A bit gutted about Space NK customer service.

[Clarabumps]

I've been on the hunt for a new eye cream and have heard great things about Sunday Riley's Starting Over so I toddled off to Space Nk to have a wee nosy .
I asked about the product and they told me it was only available online. So I asked about some other alternatives and she just pointed me in the direction of the skincare and said "There are loads of different ones within the different skincare lines" so in other words..get on with it.

I just feel a bit meh about it. The eye cream I wanted wasn't cheap (£65) and I just expected a bit more customer service. I'm a sucker for good skincare so quite easily could have spent more.

They weren't busy, it was 5pm on a Tuesday night and one assistant was faffing about with an older woman and a concealer for ages.

I've been in before and they have given great customer service. Could this be a one off?

Maybe the sales assistant was having a day where she was feeling particularly honest, and didn't want to spend ages talking nonsense about £65 eye creams and the magical anti ageing properties they don't have?

Sorry. I love beauty stuff but eye creams of all things really annoy me. They do literally nothing. Smear some Nivea or whatever high st cream feels nice near your eyes and it will do literally the same thing as any fancy ££ one, unless it's prescription only or surgery.

I seem to remember a thread on here where they said the serivce was not good at that particular shop. If you really do want an eye cream why not go to somewhere like Debenhams/House of Fraser/Selfridges -maybe ask for a sample first. You are bound to get better service!

The sales assistant could have said - well company X are out biggest seller in this store. Sounds like she just couldn't be bothered. Shame that job could not be taken up by someone who is interested in the world of beauty (me,me,me!! Gissa job!!).

I think I will deathray. It's a shame, I do most of my review research online but sometimes you just want to try it on.

I don't know if a bit of nivea will have the same results as something with salicylic/hyaluronic acid but if that works for you then great.

I wouldn't mind a wee job in Space NK, I wonder what the discount is like?

I like my acids - but you don't need a separate eye cream.

'there is no research showing that the eye area needs something different from the skin on the rest of your face'

I wouldn't want to use salicylic on the eye area, and hyaluronic is no stranger to the Boots aisles. Space NK have very variable customer service, I don't enjoy shopping there any more.

That's good reading This- I shall pour over that article later. I've become a bit of a beauty blogging addict.

See I feel the same, I doubt I'll be shopping there again. I'm starved of shops where I live so our local Boots' most exotic product is some Neutrogena. Boo!

See I read on a beauty blog that you can use salicylic acid pads (I have the Cane and Austin ones which I love) around the eye area. Obviously not on the actual eye but round the eye just on your cheekbone? Is this wrong?

There's so much conflicting advice. Argh!

I've found the service in my local Space NK really good. Very nice, helpful ladies who were chatty but not too chatty. And were very respectful despite me being in mucky wellies and sorts.

Hands down: best eye product is Dr Hauschka eye balm (in a little pot, about twenty nine quid). Quite oily so use the tiniest amount before bed. Or, use like a face mask on eyes...apply top and bottom, leave for 5 mins and wipe of excess...then bed! Honestly, it's choc-full of good stuff. A lot of these expensive creams are overpriced rubbish. This one is actually good! Also, I rate Jurlique's eye care - you could contact them on the tel number on jurlique.co.uk and ask for a sample.
www.johnlewis.com/dr-hauschka-eye-contour-day-balm-10ml/p122654
Some reviews:
www.makeupalley.com/product/showreview.asp/ItemId=2578/Eye-Contour-Day-Cream/Dr.-Hauschka/Treatments-(Eye)

Clara, I would say that less is more. You can induce hypersensitivity very easily in the eye are (I know...I have rosacea. I learned the hard way!) and achieve the opposite of what you want. Drink plenty of water, protect your eyes (esp in summer) with good quality sunglasses and use an eye product like the ones I mentioned above (without harsh 'actives'... I honestly think it's all a con... I actually laugh at some of the marketing blurb!)...sleep as much as you can :)

I wish I could find my thread on here. There were loads of complaints re Space Nk and the customer services did seem really interested in it.

Rosey, for me salicylic would be too drying to use around the eyes, but if it works for you, then great :)

Also - I have to 2nd what Leo has said about Dr H eye balm, literally the only thing other than makeup that has ever made a visible difference around my eyes. I don't know why or how but it does.

Thank you all for your input. I shall step away from the salicylic acid around they cheek/eye area and save it for my acne scars.

I find my local space nk (Glasgow) very unwelcoming. I have frequently been ignored in an otherwise empty shop- most places trying to sell you cosmetics have staff approaching you, but I seem to need to follow the staff about to attract their attention to purchase anything. I obviously don't fit the stereotype of those they want to sell make-up to.

And I don't know why they are reputed to give you samples etc- whenever I ask (they never offer) they have always run out. And that is when I am purchasing something, so it isn't as though I look as if I am just out for freebies!

Now, I will only buy from there if it is a brand I can't get elsewhere (e.g. By Terry). Otherwise, I will go to Frasers- same price, but you get your points and sometimes they have 10% off. And much better service.

I used to be mad for expensive products- then my friend recommended coconut oil instead of what I was using. Combined with my clarisonic face brush, it's all I use bow, and honestly, it's taken five years off me.

Because I'm brushing all the dead skin cells off (I use it every two days) I'm using much less product too, and what I do use is more effective, like my MAC Strobe cream. You can buy it in tiny amounts to try.

If you are still after an eye cream - I have been reading a book by a Miami dermatologist The skin type solution by Leslie Baumann (Caitlin Moran recommended it in her 'bathroom chat' with Sali Hughes). Anyway one eye cream keeps coming up as a recommendation in her book and that is Relastin eye silk. It is £54 and available via Amazom .co.uk (said to increase skin elasticity).

Trouble is, the book is American of course so a lot of the treatments we can't get or have trouble getting. She mentions a Ponds age defEYE therapy but I think this is very hard to get/discontinued now.

cocobongo It was Glasgow I was in. You hit the nail on the head. I did pretty much follow the woman about to get her to speak to me. The women that seemed to be getting served were all 45+ with a face full of filler. I was on my way to uni with a hoody and a backpack. To be fair I probably looked as though I didn't have money to spend. I did have my make up on though.

shona I bought a clarisonic but unfortunately it didn't agree with me. I have acne and oily skin and even using the gentle brush, it irritated the acne and my face was like an oil slick. I sent it back and got my money back. Thank god. It's a shame though as loads of people love it.

deathray Have you bought Sali's book?is it any good? I'll have a wee look online at that one.

I agree re space nk. I am a make up addict and could easily drop £100 in a trip ... If they weren't so clearly uninterested in my custom. To their credit they have been equally uninterested whether I've been wearing jeans or a suit! I am not one for pushy service but I do think I should be greeted when I enter an otherwise empty shop and asked if I need any help, for example.

By the way I have found this to be true in several stores in London ... Not just a Glasgow thing!

More of the same stories here...
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/style_and_beauty/a2169689-How-long-do-you-think-Space-NK-can-go-on-for

Thanks for finding that!

I've generally found their customer service to be fairly rubbish. They just aren't interested.

i love space nk but think it's a place for people who already love and know the products they want to buy.

i expect that they have had alot of know it all customers in their time so know to hold back or not over sell something unless specifically invited to.

i prefer to go in there know what i want and buy it, to be honest if you want a high priced item you'd be daft to rely on the advice of one person over the whole internet.

I was really peed with them in the summer. Had a £20 voucher to use online but it wouldn't work but it was valid I date etc. sent them two emails about it and rang them and they offered no help at all .... Sent them back my nuldge card cut in half and went elsewhere.

Service has seriously dropped in last 2-3 years. I rotate between 3 branches and rarely get greeted when I enter now. Also, product knowledge and advice isn't what it used to be: went in recently and asked to see a few different peach, matt blushers. Response was a flustered 'oh, I don't think we have anything like that'. So went to various stands myself and pulled out 6. .

Oh yes, also the time I went to ask if they had a new product was in stock: 'no idea what these are, do you have the right product name'. Pulled out the article on their website explaining that Nudestix had been released in Space NK that week; 'that must be a mistake'.

Cocobongo - Nope, not read it yet. Might well be a Christmas pressie to myself soon though!!!