Some purchases can seem completely ordinary until you learn their history. This is exactly what a video posted on TikTok by @alyrosemakeup shows, which recreated an interaction between a Sephora employee and a customer who went every Friday for a month to buy the same lipstick.
It was Gucci Velvet Matte Lipstick in the shade Goldie Red. After the man showed up week after week, the employee started putting the lipstick away before he left. Until one day she asked him why he bought the same lipstick every week.
The man explained that his mother lived in a nursing home and had Alzheimer's. Goldie Red was her favorite lipstick, but she often lost it or forgot where she had put it.
"She calls me almost every day and tells me she misses me," he said. So, every Friday, before visiting her, he would buy her a new one.
Even though a lipstick costs about $50, it didn't matter to her.
"She's the only mother I have...it's worth it," he said.
The employee couldn't get the story he had told out of her mind. Before his next visit, she spoke with the manager and planned a surprise. When the man returned to buy his usual lipstick, she surprised him with a gift package for his mother, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease. Little did he know that inside the bag was a real gesture of kindness, which included three "Goldie Red" lipsticks, skin care products, makeup items she thought her mother would like, and a cosmetic bag to keep it all together. When he asked how much she had to pay, she smiled and said, "Not a penny. Our team is donating this today."
@alyrosemakeup The time a customer almost made me cry when I worked at Sephora #sephoraemployee #retail #storytime #sephora ♬ original sound - Alyson Rose
The video touched many people on TikTok, especially those who had gone through similar experiences with family members with Alzheimer's.