Jan 3, 2022
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generation beauty day one
Hey everyone! I’ve gotten a lot of questions about how Generation Beauty NY was this year, so here’s my review on day one. I attended last year as a regular attendee, and I was too slow to buy early bird tickets. You know ya girl is too cheap to pay full price for a ticket, so volunteering it is (because the free swag bag 😂)
I’m going to try to make it short and sweet, so here goes...
Above: Photo of my sister and me at Generation Beauty 2015; we made it on Michelle Phan’s Instagram!
The Thursday before the event was orientation; this ended up being an almost waste of time because we could have just walked in to get our name badge + t-shirt on the day of our shift. Not a lot was said during this orientation, but what I did pick up one was no free food, questionable amount and length of breaks, must work full 9 or 10 hour day for free swag bag, no free parking, and no shopping or visiting vendors for free samples. Maybe I expected too much going in but c’mon 😒. I learned my lesson later.
Saturday, 8 a.m. sharp, I sleepily arrive to await my first job 😴. It was about thirty minutes until someone came in to ask for a couple volunteers to work outside in the front, but I know others had waited an hour or more just to get assigned to do something. It was intimidating because I had people stare me down until doors opened (at 11 a.m.), and had to direct impatient people to stand in the long lines. 😐 Tip, please preregister because then you’ll be first in line and less grumpy with the volunteers. It was also kind of confusing for those who came as “stylists/beauty creators” because Generation Beauty supposedly invited them to come for free to promote the brands and/or products, yet I had to tell them to also wait to register, then wait in the back of the line 😕. Only those with the exhibiting brands were allowed to go in. The job was boring and monotonous, especially when I had to say the same four lines over and over (with varying vocabulary to keep it fresh, ya know). “Registration inside the doors and to your right.” “Non-registered attendees wait in that line.” “Registered attendees wait in this line”. “No, I’m sorry but you can only use the Porta Potty until you get inside.”
The only redeeming factor from this job was being able to see the famous stylists, beauty creators, and even some celebrities walk right in front of me. I couldn’t believe my eyes when Frankie Grande emerged in front of me 😍💕. I awkwardly shuffled my way into his sight, waved my hand a little, and he surprisingly noticed me! I always told myself I’d keep it cool in front of celebrities (I think I was pretty chill with Michelle Phan), but I’m pretty sure my voice shook as I told Frankie that I love him. He smiled, said I was cute, and asked if I had my cell phone to take a selfie. Of course I whipped out my phone for him, and by then people began to notice Frankie had arrived.
Above: Nicole trying to keep it cool in the presence of Frankie Grande
It wasn’t until about 12:30-1 p.m. that I was asked to switch jobs. Relieved, I excitedly walked backed inside where attendees were hustlin’ for freebies and enjoying all of what Generation Beauty had to offer. Big brands such as Too Faced and Bare Minerals gave full sized products (concealer and foundation, respectively). I hoped I would be on the floor (where all the brands were) so I could see everyone in action, but alas I stayed with the ipsy photo booth for the remainder of the day. At first, it was fun to take photos for people on their phones or camera. I’m not a photographer of any sort and neither were any of the other girls volunteering there with me, but we did have some fun taking pictures for people’s Instagram or snapchat. If you took a picture in the photo booth, posted it on Instagram with the particular hashtags, you would be entered to win a free year of ipsy glam bags!
After awhile, the photo booth slowed down and later I was the only one there which got kind of lonely. No one really wanted to take a photo midday because they must have realized all the free products and discounts were in the back. It was a lot of, “Would you like me to take your picture? No? Okay...” It got to the point where I kind of sat down until I noticed someone lingering around the collaged background, then proceeded to repeat my tag line. Maybe I started slowing down because I was also getting hungry and tired. It wasn’t until at about 1:30 when I was finally relieved to take a 30 minute break. I used most of this time to scope the floor which was flooded people waiting in lines, product demonstrations and touch ups, and meet and greets with famous beauty creators. I was sad that I missed Michelle Phan’s meet and greet because I wanted to see if she’d remember me. Alas, I don’t think she did, even when I said good morning to her outside of the venue.
Tired from standing, bored from my particular shift, and slightly jealous of all the free products attendees were getting (I later found out that volunteers were also able to approach the exhibitors for free products...), the only thing that kept me going until the end was the DJ 🎧🎶. Big shoutout to Chloe, the DJ, who kept everyone going with a mix of top 40s to throwbacks. People personally came up to me asking if I knew her and that her music was poppin’. I encouraged them to go up to her personally to tell her how amazing she was, and she was probably the sweetest, most humble person there. The entire day I kept looking at her hair, her makeup, and her style, wondering what kind of person she was. It was definitely amazing to find out that she was amazing inside and out, and we became pretty close that first day.
Above: Probably one of the coolest people I met at Generation Beauty. Her IG is @kashmeare! Definitely give her a follow because she’s an amazing person with super cool boomerangs!
So, that about concludes my not-so-short-after-all post about Generation Beauty day 1. I received my swag bag at the end of the shift after all the attendees left, and it definitely was a lot bigger than last year’s attendee bag! Even though I was exhausted from the whole day, I was ready to tackle the second day in hopes of a better shift and more goodies (it also came to my attention that the volunteers were able to walk to different booths to get free products and purchase products).
If y’all want me to do a Generation Beauty day 2 review and/or a swag bag haul, please let me know by liking this post! 💄💅💋
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