Ah, Greg. Greg, the East Coast regional sales manager for Philosophy. My new crush. *swoon*
So it's noon and I'm wandering around. I cruise by the Philosophy counter and start looking at what's going on. The Philosophy presenter during the show was talking about an at-home peel kit, which seemed interesting.
An incredibly good looking man in a suit asks me if he can help me. Heh. I say that I'm interested in the peel, but it frightens me. He smiles (killer) and asks why, and I attribute it to my having sensitive skin that is prone to freakouts. He pats the empty chair and tells me "sit down, I'll take very good care of you."
*SWOON*
So he starts asking me about my skin, why I think it freaks out, what do I already use, etc. And honestly, this guy is just so beautiful. I wouldn't say he was HOT in an OH MY GOD THAT GUY IS SO HOT purely physical way. This guy was beautiful - attractive, charming, sincere, friendly, warm. Everything. The whole freaking package.
Which means he's GAY! GAY! GAY!
He tells me all about the product, and then starts putting it on me. He started by taking two cotton squares moistened with water, one in each hand, and rubbing them over my skin to remove my makeup. And it was like being caressed. But not in a sexual way, obviously, but it was ... it was just really nice and relaxing. So he does this for about a minute, and while he's doing that looks down and says, "you have really cute shoes!"
So yeah. Gay.
Then he puts on the first part of the peel, and he's talking to me the whole time and I can't stop looking at him because his level of eye contact is just intense. Plus, his skin is gorgeous, and I want it. But I don't want his five-day growth. But his skin is divine! And I tell him so, causing him to blush.
*SWOON*
Then he tells me he uses this product once a week, and if I decide I want it (hahahaha, I typed "HIM" there first. How Freudian is THAT?) he'll share all his secrets with me.
*SWOON SWOON*
Then he puts on the second part of the peel, which is a foamy lotion thing, so I'm sure I looked ridiculous and yet we are having this intense conversation wherein he tells me all about how he got into the business (I asked). He was pre-med, then worked for Chanel, then worked selling medical devices and finally went back into working in skin care.
He's still talking to me for the five minutes the foamy stuff has to sit on my skin. Did I go to the show this morning? How did I like it? Have I been having fun? Would I like to be a surrogate for his children? (okay, not that last one. That's just my wishful thinking.)
Then the national Philosophy manager came by to tell him that they needed to leave very soon to get over to Orlando. My guy tells this guy that he's got about 15 more minutes with me and then he'll be done. And I was ecstatic because - 15 MORE MINUTES WITH GREG!!!
*SWOON SWOON SWOON*
While we're talking, he keeps touching and grabbing and squeezing my hands and knees. Caressing. It was like ... it was driving me insane. Don't make me want you, Gay Skin Care Man!
We talk about alpha hydroxy acids and lactic acid and silicones that are good for the skin. We talk about our mutual, seasonal allergies, and how bad the pollen count is in Florida right now. He tells me he lives in New York, so he doesn't usually have to deal with the pollen allergy, but his eyes are itching and driving him crazy. So I tell him I never would have guessed, because he looks wonderful. He blushes again, and I want to tie him up and put him in my trunk and take him home with me.
And I would not return him, not for all the free stuff in the world!
Then he takes the peel stuff off, and he needs to use the whole two-wet-cotton-squares-and-rhythmic-rubbing thing to get all the residue off. So he does that for another minute, and I am in heaven. And swooning over a man I could never have. He takes off all the stuff and hands me a mirror - I could have been looking at the most horrible face in the world, and said, "I love it. You did a wonderful job."
He asks if he can put moisturizer on me. I want to ask him WHERE he wants to put it, but instead just answer (a little too enthusiastically), "YES!" He talks to me while he's putting it on, and he's rubbing my face and patting it into my skin andIjustwanttogivemywholelifetothisman.
He tells me he has one more final product he'd like to put on me, and asks my permission. I say of course, I am up for anything. He says, "Yay! I like you!" And I say, "Will you marry me?" At least in my head. So he puts this third product on and he's massaging my face and he tells me that, even though I don't have any lines or wrinkles, if I DID that this would help with them. I say I'm lucky that way, and mention that it's my birthday next week. He asks me how old I will be, and I tell him to guess. He says, "25 ... 26?" And I smile and say, "34."
And then HE swooned. Then he says, "Your mother must be beautiful, too."
I think I babbled something incoherent in response. Seriously, I'm pretty sure I said something incomprehensibly dumb, but I was just in this heady, emotional state due to this really strange, immediate and intense connection to this guy. It was amazing and wonderful.
And then he's done, and I don't want to leave. He tells me that they are going to be on the local news tonight. I make a mental note to have the VCR ready. I ask if he likes doing that sort of thing, and he says no, that it makes him uncomfortable for the most part. I ask him if he ever watches himself on TV, and he says no, but he sometimes sees himself on QVC during his appearances.
So yeah, gonna be watching the Philosophy segments on QVC from now on.
Then I ask him if he has a card, because I am the administrator for an online fashion & beauty website, and I fully intended on talking about my time at the trend show and would like to mention him by name. He smiles and says of course, and whips out a Louis Vuitton business card holder. But he is out of cards, so he tells me that he'll get a Nordstrom card and just write on that. Then he asks me if I want to know whose cards he DOES have, and I chirp "YES!" and he reads the names on the three cards.
I don't know who the hell these people are (they were all from Macys, I think), nor do I really care, but as long as it keeps me in this man's company, I don't care if he reads nursery rhymes to me, I AM SO THERE.
He hands me the Peel Kit to look at while he jots down his information on the business card. I ask if he might have samples of the other two products, because I was hesitant to buy the full sizes, and he tells me that he's not sure, but he can look. I say, "no no, it's not important," and he says "No, I want you to be happy, so let me see what I can do for you."
*SWOONIMUS MAXIMUS*
He comes back with the gift with purchase bag of samples and hands it to me. I tell him that I don't think I get that, because you have to spend $50 to get it and the Peel Kit is only $45. He smiles and says, "But you're sitting with me, and I'll give you whatever I want to give you."
I am just beaming as I write this. THAT is how awesome this guy was.
He gives me the card, and I look at it and can make out that his name is Greg. But I can't read the last name, so I ask. He takes the card back and prints his last name underneath the scrawl. He's also written his title (Regional Sales Manager). He says, "I've given you my cell phone number. I live in New York, but the corporate office is in Arizona, so that's why the area code is different."
HE GAVE ME HIS CELL PHONE NUMBER!!!
I almost said, "Don't worry, I won't call you," but I was internally jumping up and down - and more than a little perplexed - that he gave me his cell phone number. What does that even mean?
So then he has to go, and I thank him profusely and tell him he was wonderful and I so appreciated his time and he tells me it was his pleasure and he hopes I like the kit ... but if not, I'm to return it with his apologies.
And then he's off, and I'm sad. Then I realize that I never even told him my name.
Then I had the makeover at Bobbi Brown, which was fine - actually, really good - but it paled in comparison to my whole time with Greg. I did get the global makeup artist that was there - Kari Presley - and she was terrific. I loved what she did, and bought a few things (a creme blush stick in Desert Rose, Iced Peach creme eye shadow, the new mascara, and a split pan eyeshadow in Champagne and Espresso). I also got a free mini tube tint in one of the new summer colors (Punch).
Damn, after typing all of this up, I think ... yeah, I do - I miss Greg.
*MELANCHOLY SWOON*
Posted by Highwaygirl on March 13, 2004 06:12 PM to the category Celebrity CrushOh, one thing I just remembered about the BB makeover - the GLOBAL makeup artist commented several times that I "have awesome eyebrows."
*struts*
Posted by: Highwaygirl at March 13, 2004 07:06 PMCall him.
Posted by: mike at March 13, 2004 08:17 PM"Don't make me want you, Gay Skin Care Man!"
BWAH! Hell, you make ME want the damn peel kit!
Posted by: TVJunkie at March 14, 2004 09:37 AMI think I had an orgasm just reading that.
And yes, please call him!
Posted by: Heidi at March 14, 2004 12:37 PMCall. Flirt. Report. Repeat.
He might just be excessively metrosexual...
*keeping my fingers crossed*.
Posted by: Mensch at March 14, 2004 08:45 PMFirst food porn, now retail porn? Excellent story! Call him. If he's gay then you meet a guy who is hot and who you can talk make-up with, which is still a good thing.
Posted by: Lauran at March 14, 2004 10:12 PMThanks for the vicarious Gay Skin Care Man lust your hommage has inspired!
Posted by: lifeonhold at March 14, 2004 10:55 PMOh my gosh, that was the best journal entry ever. I was on the edge of my seat! Eeee! Like, I want him now. And I've never even seen him.
Posted by: rockybeach at March 15, 2004 09:14 AMDamn, don't even know how I stumbled across this site, but this story was just hilarious and amazing. Wow! I'm gay myself and have to agree that he sounds pretty gay - but then, sometimes you become surprised. He might just be bi-sexual, if just half of you wrote really happened, he was extremely flirting with you, and trust me, most gay men would avoid that to avoid embarassing situations. Did you ever get back to him?
I've never really been into this cosmetics buisness ... But perhaps I should re-evaluate my strategy and try to seek out this fabulous Gregg, he he. Damn, what a story!
Posted by: alcibiades at June 22, 2005 05:01 AMYes, I did call him. He responded with something like, "I was wondering when you were going to call!" - I had waited a few days to actually dial him up. We talked for a half hour (he was driving around Miami trying to find his hotel), he asked me to call him back later, I did, left a voice mail, and never heard back from him.
Oh, he's very definitely gay, though. I think he was flirting with me because he could tell I was gay-friendly, and therefore would not react badly to it.