If you buy nothing else from Avon (and I personally don't, but my habits were set when I lived in a foreign land, so my habits don't really say much about Avon, where was I going with this? Oh yes), make it Skin So Soft, as a mosquito repellent.
Shit's the motherfucking BOMB!! And it smells purty, too. (Unless you don't like smelling purty, in which case, what the hell is wrong with you and your smell-neutral-privilege?)
@ellaesther: SSS is totally the hotness. My mother slathered it on me since the day I was born to keep bugs away. I was 15 before I found out it's actually a bath oil.
@ellaesther: Also works as an industrial strength remover of tar and such. No kidding - that stuff was specifically recommended when I did one of those Appalachia volunteer trips.
@andonthatnote, JOC: Just the other day, on her way out the door to camp, my not-quite-6 year old said to me "Mommy? Why do they call it Skin So Soft if it's for bugs?" She was channeling you! (Also, I'm proud to report that for now, my not-quite-10 year old boy likes the smell. Fingers crossed!)
@Laulau: I did not know this. This, my friend, is being added to my list of Mommy MacGyver skills.
@ellaesther: The only problem with the awesome that is SSS is that if you slather it on a teeeeensy bit too heavily, it doesn't really repel the bugs, it just encourages them to smother to death in it on you skin.
I briefly thought about selling Avon. I ended up not doing it because I found out I had to attend weekly meetings and figured it was one of those situations where close tabs are kept on everything you sell and its like a 'push push PUSH' kind of atmosphere, which I would hate. Its too bad. I think several of my friends would have bought from me and I probably could have done pretty well at it.
Any of you ever sell Avon? Was it an ok experience?
Avon ladies in downtown Chicago have a really unsettling sales tactic of walking up to me randomly on the street and complimenting my outfit and then asking for my business card, and then calling me at work and trying to get me to go to a "networking event" for other "professional women."
Just fucking invite me to a goddamn Avon party. Don't fill me with lies a bullshit networking event. I don't want to network. I know enough people in a professional setting whom I do not much care for. Just tell me you're selling me nail polish and face cream.
My sister was selling it for a while, but not anymore, I think. It's too bad. I like it. I just don't use it at a rate that would support anyone. I have bottles of moisturizer around here from the Clinton administration. It's a humid climate.
When I was a kid, though, visits from the Avon lady made my day. All that goldtone jewelry...
@labeled: And red glass dinnerware! I once knew someone who had a full set of Cape Cod dishes and was convinced that they were insanely valuable. Her grandmother had collected them all and bequeathed them to her. I clicked around eBay a little and found out that you can get them now for less than they originally sold for. I crush people's dreams; it's what I do.
My grandmother sold Avon. There were so many shades orange lipstick in the seventies. I only know this because she kept all her samples from the seventies and in teh early 90's let us play with them.
@aisuru113: Those lipstick samples made 9yo Labeled's MONTH. To this day I get a little excited if I see anything hanging on my front door. Sadly, reminders to pay my newspaper subscription aren't a lot of fun OR the envy of my girlfriends.
Also bucking the recession: Door to door meat salesmen (er, yeah) who find an unsuspecting Mr.Labeled doing yardwork and proceed to sell him $600 worth of steaks, roasts and chicken breasts which takes over my entire fucking freezer.
We'll be having individually flash-frozen chops for a month. No more lentil tacos for a while.
@all: Yeah, pork roast with brats on the side at 7sharp, be there!
Also yeah, meat salesmen. Their spiel always includes "it's a long drive back to..." followed by "so I'll throw in these cases of steaks for free, just don't tell the neighbors."
I'm pretty good at telling them I don't have any room in my freezer, so go away. The Mr... I think he was hypnotized by all the beautiful shiny cryovac.
@aisuru113: No (too bad, too - they make kickin' root beer float ice cream bars and eggnog ice cream at Xmas), just random guys from random meat companies - Global Foods, Brother-sumthingorother Meat Packing, and there's one more.
@Spaceman Bill Leah: If I could get door-to-door rum & wine salesmen I'd grow a garden in the back yard and never leave.
(Also, we just found out that our elderly neighbor across the street buys from each of the meat guys and then gives the stuff away to those in need. Small towns ftw.)
@Samanthrax is Sarcastic and Joking: Really? I have a really hard time with lipstick I can never figure out what shade to wear, and then on the rare occasion I find something I like it feels gross. But I haven't tried Avon...
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Shit's the motherfucking BOMB!! And it smells purty, too. (Unless you don't like smelling purty, in which case, what the hell is wrong with you and your smell-neutral-privilege?)
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@Laulau: I did not know this. This, my friend, is being added to my list of Mommy MacGyver skills.
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Any of you ever sell Avon? Was it an ok experience?
07/08/09
Just fucking invite me to a goddamn Avon party. Don't fill me with lies a bullshit networking event. I don't want to network. I know enough people in a professional setting whom I do not much care for. Just tell me you're selling me nail polish and face cream.
Your lies turned me away, Avon.
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When I was a kid, though, visits from the Avon lady made my day. All that goldtone jewelry...
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At least I have my collection of Avon stickpins to see my kids through graduate school.
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We'll be having individually flash-frozen chops for a month. No more lentil tacos for a while.
File under: I Hate When He Buys Groceries.
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Wow. That's... wow.
I will never again complain when my husband "accidentally" buys a jumbo bag of liquorice allsorts and forgets the milk.
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Also yeah, meat salesmen. Their spiel always includes "it's a long drive back to..." followed by "so I'll throw in these cases of steaks for free, just don't tell the neighbors."
I'm pretty good at telling them I don't have any room in my freezer, so go away. The Mr... I think he was hypnotized by all the beautiful shiny cryovac.
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(Also, we just found out that our elderly neighbor across the street buys from each of the meat guys and then gives the stuff away to those in need. Small towns ftw.)
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I was an Avon representative when I was in High school, that's how I paid for my end of the year trip.
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