Makeup counter pet peeves

i asked about if they had any Cremesheen Glasses left(i know they are discontinued but sometimes they have some left), she was like what? i was like lipgloss. so she went looking and she was like i dont think we have that color. i was like its a line, the color i wanted was Fashion Scoop. she was like are they like seasonal...in my head im thinking you tell me...although i KNOW it is but come on. so i said yes but i checked the other store and they had some left but not the colors i wanted so...(i specifically asked if they had any 'left' in my first question, should have been a hint to her?). i was thinking have you been working there for one day cuz seriously why should i know more that you! finally some other girl knew what i was talking about(i had to repeat myself again) and found one for me but it wasnt the color i wanted. i thanked her.

unfortunately she helped my sister too. she did her brows with eyeshadow and my sister was wondering why it went on so unusually strong. was it the eyeshadow, angled brush, or Fix +. the lady was like its definitely the Fix +, obviously trying to sell that. it was hilarious because when she sprayed the Fix + on my sister's face/brows...even i could clearly see that none of it actually landed on her face, mostly on her hair! omg when we left i was asked did any of it actually make it to your brows? she was like NO! we concluded that maybe that lady was heavy handed which is why the brows came on super strong and decided not to buy the eyeshadow.

speaking of heavy handed. good grief, i always have to wipe off my face before walking around again. its atrocious how much they pack on. as if a fine dusting of whatever makeup wouldnt show me the product is good. surely caked on will not sell me. luckily ive played around with MAC enough to know that you dont automatically look caked on, its all about being light handed because their products are pretty concentrated so a little goes a long way(which is why i like their stuff because less is more but still effective). putting on makeup heavily distorts the colors, when you put on such a thick layer that you cant even see who you are underneath it anymore. it can either look way darker or way lighter depending on the undertones/finish like Shimmer.

the other makeup artist was confused about textures/performances(regarding undereyes/blemishes etc) of Studio Finish and Studio Sculpt, she kept saying contradicting things. depending which one she was trying to sell me she amped up one while putting down another. then tried to sell me Select Cover-Up...i was thinking just stop! she isnt even helpful because she didnt seem to know what she was talking about. very wishy washy.

basically if they dont know what they are doing and arent informed of their most basic products then they should either learn or just stand back and let the customer do their shopping instead of trying to tell me ooo try this and that. they can help but they need to bite their tongue more often because when they speak too much they reveal how little they know and how unsure of themselves they are. im polite but im my head im thinking no honey i know what i want and youre just sidetracking me! if you dont have it then dont try to sell me something else that clearly would not suffice.

last gripe. i just hate trying on makeup on in general because the thought of their dirty makeup brushes combined with Fix + on my face! its bad enough they have to use the same brushes on all customers but the Fix + moisture make sure all the left over grime gets on you as well. *shivers* but i hate buying makeup blind.

edit : also the moisture from the makeup remover. they wanna put makeup over that quickly and im like wait! *fans my face*, at least let it dry or give me a tissue. the moisture would not work well with the products being put on...they dont seem to be concerned about something so basic.
 
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That's why I prefer to go to the Freestanding stores, because I know that the people there are as diehard about MAC as I am. They did my mum's makeup there and she actually looked presentable-but the thing is that she was told to not overblend her outer corner colour. Today, it looked like a blob of Sketch-so not blended enough.
 
I've seen some good and some not so good makeup at the counters. Last time I went to a mac store the lady helping me was so excited about the products and so perky I had to question her sanity.
 
I hope I never run into a MAC store in my town. :lol:

I just can't stand when the counters try to prove something. Don't get me wrong, the lady was very nice. But she tried to convince me that Dior mascaras grow your lashes. I'll take her word for it, whatever. She pulled out a HUGE book with letters from doctors who have done experiments to prove the product does what it's supposed to.

I've heard crap about products elsewhere where the person selling tells you what they've memorized from a script in order to sell the product. Please don't try to bull sh!t me. That's the worst.
 
i went to MAC store first but the makeup artist we like wasnt working :/ my sister and i almost left just because we didnt want to deal with the other makeup artists's bs lol but we decided to look around there but they didnt have what we wanted so thats when they started pushing other products. then we went to a counter and they were so clueless!

both the store and the counter has 'bad' makeup artists. which the exception of one artist that we always look for, thats sad!
 
also many of the girls at my local mac counter dont even have nice make up, how can i trust someone to do mine if they cant even do their own correctly? however saying that there is one girl there who is absoloutely lovely, she has amazing makeup and actually knows alot about the products.

another thing is the benefit counter at one of my local stores never has anyone on it, i had to wait around for like an hour the other day just to get a couple of products, and even then she didnt know about it and tried to sell me a much darker foundation than my skin tone and she was just like "yeah just do whatever i suppose" when i asked her advice on the mascaras. It kind of gets me annoyed because i would love to have that job and just think like i know pretty much everything about the products, so frustrating.
 
I like the store closest to me, they are all super-knowledgable, although I was kinda miffed when I was advised to go for Creme de Violet over Parfait Amour. The counter I typically go to-it's funny because a couple people there know that I probably know more than they do, as I can recite off my entire MAC collection from memory.

It pisses me off when there are employees who don't know anything about the line or about basic makeup application, because there are some of us (ie: me) who would do anything for one of those jobs.
 
I absolutely hate it when makeup artists won't let you try on the makeup yourself, insist on applying it to your face THEIR way and then completely screw it up. The makeup artists here often have no sense of style and somehow they have black/dark makeup phobia and are always preaching about how great a natural look is. I love smokey eyes and plastering my eyes with eyeshadow. Somehow they always put on a TEENY TEENY amount of the top of my lids (I can barely notice a color change) and my eyes always look extremely dull.

Oh and I hate stingy shopkeepers that (aforementioned) do not give you testers and lie that they don't have any. I asked a MAC lady for some concealer testers and she said they were out of them. A few hours later I went back- this time it was a guy- and I asked for the concealer testers and he gave me some!

I agree with you guys. The MAC girls can be extremely dumb sometimes. That's why I've converted to NARS. Their service is SOO much better and they always give me foundation testers even if I don't buy anything. They let me sit at their counter for hours and they do makeovers & skincare for me! :D

and Trista, I completely agree with you! I would kill for one of those jobs!
 
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I like the store closest to me, they are all super-knowledgable, although I was kinda miffed when I was advised to go for Creme de Violet over Parfait Amour. The counter I typically go to-it's funny because a couple people there know that I probably know more than they do, as I can recite off my entire MAC collection from memory.

It pisses me off when there are employees who don't know anything about the line or about basic makeup application, because there are some of us (ie: me) who would do anything for one of those jobs.
EXACT-LY. You're in Seattle right and probably talking about Downtown or Northgate free-standing MAC? They have one at Southcenter and U Village now too I heard...anyway I'm SUPER passionate about skincare and want a job at the Neiman-Marcus that's going to open in September in Bellevue. I have an aesthetician license, have used almost EVERY line the store sells (was so obsessed with this store because Seattle didnt have one, I ordered from California and for a year lived at the one in Honolulu)....anyway my point is NM is WAY classier than Nordstrom and I want SO bad to get a counter job there, I dont have experience selling luxury items, I do have cashier experience, but Im good looking and am a walking encyclopedia for their A-Z skincare lines they sell. Used them all!
Anyway have any tips on how to jazz up my resume? I mean, its opening less than 3 months, I went on their website, they are looking, and I live nowhere near Bellevue, its 30 miles from me, but I would travel there to work and sell something so passionate to me as a skincare line that I love because it changed my life. Forgive my ranting, I'm on medication. :blush:
 
^Seriously, a lot of products you've recommended me I've bought and now use daily and love - your passion and knowledge is obvious, if you can present that in a way that shows how many $$ you'll bring, you should get the job ^_^
 
LetThemEatCake- You definatly have what i takes to do the job.. I think if you get an interview you will be able to show them how much love and passion will go into your job.. I dont know much about resumes though :( the key is to get the interview and you should be fine
 
The girls at the makeup counters all look like scary ugly clowns and whenever they do my makeup I look like a ******...they do a good job with just foundation tho not the whole face
 
Thank you miu_miu and MK'sBeautyShop. You're both so sweet! I think what I have what it takes too, I just need to really stand out in the interview and show my knowledge and have them remember me you know? Its going to be a very fashionable place to work, and while I do have good style sense, it is more the budget I dont have at the moment, but this is another off-topic coversation I'm merging into..I spend all my money on good skincare and instead am left with old out-of-date clothes! Oh well..Will figure something out.

miu_miu thanks especially to you. I am soooo happy everything Natura Bisse and anything else I may have recommended have worked for you, and that you've grown to love them! :winkiss:
 
EXACT-LY. You're in Seattle right and probably talking about Downtown or Northgate free-standing MAC? They have one at Southcenter and U Village now too I heard...anyway I'm SUPER passionate about skincare and want a job at the Neiman-Marcus that's going to open in September in Bellevue. I have an aesthetician license, have used almost EVERY line the store sells (was so obsessed with this store because Seattle didnt have one, I ordered from California and for a year lived at the one in Honolulu)....anyway my point is NM is WAY classier than Nordstrom and I want SO bad to get a counter job there, I dont have experience selling luxury items, I do have cashier experience, but Im good looking and am a walking encyclopedia for their A-Z skincare lines they sell. Used them all!
Anyway have any tips on how to jazz up my resume? I mean, its opening less than 3 months, I went on their website, they are looking, and I live nowhere near Bellevue, its 30 miles from me, but I would travel there to work and sell something so passionate to me as a skincare line that I love because it changed my life. Forgive my ranting, I'm on medication. :blush:
I used to work at Northgate (at a different store) and will never set foot in that mall again, no matter what. (not due to MAC, though) I'm talking downtown-they know me and they know I know my stuff. U-Village and Southcenter are the only freestanding stores, and it honestly makes way more sense that way as Southcenter is the biggest mall in the state, and U-Village has all the college kids as well as the mums with their kids.

I tried PM'ing you some tips about the resume/cover letter though, since I've been trying to apply in cosmetics as well. Your inbox is full, though.
 
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I was frantic when I read you were PM'ing me because my PM box always fills up and at the most inopportune time I need it clear for these types of messages! :blush: Sorry if it gave you a message telling you it was full. Cleared now. Thank you in advance, Trista! ;)
 
:hardhead:Oh I had no idea about Southcenter being the biggest mall in state, I havent been there since their additions, I thought Bellevue Square was rather large and the Supermall? I've never stepped foot in the place. Anyway, another apology that you intended to PM me and it DID show you that message :hardhead:but I will be in touch, thank you for some resume tips...I just have too many gaps. I know how to apply makeup, but I need more training in darker skin types and matching colors for complementing them. I am thinking in these 3 months while waiting for the store to open, immediately my resume to Neiman's and try and get some volunteer/shadowing work done at either a spa or the dermatologist my mother goes to...I know that really has nothing to 'do' with working makeup counters at NM, but in a way it shows I have more experience and more passion and willingness/knowledge to discuss proper skincare with the client than just the makeup they're buying...you never know, some times these days people are using-DIAL SOAP to remove their makeup and its Chanel, Nars, Bobbi Brown, all these top notch brands but they skimp on skincare. I want to give facials for particular lines at events as well...oh it would be a DREAM To work for Natura Bisse and give their facials! :crush::wub:
 
i would LOVE a job at a benefit counter and it annoys me so much when ever i go there because the girls know nothing! arghh! its so aggrivatingg. I know pretty much everything about most of their products and use them everyday.

p.s. does anyone know what kind of experience/qualifications you need to work there, also what age? 16 or 18?
 
Typically most department stores are 18 these days...I know that many changed their policies in recent years. Most stores in general are 18 these days, or they'll only hire a select number of 17's.

My thing is that I don't have any specific makeup experience, although I have done applications a few times. I have experience selling bodycare though, so I know what sorts of things to expect. As for Southcenter, the expansion added 90 stores, plus restaurants. The largest mall used to be Alderwood, before that expansion back in 03 or 04 it was Bellevue Square.
 
I hate how they bother me so much and follow me around when I'm just looking for something and when I actually want to buy something there's no one there or I have to wait 20 minutes for it...arghh
 
When they put make-up on HALF your face to show the AMAZING difference their products do to your face... :lol:

1. I am always surprised of how little difference it makes and the products I wanted to buy now feel unneccessary...

2. They always just leave me with the half-painted face!! NO, Miss Benefit, I do not feel like walking around with one green eye-lid for the rest of my day
 

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