SEPHORA — Local services in Greenwich

To the person who is in charge of North American retail at Sephora -- you've got work to do. This "VIB Rouge" patron is not so hot for you right now. The Greenwich Sephora experience slides downhill with each passing year. My recent visit confirmed this. Service was not good. It was poor. Going to Sephora used to be fun -- what happened?

After walking around the store trying to color-match by myself, I had to queue at the POS to request assistance. This was not a busy time of day. There were plenty of SAs hanging out near the Beauty Studio -- none of them with clients -- and most were playing with shadow palettes. They all saw me, made eye contact, and never offered assistance --- they went out of their way to make themselves scarce. No one even acknowledged me.

I can say that the woman at the register was professional; at least she paged someone to help me. Still, the fact that someone had to be dragged by their ear to help me is galling.

Unfortunately, that "someone" who came to aid me (after much delay) was so distinctly put-upon by having to perform basic SA duties (i.e. press a remote control against my face to Color ID) and so disinterested in providing help/assistance/guidance/perspective that it undermined the entire experience. The person did not take me seriously as a client, rather, just fobbed me off when I asked about similar products from different brands. Perhaps they weren't well-versed in the Sephora's brand offerings? No excuse for him. I do know that I've had better experience at drive-thru windows.

Sephora is essentially a wholesaler...but at luxury prices. The treatment I received was distinctly wholesale...

I’m giving this Sephora two stars mainly because the staff are genuinely very nice and friendly. Honestly, if they were a bit more knowledgeable and helpful, I might even give them three stars. But that’s where the positives pretty much end. This place is always insanely busy, which I can tolerate, but the store itself feels tired and rundown—kind of like it’s been around since the ’90s and never got a proper makeover. The floor tiles are worn out, some shelves are broken, and the whole place feels a little grimy. It’s definitely not the bright, shiny Sephora experience you’d expect. Now, the men’s cologne section? Don’t get me started. It’s tiny, pitiful, and every single bottle is chained down like it’s a priceless artifact. The irony is hilarious—here in Greenwich, where the biggest theft rumor is about someone stealing a parking spot, they treat cologne like it’s a high-security vault. I guess even the fragrances need bodyguards in this town! If you want a real men’s cologne shopping experience, just head over to Bloomingdale’s in White Plains. Their counter is a complete 5-star world: clean, bright, fully stocked, and staffed by people who actually know their stuff and are genuinely courteous. Compared to that, this Sephora feels more like a prison yard than a beauty store. To sum it up with a little joke: Why did the cologne thief avoid Sephora in Greenwich? Because even the scents are locked up tighter than the town’s HOA rules! So yeah, nice staff keep me coming back sometimes, but the store itself desperately needs some TLC. Until then, I’ll keep dreaming of that Bloomingdale’s...

SEPHORA HQ LISTEN UP! today I went into Sephora, looking for a new foundation considering I’ve dropped maybe three shades since September sadly. Luckily, an employee named Roy asked if I needed any assistance. Since I would consider myself a novice, I wanted some kind of expert advice on which foundation to lean towards. Let me tell you something, Roy’s authenticity and realness was the most refreshing interaction I’ve had in a while. He was straight to the point but was helpful and informative with the million questions that I had. The knowledge that man holds about the beauty industry and the personality that he has belongs in corporate making big time decisions. I know nothing about Roy, but I do know that he belongs in the big leagues and I pray such an opportunity falls to him If he hasn’t been met with it already. And just to conclude this rant I have never been more perfectly color matched in my entire life. He helped me find the PERFECT shade of foundation, blush, and lip color. Roy your are awesome and now I can look fabulous without having two different shades on my face and neck and now have my go to blush...