Makeup Counter Horror Stories.

Oct 4, 2013

Alicia H.

Share yours. Have you ever had to walk with shame through a department store with a foundation shade 10 times too dark after a trip to the makeup counter?

Oct 5, 2013

Traci W.

Omg this happen to me around My Prom time. So My friend and I sat at a counter @ Carsons and the lady applied my friend makeup and it came out Nice..so I was super excited like My turn...About 30min of her rambling and putting all sorts of diferent shades on my face..She was like here's my business card as I looked in the mirror I was petrified!! Being a young at the time I didn't want to wipe it off in front of her..So we exited into the mall area and people were starring at me like What the hell! My friend told me joking: You look like a Mannequin...I washed it off immediately when I got to a restroom lol! O boy smh!!

Oct 5, 2013

Shaye M.

Omg, I went to get my hair and makeup done for my grade 12 formal and worst mistake ever, I went to stephans and got my hair and makeup done but you could see my freckles, they were shit at appllying extensions and my faux eyelashes werent glued in right. so I went home and had to do it all again, biggest waste of money.

Oct 5, 2013

Alicia H.

I'm super fair so the automatic assumption is to put me in grandma's petal-pink-pale foundation. It amazes me with the wide array of foundation colors that beauty advisors still make the mistake in not checking the undertone! I'm warm/neutral!  Argh!

Oct 5, 2013

Shelley W.

Saks Fifth Avenue in Palm Beach, FL...I was shopping with a good friend whose English is very limited. She wanted us to both get makeovers. I'm very picky on who touches my face because past experiences made me a firm believer in asking about x,y and z before sitting in the chair. My g/f saw the Chanel counter and she practically ran. To appease her I said ok. The two girls that we had to stare at and listen to their sale pitch of every product used looked like has been high-end prostitutes who fell on hard times. Makeup, hair...all heavy. The whole time we never were handed a mirror to see the progress. Oh, my freakin' word when we did my g/f said some not so nice things in Spanish. We looked like mini versions of these two gals. We bought a bunch of lippies to satisfy the makeover requirements and we high-tailed outta there. We found a day spa where they had availability to give us facials to remove the offending clown masks.

Oct 5, 2013

Shelley W.

*done*

Oct 5, 2013

Traci W.

@Jacqueline I like that you listen to your client instead of being like oh no try this! (that fustrates me:s) @ Shelley "high end prostitutes" lol!

Oct 5, 2013

Kona T.

I just applied for a job in a department store (makeup counter, of course) & the lady who did my interview was surprised that iApplied because iMa licensed cosmetologist, they usually don't hire professionals. iThought that was interesting.

Oct 5, 2013

Shelley W.

I hope you get the job Kona. :)

Oct 6, 2013

Kona T.

Thnx Shelley :)

Oct 6, 2013

Amanda jade N.

My first year I did dance my mom took me in to a department store as I was only 12 and I had not really gained an interest in make up yet but need to Learn how to apply it for competitions recitals an Such well I have bit of Indian blood in me so I take a tan really well although I am definitely white and very freckled the lady first tried to cover my freckles with foundation of course then my face was brown and noticeably not the same color as the rest of me so then she tried again and managed to pale me out pretty bad sadly my mom who had barely worn make up since before I was born was able to find my color easier it was a mess needles to say I did learn what not to do

Oct 8, 2013

Maggie K.

I have big lips and big eyes so I always choose one to accentuate right? Well the ladies at the MAC counter aren't known for their subtlety and I walked out of their with a dark smokey eye and BURGUNDY lips. I'm as pale as could be. Looked like a streetwalker.

Oct 9, 2013

Amanda V.

I must say that I used to work for makeup counters at Macy's. I use the plural word "counters" because I started out as a floater- I did not receive any training whatsoever, I was just thrown into working at various makeup counters (except for Bobbi brown- they use their own trained beauty advisors)...so I can testify to say that the "beauty advisors" at Macy's are not always the smartest or give the best advice. They are there to sell sell sell. No matter what. I was then offered a part time position as a real beauty advisor for Chanel- a position I was extremely excited about especially when the other ladies tell me that I'm a perfect fit for the Chanel look- "natural beauty", my counter manager wasn't such a great manager...she ran through the products with me quickly and that was all the training I received as far as product. I remember my counter manager saying to me that it doesn't matter if the customer seems unsure about a product and it's encouraged to push products because it's cheap for Macy's to receive returns. So as far as horror stories- I apologize for all you ladies that had bad experiences at makeup counters! If you want real advice from a real makeup artist, wait until the counter has an event (usually on Saturday/Sunday) that is when they hire true freelance makeup artists. Don't get me wrong, I did work with some truly talented makeup artists that worked part time/full time at the counters (maybe like two-three out of the whole department) so there are some gems but beware for your next encounter!!

Oct 9, 2013

Amanda V.

Also, department store lighting is the worst when you are trying to match your foundation!! Must use natural light!!