SEPHORA — Local services in Toronto

I've always been intimidated to ask questions at Sephora because the culture feels such that you have to be an expert in beauty products or else you'll get frowned upon. But I needed help finding an every day lipstick and liner so I thought that if I went in during off peak hours I could get better service. As I arrived, an employee asked me if I needed help and I asked for their recommendation for a lipstick shade that would suit my skin tone from Huda Beauty. This person's tone suddenly went sarcastic and she was like, "well it really is subjective" which is obvious and not helpful. She then followed up by asking what colours I gravitate towards which I felt was a much better question to start with. She picked out two shades of lip liner for me and then disappeared without saying a word to help someone else without asking me if there was anything else she could help me with when I had told her I needed help with a lipstick too. I later saw that she went out of her way to help someone else for like more than 5 minutes which was awkward because that person was right beside me. So safe to say I had to find someone else to help me because the lip liner looked blunt. The next person I found had to find someone else to help me but didn't tell me whether I should wait where she is or go find the other person. Then that person reappeared with a sharpener and when she realised it was a twist tip she let me know but in a way that made it seem like i should have known this. Well I didn't know and neither did she so why the attitude? And when I got to the cashier the cashier asked me for my phone number. I told her I'm not a member and just want to pay for the products. Then she asked me to provide my email. I said no I'd just like a printed recept. Then she asked me if i'd like my receipt emailed to me. Sigh. Honestly the customer service here is quite appalling and somehow they succeed in making people feel worse after stepping into the store than...

EDITED REVIEW (July 11, 2025):

So, I am changing my review from 3 to 5/5 because of my experience this morning. I went to the store hoping this time it would be a better experience than last Friday. The manager (Yesen or Yensen) was extremely helpful. She was sweet and helped me pick stuff without rushing me. I grabbed 7 items with her help and love all of them! Asal at the cash was also a sweetheart. She was patient, kind, and smiling the whole time although I was taking a bit longer to decide. Thank you so much!

Previous Review: July 4, 2025

This store is a bit hard to rate! Most of the associates are amazing, humble, helpful, and genuinely kind. I’ve had several great experiences here over time, and I really appreciate the wide variety of products this Sephora offers compared to others.

However, my visit this morning was disappointing. I encountered an associate who seemed uninterested and unwilling to connect. When I asked her name, just as a friendly gesture, she responded with, “I’ll tell them,” which felt unnecessarily dismissive. She meant I will tell the cash that I helped you so I would get my commission or whatever the plan was. I wasn’t asking her for that, I was just trying to interact human to human. Her attitude came off as if she didn’t want to be there, which left a negative impression. I left my products there and stepped out of the store. I will go back when she is not there.

That said, aside from her and maybe one or two others, the rest of the team has been wonderful. Overall, my experiences at this store have been positive, and I’ll continue shopping here thanks to the great selection and the many great people...

After having a 5/5 experience with the makeup service at the Union location I was incredibly disappointed with my experience at the Bloor location.

My appointment was scheduled for 9:15am and I arrived at 9am to check in. The manager of the store rudely greeted me telling me the store was closed and that nobody was there to do my makeup after I showed her my appointment confirmation.

She came back a second time re confirming that no artist was there, and I explained that I had an event I had to leave for by 10:30am. She came back a third time saying she did not realize makeup services opened 1 hour prior to the store opening and that someone would be with me.

I showed the artist (Mansha) my photo of myself for inspiration and she executed the exact opposite as to what the photo showed. I looked like a character from the Addams Family and was incredibly sad. She also took longer than the allotted time so I was late for my event, and she had me apply my own mascara which I found very odd.

My event was my engagement party and I wanted to feel beautiful so I booked this service, but it was a disaster beginning to end.

I really really wish I could be writing a great review, and Mansha seems like a nice person, but this was truly one of the worst service experiences I have ever had. I certainly will not be going back to this location, but will stick with the artist and...