To wonder why I'm ignored at beauty counters

[Scribbydigs]

Every time I go into the beauty section of department stores and ask to try products, the staff just hand me things and walk off, disinterested. Other women seem to get sat down and made a fuss out of, and seem to have full faces of makeup put on them. (I don't even want that, I usually just want some advice on specific colours/products that would work for me).

Anyone else struggle to get help and attention from beauty counter staff? Is it just me? Or do any beauty counter staff have any insider info?

I 100% agree with this. I think it's the anxiety of being judged causing all the upset. I worked on make up counter and couldn't care less if you were 18 or 80, or if you a Primark carrier bag or a chanel handbag.

@TheLadyofShalott1, no, I've never worked in sales, and you didn't irritate me, so apologies aren't necessary.

There's absolutely no reason the woman on the counter would have felt embarrassed by your misunderstanding. None at all.

I do have to ask the 'Ignored' people, do you engage with the counter in any way, or do you just stand near it and wait for someone to take the initiative?

I occasionally go for a fanny about at counters. I'm always asked if I need help. I am engaging with the counter though. Not just waiting to be served.

That's a perfectly reasonable comment for the salesperson to make IMHO. They're offering help if you need it but letting you know it's OK to just browse.

That's an invitation to a conversation. How could that be seen as a rejection?

The impetus is on the customer to then say what they want surely?

I agree @RoseMadderAsHell.

I kind of agree with @DeFacto, tbh. Some of the responses here just sound like people are projecting massively, determinedly self-identifying as ugly misfits when nobody has called them that, and mentally casting the counter staff as pantomime villains.

@TheLadyofShalott1 it’s the kind of disconnect in your last post that I keep seeing on this thread. You say you’re a shy little mouse, so incredibly shy that a gentle, friendly comment from a saleslady causes you to scurry away. And yet when someone queries that response (because it is quite extreme!) you’re super quick with the sarcastic reply, fake apology for “irritating” them, and passive-aggressive bouquet.

She would've loved it and chosen you a MLBB shade to perfectly suit you. I'm sure she has bigger things to worry about then if your lip colour is natural or not. 😂

@CavalierApproach passive-aggressive bouquet 😂😂😂

TBF @MistyRock I don't think @TheLadyofShalott1 is actually a woman at all.

Seems a bit performative.

'Pleasant lady'

'Shy little mouse'

'Shaking like a leaf'

Said no woman ever.

Ask for what you want. I've been recommended x product but I'm not sure which shade I'd need. Could you help please? Its their job, if you're clear about it they will help. If you expect them to fawn over you you could have a long wait.

There’s a mix of issues going on here:

• Confidence and self esteem play a big part in how you approach a counter and interact with staff. If you are friendly and open they will likely be more helpful. You can’t always expect them to approach you. A lot of people here sound like they are projecting.
• But realistically if the counter is busy some staff will probably prioritise those people they think look like big spenders. Some twenty year olds don’t necessarily know that not looking polished means nothing.
• Beauty counter staff aren’t so different to any other stores’ disinterested staff. It’s not necessarily personal - they may just not love their job and not want to be there. This is quite a widespread issue at shops in general.
• And yes, some staff are just snooty and make snap judgements on your appearance. This is more likely to happen at certain luxury department stores than your local Boots (though not necessarily). When I suspect that happens to me I care a lot less these days.
• When I was younger and better looking I was more impressionable and more likely to buy after store assistants approached me. These days I feel like people wanting to spray perfume on me are an annoyance. I have more money now to spend on beauty products than ever but I don’t go mad - yet when I was young that was what I spent most of my disposable income on. So perhaps there is a good reason why I might get more overlooked now.
• Maybe it’s the time I’m going but most concessions don’t look staffed these days so there probably aren’t many staff around to even help anyway.

Yes I know that is exactly my point…I thought it was pretty clear I wasn’t supporting the use of the word Karen. The opposite is fact

Some really judgey comments about beauty counter staff 😳 We aren’t all bitchy and snooty and orange…! 😳 Wow.

I actually didn’t find any of the people I worked with bitchy. Everyone was genuinely friendly and there was a real sense of teamwork- even between the various counters. I had a best friend from Lancôme when I worked at Clinique, we used to work opposite each other and covered each others counters at lunch etc. No back stabbing in any of the stores I’ve worked in - and I’ve worked in a lot over 15 years!

Yeah some people are naturally better at doing make up than others. That’s a given. I’ve taught new staff how to do their own make up if they’ve asked me - a lot of the new people don’t really have any make up experience- they primarily go for sales people. Sometimes people join and then have to wait for make up training as the training is usually only given when a new range of stuff comes out.

I would never judge someone based on how they look. I would see everyone coming to the counter as a possible sale £££! Otherwise why would they be approaching the counter? It’s the one sales job where you don’t have to do a cold sale as people are literally approaching you!

I suspect it's a bit of laziness/time management about their work: sales ratio.

If you're wandering aimlessly from counter to counter, browsing and not focussing on a particular product, they know they're going to have to help you for some time and you might not even purchase, eating into their allocated time to make sales targets.

If you look like you know what you are doing, they may be thinking you're savvy and don't need the lesson, or a repurchaser, or someone who's turned up to look at a particular product; a fast customer who will efficiently add to their target sales.

When I go to a counter, I don't care what they think of me, so I'm not going to wait to be approached or smiled at. I'll look and sample as much as I like. I don't need permission or assistance. I'll test shades and douse myself in diptyque to my heart's content.

If I need assistance, I'll ask if they're making eye contact or if they're not, stand there motionless like a statue and look at them. They always crack first. Then I'm extra nice so I can get free samples (but this does not work with Jo Malone gatekeepers). I find that once you get talking, they are friendly and helpful.

This happens me. Always has.

I once went to Mac tried to ask for help getting products I wanted and was about to buy, but maybe looked not so glam that day so everyone ignored me. I was ready to buy a lot that day, had plenty of money to spend. But I was overlooked and ignored repeatedly.

Went to Charlotte tilbury hoping to redeem my view on the make up industry. No they were even worse. I bought nothing that day..
I legit had about 200 quid fo spend on make up.
I just didn’t look the part it seems

It’s not a full make over just trying one product to see how it looks. I think that’s what the OP means.

I think you’re overthinking OP. I sometimes literally ask to try the product!

Staff in duty free shops at airports are also really bad for just ignoring customers at their respective make up counters, and just standing around chatting instead

You're too beautiful already OP 😊

If I want help at the beauty counter I just smile, look friendly & ask.

I've always been ignored at makeup counters. I'm a hair tied back and minimal makeup kind of person so I guess I just don't look like their target audience.

I no longer buy make up from make up counters, partly because I don't enjoy the hard sell/attention and whenever I've let them put make up on me it has always looked awful.

Ignoring people because they don't look fancy is a poor tactic and it has happened dh and I on a number of occasions - we tend to look like overgrown students, but we have plenty of money to spend. If we are ignored we simply go elsewhere (and we are talking big purchases like cars and new bathrooms, where people definitely earn commission).

This has happened me since I turned 50. Literally overnight it happened. Especially at the Charlotte Tilbury counter. I even ended up with the wrong colour foundation as the girl could not be even bothered to look properly for my shade. I was all set to spend a couple of hundred so she lost a big sale. Yet my daughter who is 18 gets so much unwanted attention from them. The thing is, us older women probably have more money to spend and are way easier influenced. If they were clever sales people they would get that :) I am not too sure what age you are you I guess the younger people look more attractive to them and make up looks great on them so they are drawn to them rather than us ( speaking for myself here now) baggy eyed old dears lol.

I do think some of the younger consultants are a bit scared of older women. I remember feeling a bit like that myself (I was early to mid 20s for a lot of my career with Clinique etc). I knew a lot of them (laughing at “them” now as I’m literally one of “them”) were worried about dropping eyelids and hiding wrinkles but we weren’t taught how to do that. I wasn’t sure how to use the make up on older skins, I learnt through experimenting but it wasn’t something that we covered in training. And I found older women were more likely to say they didn’t like something I’d done - which is fair enough- but younger ones nearer my age were keener to try all the latest fashion trend type bold stuff which is more what we were taught about. But of course that’s just my own generalisation!

Don’t go in there with a general question, or when feeling low. I only ask when I know what I want.

I remember asking for a foundation after moving here from a very hot country where I didn’t wear makeup. I was told that I didn’t just need foundation. I needed; primer, eye primer, foundation, concealer and setting powder. I just left. Underneath all that I needed toner, serum, moisturiser, eye cream, moisturiser, and SPF.

That’s 11 things on my skin before I start actually putting any colour in it.

Obviously I don’t do all that.