Ms. Blodgett, a familiar face on QVC, has been compared to Max Factor, whose invention of pancake foundation swabbed on with a wet sponge in the 1930s transformed the cosmetics industry. Wander along the vanity aisle of any drugstore and Ms. Blodgett’s influence is apparent, as giants like Revlon and L’Oréal have been compelled to come out with their own mineral lines.
In her funky brown Gucci mules, straight Gap jeans, dappled-green scarf and blue jacket from Anthropologie, Ms. Blodgett, 48, hardly exuded the regal calm of an industry leader — or even the Zen-centeredness of her adopted Bay Area home. “I don’t veg-out or chill,” she said, wriggling in her seat like a child. At work, she is known for crazy marketing schemes and wackiness — she did the splits onstage at the beginning of an all-company meeting in April, and led a group dance to Rihanna’s “Only Girl (In the World)” — not laid-back cool.
And perfectly groomed, creamy-smooth sentences are too much to ask. “I have trouble just talking,” Ms. Blodgett said, with her slight, but oddly beguiling, speech impediment. “My vocabulary isn’t large. I just keep saying ‘amazing’ and ‘awesome.’ ”
An unlikely QVC star, she communicates in other ways, with her expressive face and brown giant-orb eyes, which were surely created by a makeup god for liner and shadow. Her arms are always gesturing.
But let’s zero in on the hands, the way the QVC camera does when she peddles the miracle minerals. Her manicure: short nails, clear polish. Her fingers: agile. The ring: an epic diamond surrounded by sapphires and emeralds, which, as Ms. Blodgett’s social media followers know (it is the other way she communicates) was an early 20th anniversary present from Keith, her stay-at-home husband, and picked out at Tiffany’s in New York in October. “Actually, we went into the store just to replace my wedding ring,” he said in a phone interview, “but Leslie came out with that.”
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