Oct. 13, 2020

Sanaa Abourezk doesn’t consider herself a social media influencer, but a beauty brand with a cult following turned to her for a marketing campaign.

Glossier, which is known for its minimalist, no-makeup makeup look, asked the owner of Sanaa’s 8th Street Gourmet to create a recipe using fresh figs to go with its limited edition lip salve Wild Fig Balm Dotcom.

“I was pretty flattered,” Abourezk said, noting that “in the social media sphere, I’m insignificant.” The chef has more than 2,600 followers on Instagram, and while she mostly posts photographs of food at the restaurant, she also has a series of portraits where she adorns herself with vegetables.

That’s where Glossier, with 2.8 million followers, found her.

The company told Abourezk that a Mediterranean chef was perfect for a fig recipe and that it liked how she wears her lipstick – it’s part of her trademark look – and asked if she would collaborate on the marketing campaign for one of its products.

“I love lipstick. … Even under my mask, I still put on lipstick,” Abourezk said. “I’m so happy they chose lip balm.”

Glossier shipped her the lip balm, and Abourezk’s next worry was finding fresh figs. The company said it also could send her the fruit, but the chef was excited when she popped into Sioux Falls Food Co+op and found them in the produce section.

In the past week, Abourezk has been sharing photos on social media of the lip balm, the fig tart and a portrait of herself wearing a necklace of figs. Today, the chef and Glossier posted a video of her making the tart.

As an added bonus, the 60-something mother got a chance to make her 20-something daughter jealous.

“She said, ‘Mom, that’s the company that every time I try to go buy something in New York (where she goes to college), there’s a huge line (in pre-pandemic times). I’ve never been able to make it in.’ I got to tell her, ‘They sent me one of their products. They sent me, your old mom, one of the products.’ ”