post.9.

i love my job. i don’t know if many individuals can say that honestly – let alone part-time, mall employees – but for real, i couldn’t be happier to go to work. i work at bare escentuals, a tiny mineral make-up boutique in the empire mall. the company has boutiques all over the country, but ours is the only one in south dakota.

i have always been fixated with make-up, loving to experiment with color and style. working at bare escentuals, i do make up on at least fifteen women every shift. however, bare escentuals isn't just your run-of-the-mill kind of make-up company. we are about inner beauty - not just being pretty, but beautiful, and belive me, there is a difference. sure, we'll sell you the make up, but we'll also get to know and love you. we will laugh with you and cry with you, and thats not just a cheesy line. its one hundred percent true; i've experienced both.

women come in every shape and size and color, each with a different story and reason for stopping in. some have always wanted to wear make-up but have never known how, others simply want to look younger, and some come in with wheel chairs or amazing stories of cancer survival. women with severe scarring or deep redness walk in timidly, wondering if we have anything for “skin like theirs.” teens come in with their moms wanting to know where to start.

what an honor it is that these women so willingly put their trust, and sometimes more importantly, their self esteem in the hands of a stranger – me. by the time they are finished, though, we aren’t strangers anymore. i know their stories, their families, their interests, their occupations, and they know mine. we are friends, and we greet each other by name, even weeks later.

similarly, the women i work with are inspirational as well. never have i experienced a work environment as much like a family as the one i have now. we all enjoy each other, sincerely, and we lean on each other for support, motivation, and love.

being away from this family for so much of the month has been much more difficult than i imagined. my first shift back into work was almost tearful for me, we all shouted and hugged – it was amazing.

lisa, erin, amanda, katie, alyssa, kylie, cass, angie, bekah and m’lynn: you make me a better woman, a more beautiful woman, inside and out. you’ve changed my life and introduced me to a new passion, and for that I can never be grateful enough.