I spent the first nine years of my life in St. Albans Queens where my mother owned a beauty salon. It was there that I mimicked the beauty treatments that were performed on the seemingly endless parade of bouffant styled rhinestoned tiared women who frequented the salon. It was at that young age I learned eyelashes could come in a box and be glued onto eyelids and those intricately twisted and coiled coifs that my mother effortlessly constructed had to be thoroughly lacquered with a gelatinous pink "Dippity-Doo" goop that had her name artfully overlayed on the sleek black jar. Those jars and other beauty items that bore my mother's name were elegantly displayed near the cash register. That was my introduction to the world of
persuasive advertising. As a teenager growing up in Islip, Long Island I was determined to
live the life I read about in fashion magazines. A transatlantic lifesyle seemed unimaginable
however, a ticket on the Long Island railroad was an attainable fantasy. I soon began working as a model and a freelance makeup artist in B. Altmans, Bonwit Teller, Bloomingdales and other dept stores. Years later I would return to Long Island and manage various counters including
Clarins and more recently N.V. Perricone cosmeceuticals. The surburban customer has
turned me off from the career I so loved. The surburban customer must be coddled and finessed and that still won't prevent her from returning a near empty jar claiming that it 'irritated her skin". Comments?