Different Xtremes
By Leighann Lord
I’m a girlie girl who loves shopping. I married a manny man who loves sports. If I tell him I’m going to Ann Taylor, he thinks I’m visiting a friend. If I say, I’m going to the M.A.C. store he thinks I’m buying a computer.
I actually did go to the M.A.C. store recently because I was out of my second favorite lipstick: Photo. It’s a rich, beautiful brown. A great day color that looks good by itself and mixes well with others. It’s my second favorite because Xtreme, my first favorite, was discontinued by M.A.C. a few years ago. [INSERT UNLADYLIKE GROWLING AND TEETH GNASHING HERE]. Xtreme was an eye-catching, ruby-reddish-burgundy that wasn’t too red, or too purple. It was perfect, so of course they discontinued it.
I’ve been on an unsuccessful hunt for a replacement for quite a while now. And while the wonderful world of lip color has been awash in glosses, tints and stains, the perfect Xtreme equivalent has been elusive.
I’m not simply going by price. It’s not necessary that I plunk down $15 for a tube of lipstick. I’ve unashamedly trolled the makeup aisles in Wal-mart, Target and K-Mart in search of the right shade. Okay, I am ashamed about going to K-Mart, since the one in my neighborhood is consistently horrible, but I’m desperate.
I’ve even ordered a couple of promising colors from Avon, but their lipsticks do not agree with me. After a few hours wear, the skin on my lips begins to peel like dried Elmer’s Glue. Very sexy.
So, I’m at the M.A.C. store buying my second favorite lipstick when the sales clerk said, “Do you need anything else?”
“No,” I said, “Not unless you’ve brought back Xtreme.”
“Ooh, no. That was a good color.”
“I know! Does M.A.C. make anything similar?” I said.
“I’m sorry, no.”
“Comparable?”
“No, not really.”
“Nothing?”
“No.”
And then I had an epiphany. I often write and rail about bad customer service. And yet there I was being a bad customer. I was haranguing this poor salesman as if he were in charge of making executive level product decisions. I asked the same question multiple times in the irrational hope that he’d say, “Yes, they brought it back just for you and I have a case of it in the back. Where have you been?”
Bad customer. No lipstick.
To his credit though he was very patient with me. I guess he deals with product junkies on withdrawal all the time. Or maybe he drinks on the job to dull the pain.
At least I had the good grace to be embarrassed and apologize. I pride myself on not being a pain in the ass, at least not with strangers. That’s the kind of thing I like to save for family; people who can appreciate it and use it against me later.
Somewhat dejected, I guess I was pouting when I got home because the Manny Man said, “What’s wrong?”
“They still don’t have Xtreme.”
“Yeah, I know. The only thing on ESPN now is The World Cup.”
[Silence.]
“Um . . . ” he said, “We’re not talking about extreme sports are we?”
“No,” I said. “Lipstick.”
[Silence.]
“There’s ‘extreme’ lipstick? What does it do?”
“It’s the name of the color.”
“What color is extreme?”
“Ruby-reddish-burgundy.”
“That doesn’t sound very extreme. Why don’t they just call it ruby-reddish-burgundy?”
[Silence.]
“I’m going to watch The World Cup now.”
“I’ll be at Sephora’s.”
“Oh, ok. Tell her I said, ‘hi.’”
© 2010 Leighann Lord
A very funny lady on the stage and on the page, stand-up comedian Leighann Lord pens a weekly humor column with topics ranging from the personal to the political, from the silly to the sophisticated. Reminiscent of a modern day Erma Bombeck (famed nationally syndicated humor columnist), a fan dubbed Leighann, “The Urban Erma” and the name stuck. It’s a fun, fast read that leaves you laughing, or at least wondering why we don’t have a comprehensive mental health care plan. Follow Leighann on Twitter and be a fan on Facebook.
