Perks of the job

Alright, let's not talk about the fact that in the past 10 days I've had the flu, tonsillitis and bronchitis and just started getting out of bed again yesterday. No no no... let's talk about something a little brighter please. Have I ever told you how great some, well actually most, of my students are?


Just in case some random person who doesn't know about my life happens to be reading this... I teach English in Milan, Italy. I do not teach children or teenagers or even college students. I teach adults. The adults I teach are all paid by their companies to hang out with me for an hour and a half once a week and basically just converse. It's awesome. We do work in some grammar and reading and writing and listening exercises, of course, but to keep the lessons fun and interesting, and to keep the students interested in learning, the lessons are very conversational. So, with every lesson, I honestly feel like I'm making new friends. It's kind of a kick-ass job.

My students are a very particular bunch. The company that I work for organizes lessons with a few big businesses in Milan. One of the big businesses is a cosmetics company. Actually, a cosmetics lab. This is one of those places where they have scientists working to create new formulas for lipstick and foundation, for example. Once they have a formula that they are happy with, they present it to their clients (Estee Lauder, Dolce e Gabbana, Chanel, to name a few of the big names this company works with) and then work with the client to tweak and perfect the formula, package the product and distribute it.

Last week, I learned a few interesting things. Did you know that animal testing for cosmetics has been outlawed in Europe since 2004? Cool, right? But how do they test the stuff?

My students told me that they always test their new formulas on themselves first, while still in the lab. Even the men! They said it's completely normal for the men there, even their boss, to be running around with lipstick on all day.  The long-last formulas, I'm told, are a pain in the ass to take off, so they don't even bother. I found it even more strange though that the man in my class told me he has no problem running around in a lab coat and lipstick, but he draws the line at mascara. Apparently that's just too girly, so the guys test the mascara on their arm hairs. My student proudly pulled up his shirt sleeve to show me his thick, black, perfectly mascara covered arm hairs.

But this is where the extra credit points get doled out... My students gave me a whole stash of stuff last week. Samples from their new formulas that they've prepared for a client presentation event next month. I'm usually not all girly-girl and make-upy, but I do love me some nice eyeliner and lip gloss, and this stuff is awesome! Love my students!