College English major?
Check.
Obsession with beauty and skincare products?
Check.
One year served as an Editorial Beauty Intern?
Check.
Magazine industry/economy failing on a massive scale?
Checkmate.

Hi, my name is Diana Balan and I'm fucked. Royally.

Welcome folks! Here's the deal: I used to be a beauty intern @ REDBOOK magazine. Best job experience of my life, hands down. I lucked out; My editors trusted me enough to send me to events and assigned me real projects and interviews (shout out to Crys and Cheryl!) Unlike most interns, I was not a gofer.

The editors I worked with loved me, ergo I assumed my post-grad job offer at Hearst (REDBOOK's parent company) was a done deal. eRRR, try again. When the time came for HR to assess my glowing exit review, they passed because of a company-wide hiring freeze. Not only did they not hire me, they went ahead and laid off 2 editors above me.

Fast forward one year. I'm currently pushing paper as a paralegal, not because I've discovered a new-found passion for law, but rather because the few editorial job offers I got paid sub-living salaries that would have put me on the street in no time. I couldn't afford to chase my dream job, I needed to make money to pay off that pesky college debt. So I sold out... temporarily.

Here's the thing: REDBOOK gave me an all-access pass to the holy grail-- a fully stocked beauty closet that brimmed with every skincare and beauty product imaginable. New bags arrived each day, chock full of the latest and greatest products. It might have been an unpaid internship, but the stockpile of free beauty loot at my fingertips was straight GOLD. I got to try 100s of makeup and skincare brands, learning which were worth the hype and which weren't, all at no cost.

I'm starting this blog to dish on everything I learned at REDBOOK. I picked up a bunch of tips from makeup pros and developed a keen knack for beauty products to use versus beauty products to lose. At worst, this blog will be something to keep me busy during my downtime at legal office XYZ. At best, it could be my saving grace and ticket back into the beauty biz.

Shall we?