The Truth Be Told Cosmetic

Year: Future. After Covid.  
Setting: Customer in front of a street vendor Kiosk: The Truth Be Told Cosmetic 

Learning what NOT to buy 

Customer points to a cream jar, “I would like to try that moisturizer, please, Monsieur.”

Jean Francois: “Oh madam, I think you have NOT made a good selection in a face cream.  Non, non. Malheureusement, that cream contains mineral oil, a petroleum that penetrates the skin and clogs your pores. You need your pores to be free, open, so as to release toxins, not bury them. 

Her finger zeros in on another.

“Oh mais non. You will find this one highly fragranced.” Here, smell our tester. Strong, oui? That is a synthetic fragrance. You will smell like a French poodle after a too fancy fru fru grooming. You do not want to smell like a poof poodle. You do not want to breathe the fragrance.”

“How about this one then?” A smirk of indecision forming.

Jean Francois, quite animated. “No madam, I would not select that one either. Belle packaging, I agree. An alluring red bottle, that caught your eye, oui? Or was it the, ‘fragrance free’ on the label, now that you know fragrance is an undesirable? Mais, if you look at the rest of the ingredients, inserted in the box, which of course one never reads and discards, see…o mon dieu…, this cream is loaded to the high sky with parabens, titanium dioxide, beaucoup of alcohols. All will weaken your beautiful skin, madam.  You need to feed your skin, not poison it.”

"So monsieur, you are telling me these are all bad? Yet, you sell them?” she inquires, a little confused. 

“Madam, non, non mais oui, oui."Jean Francois exclaims “We try NOT to sell them. We can, of course, if you truly desire to be polluted, or perhaps, act as a guinea for some cosmetic company that does not truly care what you wear?"

We are one of the first Truth shops to open, madam. I have taken a pledge to be honest in all regards of my selling. The rules in TRUTH shops now state that all sales personnel MUST tell the customer the truth about every product. Mais oui. If your choice is NOT a wise decision, we are most proud to dissuade you for your own protection. These products here have been banned in many countries and we wish to educate you away from their usage. Not banned here in Canada yet, but we are on a good road.  We are allowed to show you what is bad. Let you smell it, feel it on your skin, if you dare. But buy it? I will have failed in my job if I allow you to do that. Everything you see in this display is toxic. They are examples of what you should not buy. "

“Ok, monsieur. Most informative"  the customer smiles, “Kindly direct me to the good stuff then.”

“Avec plaisir, madam,”Jean Francois scurries over to another shelf.  “You can, of course, make your own skin care with pure, natural, organic ingredients.  If you do not wish to do that, buy handmade, homemade, local. Consider a company like Earth to Body. Canadian. You can even watch them work at the shop. Making soap, mixing creams, pouring, bottling. Delicieux ingredients madam. Good skin nutrition. Your skin will love you. Ici, let me show you a sample.”