Confessions of an Ex-Spritzer Chick

Mining your old jobs for writing gold

Once upon a time, I was nearly twenty years old and studying Communications (PR) at university. In other words I was a cash-strapped student looking for a part-time job. I came across an ad looking for casual perfume promotions people for a cosmetics group. This sounded like much more fun than telemarketing and other student-appropriate jobs in fast food, so I applied.

After a couple of interviews taking place in the promotions company office and then a meeting with cosmetics managers at a large department store, I got the job! This was the start of my career in perfume and cosmetics. I didn’t know it at the time, but I’d stick with this career path for about five years until I got my first full-time PR job out of uni.

Spritzing my way through university

I worked in various promotions gigs in many stores, including the largest stores in Australia – Myer and David Jones department stores at Chadstone shopping centre (actually the largest indoor mall in the southern hemisphere) and the grand old stores in the Melbourne CBD.

When I first started work on the Fine Fragrances counter at Myer, it was the 1990s and there was a major campaign running in store. It was the launch of Calvin Klein’s Eternity perfume, with a famous ad featuring model Kate Moss. The ad ran over and over on the TV monitors in store until I nearly went bonkers. 

I spritzed and pimped that perfume almost all day, every day, for an entire Christmas season and into the summer. I must have spritzed thousands of customers and sold hundreds, if not thousands of gift sets.

After a long shift, I went home exhausted after standing and walking in high heels. We wore all black or stylish white shirts and pencil skirts always with well-groomed hair (mine was dyed dark cherry red and tied back with a black ribbon) and black pantyhose/stockings were standard. There’s a certain glamour to the job, at least once you’re there among the lovely perfumes and gorgeous shop displays on the cosmetics floor.

It didn’t always feel so glam when I was riding the bus to get from the uni campus to the store, rushing to get to work for a noon or five o’clock shift after class or eating in the food court. Not to mention being nice to customers. A few were incredibly rude and treated us retail workers like slaves. 

Don’t even get me started on the drunk men shopping at the last minute on Christmas Eve, who thought they were hilarious with jokes like, “Do you come with the perfume?” or “Can I stick a bow on you?” Don’t worry, I also perfected my scathing glare as well as my beaming smile during this time.

It was worth it for all the free samples I scored from the perfume company reps. And the pay was pretty good if you worked on weekends.

Learning the world of perfume and cosmetics

I actually learned a lot from the job in the perfume department, from the top notes to base notes, the differences between eau de toilette and parfum and the various tricks to make perfume last longer.

After a couple of years I moved to makeup. I worked a little for Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) on contract. I loved their makeup and perfumes! Seriously, it was a perk of the job to make yourself up to look glamorous in the style of the supermodels of the time.

Then I started work as a Revlon Beauty Advisor. For the American readers, Revlon might not be a department store brand. But in Australia, it’s one of the most popular counters and customers would line up to buy the blockbuster gift sets at sale time. And I learned makeup application from professionals, including Cindy Crawford’s personal makeup artist. I didn’t get to meet Cindy though, although my manager did. Jealous!

I learned all about applying makeup, the business side of the job such as ordering more stock, recording sales figures against budget, branding and promotions, learning ‘product knowledge’ including ingredients and shades of hundreds of products. Back then, if I looked at you I could have told you exactly what foundation shade to buy to match your skin tone. And I always had perfect lipstick.

Learning about women

While working retail, I also gained an understanding of customers, mostly women, who were treating themselves to cosmetics products. Some just loved makeup or nail polish and collected all the new season colours, for fun. I was happy to help them spend their money.

On the other hand, some told me they didn’t deserve to spend money on themselves. Some women said it had been years since they’d worn makeup because their husband didn’t like it. A few said they were dating again after a bad breakup and wanted a new look. These customers made me sad, but I tried to help them feel better about themselves, if only in a small way.

A few customers still stand out in my memory, such as the teenager going to her high school formal, who had terrible eczema on her face and body. She said she was ashamed to show her face at the dance and just wanted to look pretty for once. I gave her such a great makeover that her mother had tears in her eyes and took photos in store. That was a magic moment.

Old jobs as writing fodder

The reason I’m writing about this job for Romancing The Genres now, is because my old job has become the inspiration for my current writing. After the idea struck me a few months ago, it's been quite easy and fun to create a story based on my past career. My new Christmas romcom novella, Heart Note, will be released on 6 November 2017.

The story revolves around Lily Lucas, a funny, vintage fashion and 80s pop music loving perfume counter manager, and a band of ‘spritzer chicks’ or promotions staff. There’s more than a bit of me in the character of Lily, although her backstory and family are quite different to mine.

I found that once I started thinking about writing a story set at a perfume counter, a whole range of experiences came flooding back. There were heaps of funny memories which are great romcom fodder, but also the more emotional moments of working with a band of women.

I hope to write more in the Spritzer Chicks series and continue mining my past work experience for gold. For the other writers out there, I recommend thinking about your old jobs and considering them as research. You never know what ideas might pop into your head.

Note: In case anyone from the Melbourne retail scene is reading this – I’m writing fiction, not real people. I won’t name names! 

About Cassandra O'Leary
**Winner of the global We Heart New Talent contest, HarperCollins UK. Nominated for BEST NEW AUTHOR in AusRomToday 2016 Reader's Choice Awards for excellence in Australian romance fiction**

Cassandra O’Leary is a romance and women’s fiction author, communications specialist, avid reader, film and TV fangirl and admirer of pretty, shiny things. Her debut novel, Girl on a Plane, released in 2016 and Heart Note: A Christmas romcom novella will be published in November 2017. 

Cassandra is a mother of two gorgeous, high-energy mini ninjas and wife to a spunky superhero. Living in Melbourne, Australia, she’s also travelled the world. If you want to send her to Italy or Spain on any food or wine tasting ‘research’ trips, that would be splendiferous.
cassandraolearyauthor.com 

Scent of the season

by Courtney Pierce

As I occasionally do, this month I’m giving our Romancing the Genres readers a piece from my collection of two-page stories. When I complete a hundred of them, I’ll publish these little ditties in a collection titled Is There an App for Life’s Third Act? – Short Stories for Baby Boomers in a Hurry. Yep, the title is excessive for extra-short stories, but that’s by design. As we boomers get older, I want to capture those moments that defined our youth, entry into adulthood, middle age, and finally our retirement with headwinds.

The change of season, especially from summer to fall, sparks memories triggered by aromas, like the sweet and savory blend of vegetable beef soup, the spiciness of chili bubbling on the stove, or the mouth-watering fragrance of cinnamon rolls puffing up in the oven. There are other triggers, too, even more powerful ones than food. Some scents ignite memories of first loves and desire. Ah, yes, the perfume that lingers in the fibers of that forgotten sweater in the drawer. This short story is one of those.

Scent

The first step into the perfume department of Nordstrom scrambled my memory like aromatic crossed wires. I had only one scent on my mind; the memory of a citrusy aroma. For the life of me I couldn’t remember the name, but its secrets were lingering in an old sweater that had been in my drawer for years. So much clung to that sweater that I could never get rid of it.

“Can I help you?” the saleswoman said from behind the counter. A variety of delectable

potions waited in glass bottles of sensual, curvy shapes. Dishes of coffee beans dotted the area to clear the olfactory palate.

With my wrist extended, a jet spray of something amber from an S-shaped bottle made my nose wrinkle. Too vanilla and sweet. Did the woman just ask me a question? “What? Oh . . . I hope so. I’m trying to find my youth.”

The sixtyish woman pursed her lip-sticky smoker’s lips, an odd shade of Bing cherry that had bled into the crevices. She tapped her matching acrylic nails on the glass case, which tinkled a small key attached to an orange rubberized wrist coil. “Never heard of it. But Youth Dew is right over here.” She moved down the case like a cougar stalking a bunny rabbit.

“No, no, no. A scent from my youth ―I was fifteen,” I said and dodged her clawed paw. “I can’t remember the name. I’ve been swimming in the memory of the fragrance for days. It’s driving me crazy.” I pointed to my temple and rolled my eyes.

“Give me a bitty hint.” The saleswoman studied me for an expensive sales clue.

I ignored her, but I caught a glimpse of myself in the oval mirror on a stand, someone I didn’t recognize. With sagging eyelids, my once-vivid blue eyes appeared tired. The peachy glow in my cheeks had been brushed on from a compact. Even my blond hair was a result of a combustible mixture concocted by a hairdresser. But at fifty-five, the aroma of a memory never faded. If I could just get a whiff, the years would roll back to the moment where I was young and fresh, my whole life ahead of me.

“Fresh, light and fruity,” I said. The memory whirled like an iced strawberry daiquiri. In the strobe of colored lights in the high school gym in 1976, I was beautiful as my lemony fresh eau de parfum swirled around me. The guy I had a crush on took my hand to dance. I’d never touched him before. His skin was softer than I expected as we slow danced to Lynrd Skynrd’s Freebird. In slow motion, the flickers of light animated his fingers against my clingy synthetic blouse.

“Do you want to Be Delicious?” the woman asked, interrupting my thoughts.

“Yes. . .” I whispered. A spritz of Donna Karan’s Be Delicious on a white strip waved in front of my nose. I closed my eyes. Crisp green apples, with undertones of savory herbs. “Nope. Nice try, though. Mine was lemony. Wrong fruit.”

The saleswoman nodded and gave me a knowing smile. “Guilty? It’s Gucci.” She released the words like a tickle session.

“Gotcha, but that’s not it.” I shook my head.

The woman moved to a new display. “Mmmm...how about this?”

A citrusy aromatic strip transported me to a Florida orchard with Jo Malone’s Nectarine. “Yes. Completely.” I widened my eyes. I’m close. Senses sparkled. “Begins with an S. Skin . . . Skinny . . .Skinny Dip!” I drummed my forefingers on the counter. “Thank God! I remembered the name!”

The saleswoman snorted a laugh. “Honey, that cheap drugstore cologne was discontinued forty years ago.” She snatched another tester bottle from the mirrored tray and pointed the nozzle at me. “I think Obsession is more your style.”

Loma Smith Photography

Courtney Pierce is a fiction writer living in Milwaukie, Oregon, with her new family. She writes for baby boomers. By day, Courtney is an executive in the entertainment industry and uses her time in a theater seat to create stories that are filled with heart, humor and mystery. She has studied craft and storytelling at the Attic Institute and has completed the Hawthorne Fellows Program for writing and publishing. Active in the writing community, she is a board member of the Northwest Independent Writers Association and on the Advisory Council of the Independent Publishing Resource Center. She is a member of Willamette Writers Pacific Northwest Writers Association, and She Writes. The Executrix received the Library Journal Self-E recommendation seal. 

Check out all of Courtney's books at:

courtney-pierce.com and windtreepress.com. Both print and E-books are available through most major online retailers, including Amazon.com

The Dushane Sisters are back in Indigo Lake. More laughs, more tears...and more trouble. Protecting Mom's reputation might get the sisters killed―or give one of them the story she's been dying to live.

New York Times best-selling author Karen Karbo says, "Courtney Pierce spins a madcap tale of family grudges, sisterly love, unexpected romance, mysterious mobsters and dog love. Reading Indigo Lake is like drinking champagne with a chaser of Mountain Dew. Pure Delight."

Colorful characters come alive in Courtney's trilogy about the Dushane sisters. Beginning with The Executrix, three middle-age sisters find a manuscript for a murder mystery in their mother's safe after her death. Mom’s book gives them a whole new view of their mother and their future. Is it fiction . . . or truth? 

Get out the popcorn as the Dushane Sisters Trilogy comes to a scrumptious conclusion with Indigo Legacy. Due out in summer, 2017.