good job of keeping my skin clear. But not always. And during that period in January, my face was a little broken out.

So I understood the makeup artist's point; it was just that somehow she made it seem like it was my fault.

And I also knew that ultimately, she was working the upsell. The upsell is an unfortunate aspect of getting a makeover. Since these makeovers were a present from our boss and since they were in celebration of an historic event, I wasn't really mentally prepared for an upsell. I guess I should have been, but I wasn't. I just wanted to enjoy the experience of having someone make me up for the night's celebration after the excitement and joy that the day had brought. I didn't want to be faced with saying no, thank you. And to some extent, felt a little bit like if I did so, it would be insulting to my boss. Who was doing this nice thing for us. And so it was an uncomfortable place to be.

At the end of the makeover, the makeup artist asked me if I wanted to buy any of the products she had used on me. As I said, I didn't really like the way she had done my makeup, so I didn't feel like there was anything that I wanted to buy. Also, I'm pretty loyal to the brand of makeup that I've been using. I have a hard time getting makeup to stay on my skin and my eyes. So now that I've found something that works me, I didn't really want to change it.

So as not to insult my boss and so as not to say no to everything, I said I'd take a jar of the skin cream that was supposed to deal with my sensitive skin and clear it up. I was skeptical, but I felt like I had to buy something. I wasn't really planning to use it.

I have to admit that in the heat of the moment and because we were running late for dinner, I didn't really look at the price tag. I handed over my credit card, I signed the receipt, and I took the skin cream. When I got home, after dinner, late, I unpacked all my stuff - the clothes from the day, the souvenirs I had bought on the Mall, and the skin cream. I finally took the time to look at the receipt.

And I about threw up...

I expected this little jar of cream to cost about $60-75. It was $200. Now I can afford to pay that. But it was a shock to my system. Such a little jar of skin cream. $200. Really? I thought about returning it. But since my boss goes to this particular makeup artist routinely, I was afraid it would get back to her. And I didn't want to insult her.

So I changed my mind about using it.

And, as a true challenge to its powers, I stopped using the prescribed topical creams that I had been using.

And it worked.

And I've been back to buy it twice since then. (Each jar lasts about 3 months.)

And yes, it's still $200 a jar. And worth every penny....