Vib rouge the truth.

May 7, 2016

Marleen B.

I am a Vib Rouge member but not by choice. I do spend a lot, but not just on makeup, but skincare too. And good skincare is pricey for the most part. I think the last eye cream I bought was $69. But, anyway, I do enjoy the free 3 day express shipping, the point system minis , and the discount and gift cards I get sent. But, I do esp. appreciate how willing they are to give free samples before buying. Dept. stores seem bothered by it and my Ulta doesn't give out free samples. Personally, that is a big deal for me. I don't like returning things.

May 6, 2016

CPT- Lili R.

Jamie My whole paycheck would go there lol.

May 6, 2016

Jamie D.

Exactly! It's pointless to make a special trip for only one place, when you can access it elsewhere much easier.

I actually work at the mall where my Sephora is, which definitely fuels my habit 😅

May 5, 2016

CPT- Lili R.

Jamie I remember that when I was in north carolina the only sephora "near" was in a mall and that mall had nothing special it was a ghost town lol.

May 5, 2016

CPT- Lili R.

Nicole I know what you mean about them not having to offer anything at all but to me its like if you offer something make it worth it if not you get a bunch of unsatisfied customers that don't want to shop there no more, to be honest I'm starting to feel like taking my money to macys they have a point system as well and sometimes have gifts with purchase but ughhh I'm not sure yet I'm a see if I can stop temptation lol.

May 5, 2016

CPT- Lili R.

Diana yes they ulta needs to get on expanding a bit more but personally there's a lot of ultas around me but I have seen how hard it is to get to one in other states.

May 5, 2016

Jamie D.

Lili - it's not very far, a half hour maybe, but I don't have a car so I have to beg (or bribe) someone to drive me there.

The biggest issue is that it's not around anything. My Sephora is in a mall near all the other shops. My Ulta is next to a Joann Fabrics and nothing else lol. So if I'm going, I have to go for Ulta and nothing else, which is something I'm too lazy to do most the time.

May 5, 2016

Alma M.

Nicole I'm excited about Mac select it's about time they had this type of program. :)

May 5, 2016

Nicole A.

Ooh I could rant forever about this topic ugh...I've been a Rouge since they 1st started it and let me tell you. During there epic reward point exchanges you can't get anything 2 years in a row I get on and everything is gone in a Nano second, this last past year they had a special email seperate from there regular about complaints during the epic rewards they promised me compensation and then never replied again!! They have that double or triple point event right before so many many people spend like crazy just to get a reward that I believe dosent even exist. Also what happens to all the money I spend after I reach 1000 for the year?? It becomes nothing and resets at the beginning of the year which is not fair it should start over for the following year as soon as you hit 1000. They used to have way more 20% off offers now we're lucky to get 15% a few times a year. As for the free makeovers etc.lol I know how to do my own makeup so no need for that...I only shop there because of the brands I use something from every brand that they only sell, and the sephora line of products are in my opinion way better in quality then ulta brand stuff. Bottom line do they have to offer us anything no, but as with every business even casinos want to have a program to keep people coming back!! Sephora just needs a major major makeover when it comes to this...My favorite program at the moment is Mac Select so far since it's launched I've been very impressed(:

May 5, 2016

Diana T.

I definitely agree with you guys I was VIB for a year when I was living in California and I never saw any difference between VIB and just beauty insider - but the reason I can only shop at Sephora now is because ULTA does not ship internationally and that includes APO boxes - so I can't even shop there - and ULTA is only in certain places in the US like not every city has them - so it kinda sucks that as much as I want to shop at ULTA more I can't because I live in Germany right now and the places I lived in the states didn't have an ULTA store - I wish they would expand their business more like Sephora has and maybe they will in a few years but for now I'm stuck with Sephora :T or other beauty websites that ship to APO boxes.

May 5, 2016

CPT- Lili R.

Jamie, how far is your ulta??

May 5, 2016

CPT- Lili R.

Kristen sounds like bad luck with ulta lol I havent had a problem with them sending wrong items but I never get my items on time and they take forever to get to me lol... beautylish has good game great customer service speedy service and fancy fancy brands lol.

May 5, 2016

CPT- Lili R.

Yes the point perks are bad, they are basically giving away delux samples that you get for free later on with a qualifying purchase, yes ulta is awsome some times they give little sets of delux samples with your purchase and you can't beat that lol...... i contacted corporate over the mirror since there the ones that messed up and all they had to say is that they love to hear feed back and will take it into consideration and that pretty much sums up my conversation with them

May 5, 2016

Jamie D.

I'm in the same boat. VIB Rouges receive no benefits that are worthwhile that regular VIB's don't receive, and honestly even the perks we do get are not good, especially compared to the system at Ulta.

If I had as many points at Ulta as I do at Sephora, I'd have about $300 worth of store credit. To put that in perspective, at Sephora I could get around 8 or 9 of their crappy 500 point rewards.

My Sephora location is more convenient to me, and there are many brands there that I prefer to the ones at Ulta, which is why I still keep shopping there. But whenever a product is sold through both retailers, I hike my way to Ulta every time.

May 5, 2016

Kristen W.

To be honest, I'm kind of over both Sephora and Ulta. Ulta 99% of the time sends me the wrong items and never sends out the correct ones. Sephora on the other hand has one of the worst reward programs out there. It's like choosing between the lesser of two evils. lol I'll stick with Frends Beauty, Beautylish and CRC. You may not find all the mainstream products there but they seem to slowly be integrating more and more.

May 5, 2016

Lara C.

Very interesting Lili. I have the vib this year (second or third time) and I even find the vib to be completely useless... I literally only benefit from the sale percentage... but right now I don't shop much for makeup, so even that isnt amazing to me.
those classes and the free makeovers are really nothing I would ever participate in... so its kind of pointless. I agree with it being unsanitary, I sometimes cringe when I see the girls applying products to customers... I just feel like cutting in and yelling ITS NOT WORTH IT!! also, I'm kinda annoyed with the way the associates tend to suggest products that are their "faves" or trending, but don't necessarily meet the criteria for what youre looking for... this is a very general opinion obviously, because I have met some amazing employees who really do help a lot.
the point perks are really nothing special, I've been accumulating them and I never get anything because the options at my sephora suck.
I wish we had ulta here, I've shopped twice there when I visited LA and I was so impressed, even as a tourist I was able to benefit from certain sales and perks.
I don't want to knock down the company because they do offer such a great variety of brands and products, and one of the only stores like that accessible to me here in quebec. but I feel like I'm passed the point where I'm like "mesmerized" by high end products and want everything in the store.
that mirror is really pretty btw. honestly, if I were you, I would email customer service and explain all the trouble you went through. hopefully, they take you seriously... especially if you spend a lot of money at their stores.

May 5, 2016

CPT- Lili R.

Yes it is jamie.

May 5, 2016

Jamie Estele G.

Ulta is definitely better!

May 5, 2016

CPT- Lili R.

Sam when you come to the states you will fall in love with ultas point system 😊

May 5, 2016

CPT- Lili R.

Beth I think its only the money card they give you at the end of the year that is higher in price but the percent off is the same and the vib also get to shop when the stores is closed I believe but i know what ur trying to say 😊

May 5, 2016

CPT- Lili R.

To be honest alma cvs is a dream shopping place compared to sephora.

May 5, 2016

Sam R.

I agree with you Lili, I'm a vib rouge also and I emailed customer service TWICE and they never responded
I'm not a customer of ulta and I emailed customer service once and got a reply within a few hours
I REALLY want to switch to ulta, but they not accepting international PayPal or credit cards, which sucks a lot
when I do visit the states I'll be searching for an ulta!

May 5, 2016

Beth L.

I'm also a VIB Rouge and I definitely get where you're coming from. I don't really care about the status however, I just happen to have a shopping problem haha. Also, being from Canada we don't have Ulta so Sephora is really the only place for high end makeup. But there are a couple of good things about VIB Rouge.

The sales they have a couple of times a year (15 and 20% off) are the perfect time to splurge. I know VIB get the sale, but it's not as much as VIB Rouge. Also, the in-store closed events are a really cool experience. They close the store, let you bring a guest, have a huge free sample bag, have food and drinks, have reps from all the brands, and have live demos about the latest makeup trends.

So yeah, VIB Rouge may not be worth the hype. But if you're going to be spending that money anyways, it's an extra nice perk.

May 5, 2016

Alma M.

That's a bummer Lili, It makes CVS sound like they got a better beauty system lol I'll have to get into the Ulta game because you all make it sound like that would be worth it. I'm not high off of the point systems at sephora or Ulta since I have other makeup outlets that I turn to but I can imagine for those who shop only there to not at least get some major perks that is worth all that spending through the year's. That Minnie mirror is cute.

May 5, 2016

CPT- Lili R.

Jah jah and don't forget the gifts with purchase 😉