Product Training

When my internship supervisor Zoe told me I’d have to do some product training to familiarize myself with the Murad line before I started working on anything PR-related, I imagined we’d sit at her desk for a lunch hour or two and casually discuss day cream and clarifying serum.

I did not imagine a three day intensive course with an expert product trainer imported from Manchester and ten licensed skin therapists. Or power point presentations and bound booklets and detailed scientific explanations and histories or literally running out of skin on my hands and arms to try things on.

Seriously, right now I have assorted swatches of mica-infused shimmering balm and environmental protection with spf and hydrating silicon-based gooks all contradicting each other to an inconceivable end, and one side of my neck feels bizarrely firmer than the other, and my left wrist is “sleeping” because there are hormone-laced topical on it that are making it think it’s nighttime. Or something.

Still, it’s really very cool. There is more to skin care that I ever considered. I mean in all honesty I sort of considered dietary supplements and firming lotions to be sort of dubious frauds, but no. I have now witnessed firsthand the startlingly immediate effects of moisturizers that cause a palatable difference in your skin quality, contemplated the properties of Asian superfruits, and articulated The Murad Water Principle in my own words.

And I am here to tell you that it is legit.

Also when I came in this morning there was a little tin of pens and office-y things on the desk that I suppose is mine now marked ‘Sarah’s Stuff’ and I was totally charmed and welcomed by the gesture, even more so when I saw it contained an adorable sample of my favorite Murad lip balm.

I stayed late to help the product trainer set up for tomorrow’s session and was thus able to log a full nine hours for today. I need an average of twenty a week to fulfill my visa requirements, so I’m hoping to work late a few nights and then take off a day or two to travel or something.

I have launched an initiative to visit at least one museum and/or historically or culturally important location per weekend. You can follow my exciting exploits- …right here, actually. I ought to be posting illustrative photographs but they take forever to upload to the blogger site, so I refer you to Facebook for those (I highly recommend Chloe or Rachel’s albums over my own, which though well-annotated are somewhat sparse).

Tomorrow I may have to take one for the team and volunteer to have facials demonstrated on me.