I have a confession – my years in beauty PR have turned me into a product junkie. Just look at the picture above of my personal beauty product closet, jam packed with anything and everything a girl would need in a beauty emergency. From youth promising serums, to lush lipcolors, hair beautifiers and self-tanners – I am one girl who can say that I have tried it all!
You may be thinking – where did all these products come from? Good question. Most of the products I receive I giveaway, but once a year I am replenished by the annual CEW Product Demonstration Night, an evening where hundreds of beauty and fragrance companies show off their newest products here in New York. Thousands of industry professionals attend and leave lugging a huge bag full of products containing more goodies than can be used in a calendar year.
Ironically, my husband also works in the beauty industry, which compounds the problem and immensely adds to our collection. Since he does not use the products himself he brings everything home to me – sometimes in triplicate! Although he would never admit it I do catch him using a few of my products especially the new Dial NutriSkin Body Wash; one of my favorites and a client of MMC.
Some may think that three shelves devoted to my beauty arsenal is a waste – especially in New York where space is a premium. But I don’t see it that way. For me, beauty is a passion, a hobby and I am lucky to be working in a career that I consider both.
For my birthday, my husband Jake surprised me with a twelve week French course at NYU. I am looking forward to my fourth class this evening. Once upon a time I spoke French fairly well. I was able to carry on lengthy conversations and read simple written materials but my French has lapsed. I was always “planning” to get back into classes but with my busy schedule it just never happened.
Recently I received the push I needed when Jake accepted a new position at L’Oreal. In his role he will be taking many business trips to France, so he has a renewed interest in studying French himself. He will be taking beginning classes while I will be in the accelerated course. Honestly, I think he just wants help with his homework!
Here are my top 10 reasons pour etude française:
1. I will properly be able to order a pain au chocolat at Claude, an amazing West Village bakery
2. I will be able to watch Breathless without subtitles
3. In case I find myself at La Grenouille I will be able to handle the dessert selections
4. When I finally meet Christian Louboutin I will be able to discuss his latest collection
5. Once I have children I will be able to teach them my favorite French nursery rhyme, Il Ya Un Rat Dans Le Grenier
6. I won’t miss my stop on the metro in Paris (this has happened many times)
7. I will be able to understand the snarky comments made by the shop girls at Collette
8. I will read French Vogue by the Seine
9. I will haggle over the price of copper pots at E. Dehillerin
10. While I don’t know much about wine if I order in French people will assume I know what I am talking about
.and all that after 12 weeks I better get started!
April in New York is never warm and this year is especially cold; so I was excited when our Arizona based client, The Dial Corporation, invited us to attend their 2009 North American Marketing Awards. Besides offering a brief reprieve from the cold, the laundry care team at MMC was nominated for the 360° Marketing Award for our work on Purex Natural Elements laundry detergent in conjunction with the Purex Saves Green campaign we executed in April 2008.
This yearly event honors the best integrated marketing programs and ad campaigns from the past year across all home care and personal care categories. My colleague DeLisa and I traveled to Phoenix ready to accept our award and we were not going home empty handed!
Patterned after a celebrity awards show, “red carpet arrivals” were video taped and projected onto a large screen for all to see. DeLisa and I must have missed the memo about wearing black attire as we noticed immediately that we were the only ones in attendance wearing brightly colored dresses DeLisa in bright pink and me in bright purple. We didn’t mind standing out in the crowd, we are MMCers after all!
Our moment in the spotlight continued when the Purex Saves Green program was announced as a winner for the 360° Marketing category. We loved working on this program and were honored to be recognized with the Purex team for thought leadership and marketing innovation. This event was also a great time to bond with our brand team members (with whom we speak with everyday but rarely get to see face to face). It is rewarding to be part of the Dial company culture, which is full of dedicated, hard working individuals who love to have fun and produce trusted products for consumers.
