Cosmetics: A thing of beauty is a joy forever

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Debenhams head of beauty and cosmetics dept Pat Radford is retiring at the end of June

Pat Radford (centre) in the white jacket with one of her many beauty teams

Pat Radford (back, second from right) with another of her beauty counter teams

Ready for a day on the beach with their sarongs and instant suntans, one of Pat Radford’s teams enjoy a holiday product promotion

Not the usual make-up Pat Radford expected of her Debenham’s team, pictured here on Red Nose Day

DURING 46 years in the beauty business, Pat Radford has seen every fashion trend and tried out virtually every new cosmetic and fragrance to come on to the market.

She has encouraged countless young women to take up successful careers in the beauty business. And they, in turn, have helped tens of thousands of Derby women make the best of themselves with the careful use of creams, cosmetics and perfumes.

Now, at 62, Pat is retiring as head of beauty and cosmetics at Debenhams’ store in Victoria Street.

She has had a long and enjoyable career during which she has seen the beauty industry grow from the early days of very basic cosmetic choices to become the multi-million pound business it is today.

In her early days, beauty care advice was gained mainly from tips passed on from mothers to daughters.

“Ordinary women didn’t think about skin care. They maybe used a bit of vanishing cream to moisturise and a dab of panstick or crème puff on the cheeks, but not much more,” she laughed.

It was the days of Ponds’ cream, the Yardleys’ Bee, Max Factor panstick, Sanzigal lipstick in a choice of two colours and fake tans which left orange streaks.

“What a difference from today,” she said. “We have countless choices, dozens of cosmetic houses, lots and lots of perfumes and excellent quality products. We give lots of advice and I think one of the most important tips for women is not to use too much cream and make-up. A good face cream should last six to nine months. A little certainly does go a long way.”

Pat recalls in her youth cosmetics were very expensive and the names of well-known brands – like Helena Rubenstein and Elizabeth Arden – could be counted on one hand. Few saleswomen were trained to understand the way the products they were selling worked.

“These days, staff are much more informed. They undergo constant training; they know their products and how they work. We are very fortunate in the way this business has gone because the products on the market are now of a very high standard indeed and women who use them appreciate that,” she said.

“Skincare is the big thing with many people now. They have come to realise that they must first take care of the canvas of the face and get the skin right before applying the make-up.”

She says women want to look better and feel beautiful and she feels fortunate to have had the opportunity to help many of them achieve it.

And she certainly is a fine example of how to look good whatever your age.

“I do care for my skin and I love trying out new products but I have to admit that, in my early years, I was one of those young girls who would slap on olive oil and vinegar and sit for hours in the garden trying to get a tan.”

She laughs at the reaction of some of her younger staff who are appalled at the idea of splashing French dressing on their skin.

“I know it sounds terrible today when we understand how important it is to protect our skins with a proper sunscreen, but we didn’t know about such things in those days.”

Even so, Pat has a beautifully unwrinkled skin which belies the fact that she has moved into the decade where she is entitled to a bus pass.

She began work in the late 1950s in a small Boots shop in London Road, where part of the job involved filling up customers’ own bottles from vinegar barrels and packaging cornflour. Wednesday was a half-day holiday and shops did not open late or on Sundays.

The cosmetics industry was in its infancy and she saw it grow at an amazing rate. After working in several branch stores, she became salon manager in charge of cosmetics and fashion accessories at Boots’ flagship city branch in the Eagle Centre.

She spent 24 years with the company before being made redundant.

A short spell then came as department manager in the George clothing department at Asda where she enjoyed buying and led a glamorous working life before the cosmetics industry came calling.

In 1984, Debenhams invited her to join their cosmetics department and her lively personality and friendly manner soon saw her heading up a highly successful and busy department.

She admits that, like many other women in the beauty business, she is “a bit of a show-off”.

“I think I inherited that from my aunt who sang in opera companies in Derby.

“I loved being out front. I enjoyed showing the girls who worked for me how to be extrovert and help and advise the customers. This is a touchy-feely industry because, like hairdressers, you are in close proximity to your client. Some people don’t like that type of job, but I did.

“Though each of our girls sell products from different cosmetic houses, we all work together as a department. I have had some wonderful staff over the years.”

She says that cosmetic sales girls are known as the extroverts of a store.

“They are confident people, like actresses on a stage. We used to do a great many store promotions where the girls would dress up in all kinds of wild things. They never minded people looking at them and their enjoyment of what they were doing rubbed off on the customers.

“I remember one May bank holiday, when we were concentrating on holiday products, they all spent the whole day behind the counters in just beachwear. Some were in bikinis and sarongs and they did really good business.”

It is the fun and the friendships she has made that Pat says she will miss the most.

“I have been at Debenhams for 22 years and my girls, who are younger than me, keep me up to speed. I shall miss them a great deal.”

But Pat also has a husband, Alan, to pamper, and a garden at their home in Chellaston to manicure. She is also looking forward to testing some of those new suntan lotions on plenty of holidays in her retirement.

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