I Am Essential

What I learned over the past nine months about my career during the pandemic is that I am deemed a non-essential worker. I have been blessed in the last twenty years to work for major television networks. I have had the honor of taking care of presidents and countless A-list clients. I’ve also helped prepare brides for their weddings up until the pandemic. It started simply as the scroll at the bottom of the news. Then, we had warnings from state officials. All of a sudden, the virus hit like a hurricane and sat idly over the world, wreaking havoc over everything. Including, yes; all I have worked for. Postponing or all together canceling events and weddings I was booked for. Stopping anyone from visiting Cleveland, Ohio, especially celebrities and my cliental.

I hold four licenses in my state. When I received each one I thought, “Great I will have no boundaries. I could cut hair in any barber or beauty shop in the state. Perform manicures or skin treatments. I even hold an instructors license. Right now there is nothing I can do! When I started being a makeup artist, I lost most of my hair clients. I’ve been in the makeup business for nearly two decades and do not want to put myself in the position of starting over all over again for hairstyling.  Being pretty much unemployed now, I’ve considered doing hair again.  I am learning that chain hair salons don’t value their stylists. For instance, in a lot of cases stylists are paid minimum wage or a few dollars more. It is crazy to think this is about what I was paid 30 years ago doing hair and there has been no increase.

Then I wonder, could I teach? Teaching in cosmetology schools pay instructors about $12 an hour. What a joke. In order to apply, I would really need a desire to teach.  I also wouldn’t want to waste the time of an employer if I wasn’t going to stick with it. So here, I am; very frustrated and feeling stuck due to this virus, as many are. Being a freelancer, you have to bust your butt getting your name out, asking for reviews, and networking --  it all can be a lot of work. People who not in the business may not understand that sometimes, you don’t get a paycheck because you have overhead costs. Many makeup artists or stylists also have to pay for their own health insurance, only to have a huge deductible to reach. You definitely do this profession because you love it; generally you won’t get any paid sick days or vacation days and no pension account.

At the start of COVID, stylists were told to close. So many single Moms were trying to make money for their families, owners trying to pay rent. The bottom line and industry has taken a hit.  When I hear comments like the CARES bill was too generous, it made me very upset. SERIOULSY??? Too generous? People who say this don’t understand how far behind we will be this year. How that money was capped and only given out for a short period of time. Once it was over, that was it for the rest of the year. Not even coming close to what we need to survive in business or in life.

I am lucky because my husband is an essential worker in IT we aren’t going starved. However, I would be if I wasn’t married.  I hear how salons have had to invest into PPE to make their salons safe. Some businesses see clients aren’t coming back in on a normal schedule afraid to sit in a salon for a long appointment. Stylists are wearing masks for hours at a time, some not remembering or having the time to stay hydrated throughout the day creating new health issues.  Lastly, owners and staff fear being infected by COVID-19. If this happens having to close for another 10- 14 days again with no income coming in.

I guess through all of this, we stylists could accept a job that we will might be over qualified for. Possibly with a lower wage, but would it be worth the risk?  We have to decide what is best for our families. Before this “non-essential” title headlined my profession, I didn’t think it would be singled out and put on the back burner of the economy. However, now I know this; I may not be an essential worker but I am very essential!  I am a mother, wife, and caregiver to my Mother – a woman that could be easily a victim of this deadly virus. Right now, I wait and I try not to stress. I know that as much as I believe I have it planned it out, God laughs.

 

Stop and smell the roses

 

I haven’t blogged in a long time. Instead, I had been filming some videos consisting of makeup and skincare tutorials and tips. After a while, I lost steam to do that too. The pandemic has been rough on me. However, tonight as I sat down to decompress, I flipped through the new Allure magazine that I received in the mail and surprisingly — the scent took me back. Yes. The scent.

Have you ever experienced that? It might be a fragrance worn on a stranger passing by or the smell of a certain food in the air. Tonight, it was a magazine filled with multiple samples of fragrance.

Back in June, I turned 50. I remember my teen years, getting my Glamour magazine delivered.  I couldn’t wait to tear off the plastic that it was covered in. Before I even opened it, I could smell the fragrance samples inside. This is what triggered my memory tonight.

Not only do I recall the connection with that smell but I also remember what I was thinking. As I l would look at the cover models, I would think how glamorous they always looked. I wondered how I could possibly get my hair or makeup to look as good as theirs.

I never did seem to get my hair right back then or know how to tell my stylist how to cut it. I actually had a secret fantasy every time I went to get my hair done. I hoped that they would just make me over completely. Sometimes, I would cut out pictures from those magazines to show my stylist. Only to have my Mom in the background saying “I don’t think so.” This is exactly why I wanted to become a cosmetologist; so that I could describe what I wanted or actually try and do it myself. Since I got into the beauty business 32 years ago, I have been coloring my own hair (though I will admit, I do book haircuts with my stylist friends). I still look to magazines for new products or what routines I can do to improve myself.

As for magazines and my career, I would like to be part of a photoshoot for a celebrity one day.  I have styled supermodel Cheryl Tiegs's hair and makeup in the past but for television appearances. I dream for my work to be documented in print with my name attached to it. Fingers crossed that one day, Vanity Fair, Elle, or — if I dream big — Vogue would call on my services. I would be ecstatic.

Being off from work more than I’d like this year has my head in spins but I know one thing; I need to cover a lot of ground in the next fifteen years. I have so much I still want to accomplish. This pandemic is definitely sucking time off of each of our journeys. However, this is just a rest stop.

I am using the extra energy I have in this break to find direction in my career and figure out how to proceed when we are all back on track. I am also finding time to smell the roses, not just those fragrance cards.

 

 A milestone  in COVID

Still dream!

Peace and serenity

 

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Get Glowing 2020

Cath Smith Photography

We are already onto month two of 2020. Did you make a resolution? Are you still trying to maintain that commitment? In the past, I’ve set goals for the New Year such as getting a new job or posting more videos for my business. I feel that these resolutions don’t always stick, there’s sometimes too much pressure. If you set a goal for the year, realize that you have twelve full months to work towards it. There’s not a deadline as to when you must meet your goals, as long as you’re actively working towards achieving them. In my opinion, this is the mindset we have to use when tackling our resolutions.

This year I will be fifty. I look in the mirror and see many things happening to me. More grey hair, changes in my skin texture and of course, more facial lines. I am not bothered by these changes but as a beauty advisor, I always want to present my best self. That being said, my goal this year is to keep moving forward with my nutrition and daily beauty routines.

Last year I had a few consultations about facial fillers, having seen two specialist that are in the top of their field. As many people sign up for injections without a second thought, I am completely hesitant. I once read an article that said in the near future, it will be hard to tell anyone’s age because of the culture of cosmetic work more and more people are taking part in. As time goes by, I am beginning to think this is true. With more advances in technology and medicine, people will physically age much differently in the future.

After my two different appointments and discussion on what I wanted done, which was very little, both practices had more ideas of what we could do to “update” my appearance. After these consultations, I convinced myself I was no longer interested. I didn’t want to allow these consultations to get in my head or lower my self-worth. Yet before the holidays, I received an email about a special that one of the doctor was holding and I immediately jumped on board. I paid money to reserve a spot fix my laugh lines with Juvederm I was excited to go.

Once I arrived I saw at least forty other women in this room. My thought was I am going to be here all night. I asked where I could sign in at. I was then told it was an open house party, I had to come back another night to get the filler. WHAT?! I was mad at myself that I didn’t read the fine print more closely and even more so, mad that now it’d be more likely that I lose the nerve to come back and get the procedure done. I walked out with a friend, grabbing some gift samples and headed to a nearby restaurant to grab some wine.

Now I need to reschedule. I decided to do this in the summer so I will look glowing on the trip to Italy my husband and I are set to take later this year. It’s possible that once I receive this procedure, it will be a one and done. Yet there’s another possibility that I will get hooked and it will be a new part of my beauty routine. I’m not sure how it will go. What I do know is, if you’re someone who is on fence about fillers or any type of cosmetic procedure, do your homework first.

Talk the idea over with yourself. Don’t give into pressure from peers or family, go on your own timeline. Confide in trusted friends who are comfortable with sharing the cosmetic work they’ve had done. Schedule consultations with doctors and specialists that they recommend. Don’t shop by lowest price, you do get what you pay for. Always ask for certifications of the person doing the injections or procedures and how many they do a month.

Finally, do what is comfortable for you. Don’t get up sold or roped into anything extra that you haven’t fully thought through.

I will update you all on my journey through this fiftieth year. Meanwhile, comment on what you’re doing to tackle your New Year’s resolution or how you celebrated your fiftieth birthday. I would love to chat about it!