Here's the obvious: Red carpets are glamorous. Whether you're actually there or watching in your living room, there's no denying that the period before an awards show is a magic hour, an electric moment brimming with glittering lights and vibrant, twirling gowns just as the sun begins to set. The not so obvious? Red carpets are also an extremely exhausting social-climbing experiment that looks a lot more effortless than it actually is. Before I explain what I learned from my very first red carpet experience, however, let me explain how I ended up there in the first place. I'm a writer, always have been. (Well, at least since age 8, when I wrote a "book" about monsters that held a prominent place on my parents' refrigerator for years.) So whenever I imagined myself on a red carpet, I thought I'd be one of the obnoxious reporters holding a recorder, yelling after a celebrity for a story or quote as they whizzed by. Yet somehow — thanks to the vision of the fine folks at Refinery29 — I ended up hosting a live red-carpet pre-show at the Screen Actors Guild Awards with my colleague Emily Curl . It was a fairy tale of a night plucked straight from my dreams: I got my hair and makeup done, waltzed up to the Shrine Auditorium in a crimson dress worthy of Jennifer Lopez, and had a chance to interview the legendary Viola Davis. (Can we just have a moment for the fact that I just typed that I interviewed Viola freakin' Davis?!) As much of a romantic as I am, though, working in entertainment has made me a bit of a cynic; I'm now the type of person who rolls her eyes when celebrities complain about the toll events like a red carpet can take on them, or how on-camera hosts describe these events as "so crazy." I mean, what's so difficult about getting all dressed up and having your picture taken, or chatting up a celebrity in a fancy outfit? But being on a red carpet in person taught this skeptic a handful of surprising things that made me think twice about side-eyeing actors from the comfort of my couch.Celebrities simply can't (and, in most cases, won't) stop for every journalist that wants a crack at them. So the photographers are climbing all over one another to get their money shot, and if you're an outlet with a booth, like Refinery29 was, the process of wrangling celebrities to stop by for an interview is a nerve-wracking hustle, a combination of networking, promises, and politics — combined with your outlet's status, of course. (And pure circumstance; Julia Louis-Dreyfuss said she had only heard of Refinery29 because of her son. But hey, we'll take it!)Because of all of the above, the noise level is insane. Reporters and photographers are clamoring, fans are screaming celebrities' names — and often just following everyone else in screaming, without even knowing who they're screaming for. It was so loud, we couldn't even hear our producer talking in our ears via a super high-tech IFB device throughout our broadcast. (Thank god for whiteboards, otherwise I would've never known Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones, a.k.a. Arya Stark, a.k.a. the kind of badass super confident girl I wish I could've been when I was in high school, was coming up behind us!)On a TV screen, no matter how high-definition, you truly can't tell that every single person on these red carpets is actually turning into a dripping pile of sweat thanks to the sweltering heat. It's not even that the actual temperature was hot — it was in the low 70s — but because the carpet is covered by a huge tent (just in case of bad weather) with the sun directly overhead, it essentially feels like a steamy, baking greenhouse. Add jittery nerves, complicated hair-dos, and the act of balancing in heels, and when you look around you'll see every star and host fanning themselves (or having a member of their entourage fan them). The key to hiding this red carpet fiasco for viewers at home? Makeup touch-ups, of course. Between each interview, artists are on-hand ready to primp and puff and poof. After only an hour of rehearsal before we went live, Emily and I both needed some serious makeup touch-ups backstage. But thanks to Glamsquad, you couldn't even tell!