Brush up at the counter
To say there are more makeup options than ever is a colossal understatement. Thousands of new beauty products are introduced each year, giving rise to entirely new makeup categories that didn’t even exist a few years ago. With the lip plumpers and eyelash enhancers, the high-def and SPF foundations, and the air brush and all-natural applicators, the choices have become a bit mind-boggling.
Figuring out the best products and tools has never been easy, but the situation has become even more challenging in recent years, thanks to the speed cycling of beauty trends, an endless parade of fashion magazines’ “picks,” celebrity product endorsements and an economy that has value-oriented fashionistas looking for supplemental makeup items rather than tossing out their entire makeup collections each season.
Where’s a woman to turn for information and advice? The Internet is a great place for research, but it’s makeup counters that provide the hands-on, up-close, see-it-feel-it-sample-it experience that is probably the best way to determine if a product is right for an individual customer.
According to a recent beauty shopper survey cited by Gabrielle Fisher, vice president of education and field Development for Clinique in New York, 46% of department store cosmetics shoppers know exactly what they want when they visit a makeup counter, but 27% are looking for makeup tips or advice and an additional another 26% know they want a mascara or other item but are undecided about the exact brand or type.
Those statistics indicate a major shift in cosmetics shopping behavior — a shift that’s tracked with the economy’s decline over the last 11/2 years, Fisher said.
“We always claimed that 80% of our clients knew what they wanted and only 20% were coming in looking for expertise,” Fisher said. “Now we know that customers want additional service and support.”
And Clinique, like several other makeup brands and outlets, is tailoring the education of its behind-the-counter beauty “consultants” to address the informational needs of its customers.
Makeup application at Clinique is “always 100% complimentary,” Fisher said, adding that one of the experiences Clinique now offers is the “half-face teaching consultation.” The Clinique sales representative, or “consultant,” applies makeup to one side of a client’s face and the other half is applied by the client “so when she gets those products back in to her makeup bag, she feels more confident about being able to replicate what was recommended for her.”
Recognizing a void between the 200 brands and 13,000 products it carries and the challenge that presents to customers, the Sephora makeup and skin-care chain started offering “express services” about a year ago.
The free, 10-minute consultations in specific techniques, such as how to create a “smoky eye” or how to match a foundation according to skin tone and texture, were born “so customers don’t have to feel overwhelmed by a wall of product,” said Allison Slater , vice president of retail marketing for Sephora, whose North American headquarters are in San Francisco.
Sephora doesn’t have counters, so express services take place in a quasi-salon-like setting called the Beauty Studio, where Sephora’s black-smocked “cast members” work their magic on “stage,” a.k.a. the store floor.
In case you’re wondering why Sephora’s “cast” and the makeup artists working at different cosmetic counters are so much better at applying makeup than you are, it’s because they receive near-constant training, not only with specific products but in trends.
Estée Lauder’s “beauty advisors,” for example, go through a beauty “basic training” to learn about Estée Lauder products when they are first hired. They then go through seminars in makeup application techniques, attend seasonal seminars and receive ongoing online education.
“Today the customer is smarter than she ever was before,” said Beth Zurn, vice president of education and special events for Estée Lauder in New York. “Previously, she’d see an ad in the magazine and head to the department store to buy that product. Today she comes to the counter and she’s trying to figure out how one product might fit with her existing routine or how it compares to another product by another brand.”
Estée Lauder offers a menu of free, two-minute services, including popular “two-minute touchups” such as the Fatigue Fighter (during which a beauty advisor applies concealer). Customers who desire a service that requires more time, such as a full-face makeover, can get one. The service is free, Zurn said, and doesn’t require a product purchase.
“One of the things we try to train our beauty advisors to do is to understand their work may not be a purchase today, but if it’s a fabulous experience, word of mouth is much more powerful than a big sale. Customer service is what gives you great customers,” Zurn said.
In other words, they’ll come back.
“MAC’s philosophy is, if you want your eyes done or lips done, no problem. If you want a lesson, we offer that as well. I think people don’t know they can get those things done and maybe they’re afraid to ask,” said Tiffany Johnston, a senior artist for MAC North America. “We’re always open.”
Specific products can be sampled and applied by the pros in-store for free, but there may be product purchase requirements or fees for full-face makeovers, Johnston said. It depends on the store.
So what about that nagging, pressured-to-buy feeling many consumers feel when they go to a makeup counter? Surely, the women and men behind the counter must be expecting something in return for transforming your plain-faced palette into a work of art, even if the brands’ policies and representatives state otherwise?
“What each cosmetic brand attests and what actually goes on at the counters are often two different things,” said Paula Begoun, a makeup expert and author of “Don’t Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me.”
“It isn’t unreasonable to expect women getting a makeover to purchase at least one item. Whether it’s a lipstick, mascara or new makeup brush, it’s a nice way to thank the makeup artist who spent time applying your makeup.
“When you schedule your appointment, be upfront about your expectations,” Begoun added. “Describe the type of look you want, or whether you just want to experiment. If you do not intend to purchase anything, be upfront about that, but let the artist know you’ll be taking notes in case you decide to make a purchase in the future.”
Of course, the best way to find out about a makeup counter is to experience it yourself. Here’s what I encountered at five different stops.
Clinique
Despite Clinique’s corporate-level policy that its makeovers are free, I was told I needed to buy $50 worth of product if I wanted to get a makeover at the Clinique counter in my local Macy’s — a purchase requirement that existed at all the other makeup counters operating inside the store. According to the consultant who was helping me, the only makeup application I could get for free would be of a single product or service, such as foundation matching. After agreeing to pony up the $50, I was seated in the stool, where, when prompted, I told my consultant I wanted something natural but dramatic. Despite my somewhat oxymoronic directive, the consultant knew exactly what I was talking about. She applied an SPF moisturizer, and color-matched a lightweight foundation to my skin tone, topping it all with a palette of browns on my eyes and shades of honey on my lips. Fifty dollars was more than I wanted to pay, but I felt like a million bucks.
CoverGirl
CoverGirl is making the rounds of various CVS drugstores this summer, offering free makeovers performed with a short list of products. If, like me, you enter your CVS feeling a little shlumpy and looking only for a gallon of milk, it’s a pleasant surprise to exit the store looking, and feeling, about 10 times better than you did walking in. The makeover experience is pretty informal. It is also short, but I found the makeup artists to be every bit as enthusiastic, complimentary and talented as the artists I’d worked with at dedicated counters selling more exclusive brands. Although the artist was limited in products — the only foundation being used was its Simply Ageless line, and my makeup artist opted to use a palette of blushes for my eyes because the only eye shadows at her disposal were a bit too garish and young — what she achieved with my face drew compliments from passersby. Overall, it was an excellent experience that cost nothing.
MAC
Policies vary by store location, but the free-standing MAC store I visited in Pasadena will do an informal makeup application for free with no product purchase required. For a more formal makeover, I was given two options: an uninterrupted, one-hour makeover for $50 (which included a free MAC mascara of my choosing) or an interrupted makeover, where the makeup artist might step away to help other customers and you must buy a minimum $50 of product. I opted for the uninterrupted event. My goal: re-learning how to apply the trio of eye shadows I’d purchased a year earlier from a different brand and forgotten how to use. After complimenting me on my eyes, my makeup artist, set to work using the same palette of colors I had at home. At each step, she showed me what tool she was using, explained the reason why and made sure I had a good view of what she was doing. At the end, I felt confident I could replicate the experience at home. And, consulting with the makeup artist about the best type of mascara for lengthening my meager lashes, I walked out with my mascara, feeling more attractive than I had when I first walked in and, even better, more beauty-wise.
Pharmaca
An “integrative pharmacy” with only a few locations in the L.A. area, Pharmaca doesn’t do special-occasion makeup but its staff aestheticians provide free, 30-minute makeovers using Jane Iredale, Zuzu Luxe, Dr. Hauschka and other natural skin-care lines. The aestheticians work limited hours, so it’s best to call first and make an appointment, which is what I did. Pharmaca is sort of like Whole Foods, only with staffers who are dedicated to the makeup department and know how to apply the different lines. I wasn’t aware of Jane Iredale before walking in, but I had such a great experience that, even though no purchase was required, I walked out with some new favorites from the mineral-based makeup line: an SPF powder perfectly matched to my complexion, and a compact containing three powder eyeliners that were easier to apply with a brush and better looking than the liquid liner I’d been using for years.
Sephora
Sephora offers free 10-minute express services, which are one-on-one consultations with makeup professionals that focus on one area, such as foundation, eye shadow and lips. No purchase is required. My focus at Sephora was lips, as I’d just run out of my favorite gloss. The Sephora location I visited in Pasadena was bustling, but the staff was attentive, knowledgeable — and equipped with a wireless staff communication system. So when I stopped one of the smocked professionals and asked to speak with a lip specialist, he whispered into his lapel and a few moments later I was consulting with a makeup artist who instantly understood what I meant about natural, “age-appropriate” lip color and made a couple of excellent suggestions that left me satisfied, if $50 poorer.
