I was metrosexual before it was hetero, i.e. I'm gay and good at it. I have nearly two decades of experience with upkeep under my belt with the larger part of that time spent supine on a backroom chaise in some backwater Vietnamese salon. Before I discovered the pros at Benefit Brow Bar, I dreaded the torturous tweezing that usually accompanied a second degree burn as my brows were plucked to resemble a transsexual in transition. That may have been cute when I was 22 but I'm 37 and that's no way to land a husband. At the BBB, there is no preceding ceremony that involves being led away to some screened off medical bench next to a ficus. I mosied right up to the counter as casually as if the lack of pretense foreshadowed the easy, breezy way I was going to spend the next 20 minutes.
With nothing but a glass wall between me and the rest of the world, I couldn't fall back on an old pattern of retreating to the back and regarding myself with the stigma and shame that hasn't been suffered by queens since the trannies took over Turk and Taylor in 1966. I have been gracing the BBB since its inception and refuse to be browbeaten in secret like some candy ass cosmetics queen. At BBB, it's okay to be gay and bat my eyelashes at the boyfriends of the girls who are trying out foundations right alongside me at the buffet table, er... sample counter.
At the BBB, I can get my lashes tinted in the same session as my brows with enough time to make me look marvelous but never late for my next appointment. I usually choose blue-black because it looks like "manscara" that renders the boys spellbound without wondering if I am wearing mascara. Boys don't make passes at guys who paint their lashes, so the brow-tinting service at the BBB is essential. Sitting in a bar stool amid a hub of activity made me giddy for my glamorous days of yore when I struggled to put the art in artifice much like Lady Gaga tries so hard to be original, perhaps a bit too much, but I digress.
At Benefit, I could close my eyes and transport myself back to that magical place in my mind when I had to be on the set in 10 minutes and a cast of journeymen fawned over my pores and follicles with their kaboodles and pallettes.
At the BBB in Macy's Union Square, I could fix my face to set my fortune and it didn't cost one. I felt so indebted to my little Benefit Brow Betty that I wanted to leave her a tip that she could use to get toasted when she really needed it. After she tweezed and oiled my orbs in tea-tree, I picked up one of those hand mirrors and was mesmerized. Not that I'm narcissistic but when you can go from tired to twinkle in under 20 minutes with a tweeze and tint, why not learn how to like yourself again. You can only benefit from the experience. 
