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.