SEPHORA — Local services in Ontario

(Long review, but i promise it's worth the read)

Jessica was the star here (or what the kids call a GOAT, i suppose). Im sure all their staff are properly trained, but it is easy to see this woman loves what she does and goes above and beyond without a second thought.

I hate makeup. I don't know how to use it. I don't like wearing it, but i want to a little. It's frustrating as all can be, and I feel dumb as Hell.

Jessica, though, was unfazed. I couldn't even tell her what my "concerns/problem areas" were. That's how outta my league I am. As we went through, she figured it out and dumbed it down so I could explain what my face "does."

All I knew was I wanted super minimal coverage, easy to use, and preferably long-lasting

🌟Enter Jessica.🌟

She took a minimum of 30 mins with me and never made me feel like I was a problem. Attentive the entire time. I imagine we went through roughly 6 different products. She gave each of them time to oxidate (whatever that means, haha) to be clear on how it would look as a finished product.

Although she liked one, I enjoyed how another felt on my skin and bam, back to work she goes. Absolute legend.

She didn't push any extra product on me. Was kind enough to give me a sample of a primer she thought would work well with the foundation we chose (and she was bang on. My primer didn't have nearly half the positive impact her choice did. Back I come.)

She did show me one spray to help with my redness, not as a push, but as a "further down the line, you may really like this," and I love it. She was respectful of my price range and made it work.

She took the extra time to walk me through the steps like I was a toddler learning how to ride a tricycle.

This store is intimidating as all heck, especially for those of us who grew up in the over-plucking eyebrow generation (you know who you are) and people with anxiety (👋) but that woman nailed it.

When I come back, if she's not working, I'll come back another day (no offense to the other staff .. she's just my person now, whether she likes it or not). She can help me figure out what blush my complexion needs and help me figure out how to fix my eyebrows (give her a heads up she's got her work cut out again)

Also, give the girl a raise or a paid vacation (just not when I need her, okay?) If it hadn't been for her, I never would've stepped foot back in there. My first experience was probably over a year ago. My lack of experience seemed to make the employees' inner eyes roll, but I finally tried again.

Oh, and the finished product? Dude, I used to have to reapply every 30 mins during my shifts, or I'd have mascara running under my eyes and all patchy and cracked and just .. ew. Im flabbergasted she made what I thought was impossible, possible. I went from super insecure to super confused that everything is perfect and I don't have to worry.

I can NOT believe I can work a 12-hour shift (bartender), and my face is still flawless at the end. I really tried to find some wrinkle lines or rough areas, maybe feedback or things you could work on, but dang, I can't .. she's your star.

It's a scary place, but I promise you're...

Today I visited Sephora to buy a new foundation as I had ran out of the one I was using at home. When I got there I was greeted by a woman who asked me if I needed help, which I did, because the brand of foundation I usually buy recently changed their formula so the “names” of the colours had also changed. The way she was treating me made me feel uncomfortable to the point where I just wanted her to leave me alone. When I would ask questions (which why am I not going to ask questions about a foundation I’m buying when I’m spending $50 on it?) she would make it seem like I was asking too much of her, or that my question was stupid. It got to the point where I just walked away from her when she was testing foundation on my skin. At this point I was upset and flustered with the way I had been treated and was ready to leave the store when Jazz (who had seen the entire encounter) came up to me to see if I was okay and if I needed any help. She gave me a hug as she could tell I was visibly upset, and proceeded to give me the most thorough and genuine help I have ever received at ANY Sephora store. Jazz had so much information on all of the products and was willing to invest any time and effort that I would’ve needed, she prepared several options for me to choose from and not only was she so sweet - she genuinely cared about my opinions on the products she was testing on me. All I have to say is that she is the only reason I will revisit this store in the future for my makeup products and that this girl needs a RAISE because she understands the true meaning of customer service and you can actually tell that she cares (which I have found that this is rare at many of the Sephora stores)....

I went into Sephora to pick up an order I placed online while I was there I thought I might as well look around and see if anything catches my eye.

First off I did not get greeted and it was dead in the store. I asked an employee if I could get a shade match for the Rare Beauty concealer and she said “I can’t help you”. I asked her if she can get someone to help me then and she rolled her eyes at me.

Approximately 5 mins later someone came to help “colour match me” she didn’t apologize for the wait, she also did a poor job at colour matching. On the first shade she said “this is a perfect match” you could clearly see it was 3 shades darker than my skin tone!

I said I wasn’t happy with the shade and if we could find a lighter one. She continues to do a few swatches and I tell her that the concealer is not matching me it’s either to dark, to yellow, or to light. She continues to say “rare beauty concealers pull very yellow” obviously I found that out real quick.

I asked if you knew they were not going to work for me why didn’t you say that in the beginning. I asked her if I could then be matched me to a Dior concealer and she grunts at me and “shade matches me again” she proceeded to still grab concealers that were to dark for me.

I ended up waiting for her to walk away and I just picked my own perfect shade. I had better luck with a shade match ONLINE than I did in the store.

At the end of all this I wasn’t wished a happy birthday, wasn’t offered my birthday gift and had gotten a dirty look when I asked for it. Unfortunately I’ll now be going to a further location but at least at the other location I get a way...