"I grew up in Maryland, in a county right outside of DC. I also spent most of my summer vacations going back and forth to Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. My mom couldn't take care of me on her own, so she would send me to my grandma. That went on until I was maybe old enough to start school, like kindergarten. When I was a little older, I didn't think that I wanted to move to New York—I was fine with the life I was living in Maryland. But I think I just reached a point where my bubble was becoming a little bit too small and too tight there. So I only applied to schools in New York. I didn't know what I wanted to do—I don't even know how I found Pace University, but I applied and got in, and I was like, 'OK, I'm out!'
I met my first ever friend in New York City because she had these amazing Acne shoes. Like, before I even knew what Acne Studios was. I saw her shoes, and I was like, 'Your shoes are amazing.' And then she had these braids that went all the way down to her ankles, and I was like, 'and your hair is amazing.' Then I saw her the next day and I was like, 'Woah these clothes—you're a beast. Wow.' We became friends, and she was working at Opening Ceremony at the time. She just burst the little college bubble I was in-she was taking me out to museums, parks, Staten Island, just expanding my cultural experience. I really wanted to stay in New York during summer breaks and winter breaks or whatever, so I needed a job. She connected me with the retail director at Opening Ceremony, and I was there for three years.
I found out about Glossier through my roommate. This was in 2015, the first year of Glossier. She did the Skin Tint shoot and brought one home for me. I was like, 'Oh, OK, I don't really wear foundation,' or whatever. But then one night I was going out with the guy I was dating and I was like, 'Let me put this thing on.' I put my little eyeliner that I always put on, and I went out to meet him. Direct quote, he was like, 'You look nice.' And I was like, 'Oh.' So I loved this thing, and my big night out look would be me wearing Skin Tint. So then, I was hosting a party at La Marina, and I was dancing, and my friend runs over to me and is like, 'Hey, Emily's here!' I was like, 'What are you talking about?' She was like, 'Emily, the woman who makes the Skin Tint you love. You should talk to her.' I told my boyfriend at the time, 'The woman from the you-look-nice Skin Tint is here!' And he was like, 'You should definitely talk to her and see if there are any job openings.' I had no idea what kind of openings would be at a beauty company. It was fun talking to Emily—she mentioned a position that had opened up, and probably like a month later I saw that the job was still available, so I ended up applying online. Lynley [Flanagan] called me right away. It was really funny interviewing for the job...I'm never gonna forget that day. I was carrying a bunch of garment bags crossing Broadway and Canal, and I got this phone call. I was like, 'Hello?' And it was Lynley. She was like, 'Hey Cherie, is this a good time?' I was like, 'Yeah sure...'—I'm on maybe the loudest corner in New York. She told me I got the job, and I thought that I muted the phone and I was like screaming, but I didn't. I just felt so good. And now I'm here!
I'm on the People Ops team as the Team and Culture Associate Manager. I handle employee experience, office operations, guest experience, onboarding, perks, recognition... Since I did start as an administrative coordinator, as the team started to grow it was like, 'How do we create a culture that still feels more than same-same?' How do we make it something where people will be like, 'I left my job and I'm at Glossier now, and that's great'? I think of it in terms of the fact that one of our company values is Fun, and not just that everything has to be fun, but how can it be Glossier? It's like Emily [Weiss] says all the time, 'You owe it to your coworkers to be interesting people.' I feel like we owe it to our team and the employees to be a really interesting company, because they could work anywhere, but they've decided to spend 40 plus hours here. How do you make that memorable? Even when they leave, you want someone to say, 'Man, when I was working for Glossier, that was the best.'
HAIR
Dhiran Mistry at Spoke & Weal shaved my head, and right now I'm just letting it grow—I had braids for like a month. It's now at its weird, awkward stage where it doesn't really have a shape, and the back is growing out faster than the front. Since I shaved it, my curl pattern has changed. The curls are more defined now, which I'm not used to—I'm used to it being a little drier. I have a bunch of products, from Shea Moisture to Dark and Lovely that I'm playing around with, trying to figure out what works. Madame C.J. Walker has a great deep conditioner I've been using. I wash my hair every morning. After I get out of the shower I'll dry my hair with an old cotton T-shirt, because I read that it's better than doing a towel dry because it doesn't squeeze out as much water.
I have a silk pillowcase, because after my Get Ready With Me, from the comments I found out that I need a silk pillowcase for my hair. So, to everyone, I have a silk pillowcase now. It's always scary when you have really curly hair, because it always ends up really flat on one side, so the first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is put my hands in it and kind of shake it out. Then, I have a Google Home in my room, so I'll be like, 'Hey Google, play something.' It depends on my mood—it could be music, it could be a podcast. Then I go into the bathroom and start running water for the shower.
SKINCARE
In the shower I just use Milky Jelly Cleanser or Cetaphil to wash my face. There's like this charcoal cleanser from Bioré I use, and it works wonders on my skin. I just found out that I have sensitive skin, so I've been trying to scale back. Now I just use CBD oil as a base for moisturizer. It's amazing. I have really bad eye bags in the morning—I just look really tired, and when I use this I always notice that it makes my skin feel brighter. It makes me look really fresh-faced.
At night, it depends. I have my chill nights where I'll come home after work, sit down, watch TV-just kind of hide my phone in a drawer. I'll do a mask and properly wash my face. Or, I have those nights where I'm hosting a party, or I'm out, and I'll get home really late and just crash. I don't have a crazy routine just because the 'crash and stay in bed' thing happens more than the chill nights. I hate waking up with raccoon eyes though, so I always try to at least use the Lancome Bi-Facil to melt away my mascara.
I've completely replaced moisturizers with oils, and I have them for my body, too. Now that I'm getting a little older, I feel like I have to start taking care of my bones a bit. I'll just cover my body in weird CBD creams and oils at night. That's my one ritual that I do. Marley Natural makes this Hemp Seed Body Wash I use a lot, and I've been exfoliating a lot with scrubs. And I'll always use Dr. Bronner's-right now I have an extra large bottle of the almond scent.
MAKEUP
After I get out of the shower, I go back to my room, get dressed, and come back to the bathroom to do my makeup. I'll add Skin Tint in Deep, Stretch Concealer also in Deep, and mascara. Sometimes I'll put some kind of blush on my cheeks—it depends on how I'm feeling. Usually I'll use Cloud Paint, but for my birthday last year someone gave me this Tata Harper thing you wear on your lips and your cheeks, so I use that as blush a lot.
Now, since I'm really into mascara, a lot of the mascara I like to wear is really fluffy. I'm obsessed with They're Real from Benefit, and then the Bobbi Brown Ultra Volume changed my life. I don't think I'll ever contour my face—I'm fine with this little chubby 'maybe she's 12, maybe she's 16' kind of look. But my little go-to trick is always the Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb and the Glossier Lip Gloss together. Never looked so good in my life.
One thing I do in my makeup routine when I'm going out or hosting a party or something, I've collected a bunch of pigments, like eyeshadows and stuff. I'll do a bold blue, or some kind of glitter or something for a statement eye. When I was younger, eyeliner was my thing, but now I'm kind of over it. I like color—I have Make Up For Ever, Moonshot, and then this Christopher Kane Nars eyeshadow collaboration from a few years back. I play around with Make Beauty Molten Shadow, and Lid Star in Slip and Lily.
FRAGRANCE
Most of my money I spend on fragrance. In my old apartment there was an elevator for the building, and my roommate would be like, 'I know you're home because the elevator smells like you.' I have my scent that I wear every day, it's Escentric Molecules Molecule 01. I'm always worried that they'll go out of business and I won't be able to get it, so right now I have five bottles that I keep on hand. [Laughs] My approach to fragrance is like how most people approach makeup. They wear makeup when they want to look or feel different, and I just change up my perfume. I'll change up my fragrance for the night instead of putting on a bold lipstick. On some days I'll wear a masculine heavier scent, or I'll wear a really girly scent. Uber drivers sometimes hate me, because I'll layer like crazy. I'll put on Molecule 01, and then put the Comme Des Garcons Black Pepper over that. By the time I get into the cab, the cab driver's like, 'I can't breathe.' Especially in Uber Pool-I can already tell that they're texting their friends like, 'Oh my God, this girl just got in…' Right now, I'm kind of in love right now with the Proenza Arizona scent when I mix it with Molecule 01. I've noticed, because I've worn it in the office and people are like, 'What are you wearing?'
NAILS
I go right around the block to get my nails done. I went on a trip to LA, and my friend's mother was like, 'Whenever I meet someone, I look at their nails, and I look at their teeth. If their nails and teeth are busted or not clean, that's how I know that I can't trust them.' And I looked at my nails-which were chipped, and like different lengths-and I was like, 'Oh my gosh.' [Laughs] So I always have my nails done now. It's my way of treating myself after a rough week or something. My favorite color is blue, so I always play around with different blues. But I'm an anxious person, and whenever the manicurist is like, 'What color?' I'm always like, 'Ahh!' I just go with the first thing I see out of panic. It's never like, 'Oh, I'm feeling red this week.' It's just very spur of the moment impulsive. Kind of like everything I do."
—as told to ITG
Cherie Camacho photographed by Tom Newton in New York on May 2, 2018.
