The House Of Guerlain

It is such a pleasure for me to receive something in the post from the house of Guerlain.

My career in cosmetics started in 1992 when I first started working in London. I worked for a promotional agency covering all forms of retail. One day in particular I was asked to cover the Guerlain counter in Selfridges as all of their staff in London where to attend a training at their head office. This was exhilirating and scary at the same time as I had never worked in cosmetics and this was a whole new ball game in London compared to the counters that I had seen growing up in Canberra. I told my agency that I would do my best, they were happy with that. 

The day went quite smoothly with a couple of customers knowing exactly what they wanted which made it easier for me. Later in the afternoon a French gentleman came to the counter and he didn't seem to know what he wanted. Next thing I knew I was showing him the full range of skincare, fragrance and makeup. In the end he introduced himself to me as the son of Jean Paul Guerlain and he gave his business card.

For a minute there I was in shock, then I felt fine as I did mention to each customer that I was from an agency and just helping out for the day. He understood this and thanked me for taking the time to show him through his company's products. I asked him "how did I go?". He replied "80% right, now let me teach you the rest". I was thrilled to be given a one on one training for the rest of that afternoon.

To this day what strikes me as irregular is the fact that he was on his own, there was no fanfare, no endless procession of centre management staff. This was impressive and still today the family of Guerlain holds a special place in my heart.

King M. Rakic