Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

First of all, I'd like to say happy Valentine's Day to everyone. I hope that you get a chance to celebrate with loved ones. Of course, since it's in the middle of the week and I work week night, The Gryphon and I are postponing our main celebration until this coming weekend.

Speaking of weekends, this past weekend we participated in a Lord of the Rings marathon at a friend's house. I'll write about that later in the week. But first, I'd like to backtrack to an event that took place the previous Saturday at the Costumer's house.

She hosted an Arbonne party, which is a little like a Tupperware party but with makeup and personal care products instead of plastic containers. I didn't know quite what to expect, having never attended such an event, but I knew that it was going to involve a chance to look at the products, have some refreshments and socialize.

I didn't expect many of our usual circle of friends to show, both because it's a long trip for some of them and because few of them are into makeup. The only two people I recognized other than The Costumer were The Paper and The Costumer's mother-in-law. The other people were new to me, so The Costumer introduced them.

One of them had a 4-month-old baby named Rena who became the life of the party, attracting a lot of attention. She was a very active baby, not liking to be in any spot for long. Her mother kept moving her or putting her in different positions: her back, her stomach, picking her up, putting her down. At one point the baby lay on her mother's lap and stretched out like a cat in the sun. She was briefly content.

I'm sure that, once she gets the muscle strength and coordination to take off on her own, she'll be difficult to keep up with.

After everyone arrived, we all sat on chairs in the kitchen. The woman who was selling the Arbonne products started by giving us an introduction into the multiple level marketing structure, talking up the benefits of owning a business like this. Of course, as I told somebody later, I had trouble selling Girl Scout cookies, so I don't think this sort of opportunity is suited to me.

She then talked about the products and how they're based on herbal ingredients. All of them are low on fragrance and artificial coloring, which would probably appeal to my sister, who's hypersensitive to chemicals.

Then she demonstrated the benefits of not using mineral oil in the products. She filled two bowls, one with mineral oil, which appears in many cosmetic products, and one with water. In each bowl, she placed a cracker. As the party continued, she encouraged us to check back to see what had happened. The cracker in water expanded and got soft, whereas the one in mineral oil got smaller and hardened, finally sinking to the bottom. The demonstration was to show the effects mineral oil might have on your skin, sucking out the moisture instead of letting it in.

After she completed the demonstration, The Costumer got our refreshments. She'd prepared fruit and vegetable trays with dip. I decided to forgo the dip, because I was trying to be good. The fruit and vegetables really hit the spot, though.

Then she brought out angel food cake, which she topped with crushed strawberries and optional Reddy Whip. As I discovered later by looking it up in my Weight Watchers books, this was an extremely healthy sweet bite, low in fat and calories.

We socialized and looked at products, tried a few of them out. I tried the hand cream and also looked at the muscle rub, which produced a nice tingly feeling. The only drawback was that it smelled a lot like Ben Gay.

I talked to some of the people I hadn't met before. One of them, an attractive blonde of normal build in about her late thirties, was complaining about how she's growing old and getting out of shape. While she didn't look like an aerobics instructor, she certainly didn't look like she had a weight problem. I told her, "You must be a perfectionist, because you look good to me."

She responded, "Well, that's because I know how to wear clothes to hide it."

I kept to myself the fact that I thought the sweatshirt she was wearing was far too baggy for her and, rather than disguising a few extra pounds, made her look much larger than she was. Maybe she'll happen across an episode of "What Not to Wear" and figure it out for herself. It's certainly not the kind of thing you say to a stranger.

The Paper, who had very quietly listened to the presentation, spent a lot of time talking to the woman who was selling the products about the marketing platform. Turns out she'd done something similar in the past, but it was selling clothing. The problem was that clothing isn't consumable, so while a lot of her friends and family members were willing to help her out initially, few of them came back for more.

I got the feeling she was considering the opportunity, although right now I don't know how she'd manage it, considering that she's both working and has started pursuing a master's degree. However, if anyone would have success in such a project, it would be The Paper.

After trying some products and having refreshments, a number of us took up spots in the living room. I made a beeline for the couch, since it was the only comfortable place I could sit. My tailbone injury (from falling on the steps in December) has been healing slowly but is still not perfect.

I socialized for awhile with people until The Gryphon and The Dormouse picked me up. We were going to have dinner and then head over to the Confed session. At about the same time, a lot of the other guests started getting up to leave, as well.

Later, I e-mailed The Costumer to thank her for the healthy snacks. It's nice to indulge in a little sweet bite without feeling guilty about it.

Copyright 2005 by Alyce Wilson

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