Under the stark white glow of a ring light, Blanca Garibay quietly holds still as a makeup artist applies foundation to her cheeks, as soul and R&B pour into the crowded room.
Most days, Garibay labors as a field hand in Watsonville’s blackberry fields as she has for 25 years. But today, she is among scores of farmworkers being pampered in the back room of a chapel converted into a salon.
This year marks the second annual Glam Squad, where dozens of beauty professionals gather from around California to treat farmworkers to makeovers. They say the exercise is more than just skin deep – it serves as a rare moment of rest for those who labor to help feed the nation.
“I loved it. To me, it is almost magic,” said Garibay in Spanish after completing her makeover. “The farmworker wasn’t valued like any other worker and now, I love that they are valuing our work, because it really is hard.”
The Glam Squad began at last year’s Farmworker Caravan Conference and Retreat, which gathers farmworkers and service providers to rest and share resources. Darlene Tenes, who runs the retreat, helped come up with the idea as a way to treat the farmworkers who attended the conference.
So she and her team posted a call for volunteers, and dozens of beauty professionals from across the state heeded the call – styling hair, doing makeup, and taking pictures of the women.
Quincy Gonzalez, a makeup artist from Sacramento, was one of those volunteers. She said that last year she had one client break down into tears after seeing herself in the mirror. “She was like ‘I’ve never felt so beautiful in my life,” she said. “It was at that moment where I (realized) makeup can be something that empowers someone to see themselves in a different light.”
The experience inspired Gonzalez to come back and help run this year’s event in San Juan Bautista, along with another previous volunteer, Oakland-based Madge McCulloch.
Together, they gathered beauty professionals from Los Angeles to Sacramento – makeup artists, barbers, skin care specialists, hair stylists, clothing stylists, a massage therapist, and photographers. They also found companies to donate clothes, makeup, hair care and skin care products to give out to the farmworkers so that they could enjoy some self care after the retreat.
For McCulloch, the event goes above and beyond what nonprofits usually can offer their clients. “It’s so often just like the bare minimum – what you’re getting is like shelter, food, clothes,” said McCulloch. “But actually providing pampering sessions – giving people the gift of relaxation – there’s nothing I love more than bringing that to people.”
According to California’s Employment Development Department, an average farm worker makes $42,753 every year, which is considered “Extremely Low Income” for a family of four living in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties.
This means that many of the women Glam Squad is pampering are more often concerned with affording food and rent, and the opportunity to indulge is a rare gift, said Tenes.
“It’s very expensive to get beauty services done. It’s just not a luxury they can afford,” she said. “And what woman doesn’t wanna be pampered, right?”
Maria Catalán, for one, certainly does. She has worked for 37 years as a farmworker, and currently owns a small organic farm near Hollister. Last year was her first time ever getting her makeup done, and this year she smiles and laughs while her eyelids shimmer in gold. Working on the field is just as dignified as being a doctor, she said, but the stresses of work, children, and married life often take precedence over her time for herself. So today, she enjoys the opportunity to finally let others care for her.
“There’s never money or time for us to do something good for ourselves as women – as people,” she said in Spanish. “It’s something phenomenal to feel beautiful at least once a year.”
