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 have worked in beauty for 40 years having started in Boots at 15. I am now a CEO. I am horrified so many of you are getting ignored or pre judged on your spending power.
Everyone deserves good service. Demand it like the Americans. (there is a scene in The Women where the character Silvie asks for service, I always channel that).
When I go in store I always sell a fortune. I am not slim or beautiful but I look at every face as an opportunity to make someone's day.
Training is not invested in like it was and wages can be poor when compared to office jobs. Not many twenty somethings want to stand on their feet. I had great service from 'James' at Huda Beauty in Selfridges London (not my employer!).
I think I may reboot my idea for a 40+ beauty brand. No love island types allowed!

I understand this - same experiences. I get ignored at all apart from No.7 which is the only counter I go to now. The make up is perfect for me which is good. The other counters just ignored and couldn’t be bothered. I even got told at one counter in that what I wanted wasn’t something appropriate for me (a basic cream). This was said to get rid of me. I had questions about other products but they wanted to get rid of me for other customers. I had the cash to spend so bought this cream, that I have used for years, plus a lot of other products elsewhere. Someone wrote here that airport counters ignore them but I’ve found that they sell what you want and also give great advice no problem.

I agree with someone upthread who mentioned tribes. I am over 50 and a lot of the brands are not meant for me-which is fair enough.

I was in Fenwicks in Newcastle, walking through the makeup counter area which is massive. I was in search of Trinny London. Most of the counters were empty but Trinny was heaving. Her makeup is for those no longer in the first blush of youth and I think she has hit the nail on the head. Very enthusiastic staff and very very enthusiastic customers.
Felt much more comfortable here-so maybe the tribe thing is true...

It might not be alright, but it's hardly worth losing sleep over.

So when they say " right now?"just say yes please. If you come off as prickly then that will cone back to you.

I once went to the Benefit stand in Boots on Piccadilly and asked them to stick make-up on me because I was getting my passport photos taken. I told them what I was buying up front but said I needed it on my face now. They were delighted to help. Just be assertive and clear on what you want.

I have always found the complete opposite since I was in my 30s (now in 50s). If I start looking at anything, I'm always pounced on. I presume it's because they think I'm going to spend. I once asked DH why this happens and he suggested it is because I look like I'm on a mission when I'm shopping and he's perhaps right. I hate shopping so if I'm looking at things it is because I want to buy as quickly as possible.

Stories like this boil my piss.

I've always been into make up and trying to look good...more so in my twenties than now! But even when I was younger the entire hair and beauty industry put me off. Beauty salons, hairdressers, make up counters etc. I never go for treatments not because I don't want them or can't afford them but I find so many of the people who work in this industry to be unpleasant. Ok, not every single person but I'm not prepared to try them all out at a hefty cost until I find a decent human being. So many of them are rude, sneery, vain and look down on their customers.

I'm bored, so I am engaging...
@CavalierApproach I will start with saying that although I think my knowledge of the English Language is quite good - I am native English, so it isn't my second language - I don't unfortunately know what you mean by disconnect in this context? I can disconnect a plug from a socket, I can disconnect my emotions from lighthearted threads that some people seem to invest far too much of their time and energy's into - if I want to. But I really don't understand what you mean by the word"disconnect" in my last post, which was a was supposed to be a quite light hearted and (only) slightly exaggerated reply to
@DeFacto; everything I said to her was true, but some of it was slightly exaggerated.

I didn't realise that DeFacto had queried my response about being a shy little mouse etc, I thought she was only querieing (sp?) why I didn't tell the saleslady that I wasn't wearing any lipstick, and why I thought that if I had told the saleslady I wasn't wearing any lipstick it wouldn't have embarrassed her. DeFacto told me that it wouldn't have embarrassed the saleslady, but as she can't have been that saleslady, I don't know how she can possibly know that for a fact.

I am not sure Cavalier that my resonse could have been sarcastic, because it wasn't said with sarcastic intent? I am very shy until I get worked up about something, then my adrenaline kicks in for a while. When it wears off I am left feeling very shakey and sick, that is a fact. Also, my apology wasn't at all fake, I felt that other people's replies to the OP, and then mine on top, were making DeFacto increasingly frustrated, which could have also made her stressed. I certainly did not want to make her feel even more frustrated, so I gave her an honest apology. In the same vein, the flowers were supposed to be a small attempt at cheering her up. Don't worry Cavalier, I won't be giving you any, and you can interpret that any way that you want to.

I'm not sure if you believe that you are a good judge of character, and a good interpreter of other peoples feelings Cavalier, but in this instance you have interpreted me quite erroneously, but whether you believe me or not is another matter. However, from a reply to you from DeFacto, you seem to have convinced her that I was everything you stated, and she has now sadly gone from accepting my apology, to her not even believing that I can even be a woman.
I am, I have the scars and belly and boobs to prove it!

I get the same issue.
I am mid 40s, short and curvy and when I'm not done up I look like I don't care about make up but I love doing my make up!

I visited Charlotte Tilbury recently and had a £200 John Lewis voucher to spend. Even after asking for help the 3 workers on the counter were very dismissive. I ended up buying clothes. Admittedly I did have my hair in a pony and sweatshirt and leggings on.

I have quite a few of the products and they are amazing so it was a shame.

I presume because your beauty is natural and there is nothing they can sell you that will make you look even more beautiful.

Absolutely @EsmeSusanOgg I do exactly the same thing. How are they supposed to know what to suggest, if I am already covered in make-up!

💐👌💕

I think one problem is a lot of the staff are employed based on their looks rather than their customer service skills as the brands want attractive people representing them

That seems poor training considering middle and older women generally have more money to spend. I'd also be interested to know what training is typical on skin colour ranges because that often seems very lacking.

I can echo a lot of the comments here. I'm long and lanky and when in work clothes I get a completely different approach to when I'm in old jeans etc. This difference has become much more marked as I get older but my policy is quite simple - if I don't get good service I take my money elsewhere and not just for that one occasion. Bonkers considering when I was in my 20s I had far less money to spend.

I'm sure she has as well @MistyRock!

I didn't actually need any help, but I thought it was nice that she asked me, when she saw me looking at different lipsticks, what it was that I was looking for? When I said I was interested in the browny, nudey, plummy shades, she said that the one I had on suited me, I presume that she thought I had tried one on because I had my own lip brush with me, but I would never be that unhygenic in a shop, I was just putting some of the shades on the inside of my forearm.

Anyway, I thought that once she looked at my lips properly she would be able to tell that I didn't actually have any lipstick on, and as I am ND I didn't want to risk embarrassing her or me. I didn't say all of that in my original reply to the OP because, maybe erroneously, I thought this was supposed to be a quite light hearted thread, and I was only trying to tell about what I thought was a quite funny incident that had happened to me - hence my 2 emojis after it!

Whilst I think you have not been treated with the courtesy you should receive, I am heartened to know you don't want to cake yourself with excessive make up.

I have found a consistent high level of knowledge, interest and service at Space NK. Whether I have gone in totally bare faced because I once left home late and forgot to take my make up bag, so they made me up for a day in the office, wearing my walking gear and boots and popping in for some perfume and tinted moisturiser, or fully dressed up with expensive bag and jewellery. Makeovers at Bobbi Brown in Covent Garden or Selfridges good for trying new things or before an evening out. Armani in Fenwick also very good. I had one of my best makeovers by Chanel but also one where I looked like a clown, albeit a clown with perfectly applied make up! Liberty has knowledgeable staff but I have found them very busy with a high-spending international clientele.

It isn't bollocks, many of them are. For instance, Mac, you pay an amount (they have £30, £60 & £90 sessions) y9u choose which one you'd like then pay and book. The amount you pay for the makeover is redeemable against products.

Why say something is "bollocks" if you actually don't know?

I really don't understand what you mean by the word"disconnect" in my last post

@TheLadyofShalott1: an absence of connection, a lack of consistency. I was referring to what struck me as a gulf between how some people on the thread directly characterised themselves and how they actually (presumably unintentionally) came across in their posts.

I didn't realise that DeFacto had queried my response about being a shy little mouse etc, I thought she was only querieing (sp?) why I didn't tell the saleslady that I wasn't wearing any lipstick, and why I thought that if I had told the saleslady I wasn't wearing any lipstick it wouldn't have embarrassed her.

Yes, that’s what I meant too: she queried your response to the saleslady complimenting your lips.

I’m feeling sorry for the counter staff now. What a kicking they have had on this thread!

They are ORANGE, like OOMPA LOOMPAS. With ‘strangled spiders’ for lashes. And they are mean girls, and most of them are nasty. And snooty, yeah.

I see that we’ve now gone one step further. Anyone who even goes to those counters is CAKING THEMSELVES IN EXCESSIVE MAKE UP. Shame on them.

Come on, apply the logic! If the counter staff are partly incentivised by commission, why wouldn’t they want to sell?

I’ve never done the job but surely anyone who has - and maybe the ex-counter staff on this thread will confirm? - must know (1) that plenty of people are timewasters angling for freebies, especially now that tightarse websites abound and (2) that many people are a bit nervous and don’t like being approached for a hard sell. So you’d act accordingly. I don’t believe for one second that counter staff earning commission would flat out ignore someone without a reasonable justification.

I’ve only had one bad experience at a beauty counter, ever, and that was at Chanel in 1995 when I wanted a bottle of Rouge Noir nail varnish. The salesgirl was quite uppity with 23 year old me, and asked how I ever thought that I could just walk up to a counter and buy it. But, she might have been sick of giving the same answer all week, or she might have had a bad day, and I was likely more sensitive then than I am now. I wouldn’t decide that all beauty counter staff were awful based on that! Any more than I’d decide that 90% of the women in the beauty industry were bitches because of what someone whispered to someone else about frizzy hair at Maureen’s hair salon in Norwich in 1997.

@Iamthewombat 👏 the awful comments about other women just doing their job is gobsmacking, and literally no self reflection at all.

Haven't had any actively bad experiences in the UK - just bored non interest. But in LA last year one dept store concession (Charlotte Tilbury at Nordstrom, The Grove) was downright rude and dismissive. I broke one of my own rules and still bought stuff just to prove a point but really I should have walked away especially as 2 mins down the street there was an actual Charlotte Tilbury store.

I am a huge make up enthusiast but I can also turn up in shops looking like Melissa mcCarthy in Bridesmaids.

I don't wait to be ambushed (prefer that way as i want to swatch in peace), I just ask for help and they usually oblige - with various degree of enthusiasm, but often very helpful. If I did turn up with daughter or my very pretty best friend, staff probably would assume they are the ones needing make up not me and fuss over them...but what is the point of overthinking this.

You will find someone more keen to do their job than others, many in 21st century probably know better than to do Pretty Woman service.

I used to judge oompa loompa staff too but they often managed to find bang on shade matches for me even under difficult artificial lighting. Some not so good with make up theory. Just like in every job.

Free full makeovers I don't think happen these days as much as 20 years ago.