Soon the other guests, McKayla and Naomi, wander in with their friend Bobby. Ginny learns that Bobby is going to leave soon and asks him, “Is there any reason why we couldn’t facial you tonight?”

Bobby is agreeable, and Ginny gives him a sample of the Skin Management for Men line to wash his face.

“Since you’re a construction worker, why don’t you try Satin Hands?” she asks. “I heard that construction workers and guys who work with their hands really like it.”

Bobby massages the Satin Hands lotion into his hands and fills out a Customer Profile card so Ginny can follow up with him later. As he walks out the door, he comments to Naomi on the softness of his hands.

McKayla, an African-American woman with three children, sits at the bottom of the stairs. “Me and Mary Kay were best friends,” McKayla says, indicating that she used to stock up on Mary Kay makeup. As soon as McKayla says those words, Ginny knows this is going to be easy – she doesn’t have to sell McKayla on the Mary Kay product itself. She just has to entice her to buy. Ginny quickly finds out that McKayla doesn’t have a Mary Kay consultant and that it’s been years since she’s used the product.

“I just want a whole new face,” McKayla says.

Using Celeste’s training tips, Ginny kneels down to McKayla’s level. In a soft voice, she tells McKayla that the five-step Mary Kay skin-care line has been knocked down to three steps. They will have to get together soon for a facial.

McKayla tells Ginny that what she really needs is a red lipstick, something with shimmer that’s long-lasting. “Cover Girl doesn’t last,” she says.

Ginny flips through her sample book, which holds tiny lipsticks, foundations, blushers and eyeshadows. She selects a few reddish tones for McKayla: Berry Smoothie, Brownie, Grapefull, and Copper Mine.

McKayla picks up Copper Mine. “That is what I’m looking for,” she says, and applies it in front of a mirror in her dining room. “Too orange” is the verdict.

Ginny tries again. McKayla applies two more samples. “I think I could do this one,” she says about a shade called Raisinberry. She pouts her lips at her reflection. “You want those lips,” she says to herself. “I’m going to be so… sexier.”

McKayla mentions that she tans to keep her skin a deep brown year-round in rainy Oregon. She asks whether Mary Kay carries any anti-wrinkle creams. Then she tells Ginny that she stands all day at work, and she’d like a product that prevents calluses. Ginny takes her lead from McKayla, suggesting Indulge Soothing Eye Mask, anti-aging products in the TimeWise line, and a buffing cream for her feet.

Ginny takes note of all of the products that McKayla samples. McKayla looks at the prices in the product book and tells Ginny, “I hate you.” Then she asks, “This is better than anything else on the market, right?”

“We can’t badmouth any other products,” Ginny tells her. “But I don’t use anything else.”

McKayla lists the five products that she wants to buy, and Ginny adds them up on a calculator; the total is $69.50. McKayla stalls.

“If you walk away tonight with one thing, I’d suggest the facial cleanser,” Ginny says, pointing to the $18 product, the most expensive on the list.

McKayla turns to look at a glass mug holding the colorful $12 Shine-Its lip glosses. She wonders aloud if she could get away with wearing lip gloss instead of lipstick. If McKayla had to choose between the lip products, Ginny says, “I’d suggest the lip gloss because it’s not going to be available for much longer. The lipstick is in the regular line.”

McKayla asks Ginny to add up the list again, replacing the lipstick with the gloss. The cost is still $69.50. Ginny tells her that she could pay $34.75 tonight and the rest when she gets her next paycheck.

And then she looks away.

That evening, McKayla walks away with five products, not including the shimmery red lipstick. And at 1 a.m., after consultations with Naomi and Stephanie, Ginny drives back to her apartment with $110 in sales and $55 in profit from the Trunk show. Celeste makes about $5 in commission from Ginny’s night.

The week was also good for Fatima. She booked a facial with a woman from church and sold $217 worth of skin care. In total, she sold $312 worth this week, and took home half of her sales in profit.

During the Monday unit meeting, a consultant named Jennifer leads the weekly count-up for the most coveted prize: Queen of Sales.

“Everyone who opened their store this week, stand up and get a round of applause.” Several women, including Fatima, stand. Jennifer asks the women to remain standing if they’ve sold $100, $200, $300.

Fatima is the only one still on her feet. The women clap and cheer as Celeste gives Fatima a hug and places a jeweled tiara on her head. Fatima’s eyes widen and her mouth tightens into an “O” when Anne, the Sales Director leading the meeting, lets her wear a six-carat diamond ring for the rest of the meeting.

Near the end of the night’s gathering, Celeste stands at the front of the room to teach about team building. She urges the women to share the Mary Kay dream with others.
“Girls, if you want this, step out in faith. God didn’t want us to sit around,” Celeste says. “There’s a Mary Kay saying: ‘God didn’t make a nobody.’”

“He made a somebody!” the women call back.

KELLY STEWART, who bravely resisted all efforts to be mascaraed, foundationed, blushed and lipsticked, is a graduate student in the literary nonfiction program at the University of Oregon.