Post 181: Sephora, I adore ya.

I like Sephora. Makeup to me is really as close as I can probably get to being an actual artist. Not to say that makeup artists aren’t artists. Just that I will never be a sculptor or painter, but I might one day master the perfect Smokey eye and winged mascara.Sometimes I think about quitting my job and going to work at Sephora. I love the idea of being a makeup artist and playing with shades, but I don’t think I would actually enjoy it. The reason I don’t think I would enjoy it is that I don’t think the picture of the job that I had in my head would match the reality of the experience. I have worked in retail before and I remember being scheduled basically up to about a half hour to an hour under fulltime. So, I worked as much as they could possible get me to work without paying benefits.

It also would likely pay minimum wage, if not a little higher. But it would still be a pay cut. And while I like the idea of being able to do people’s makeup, it sounds like you work there in just a general role and you might be able to get trained to do makeovers, but it will generally be a few select people with the most experience at Sephora doing them. According to some reviews on GlassDoors (they got a 3.9/5 rating) the selection of who the makeup artists will be on a given shift often falls down to favoritism more than anything else. One person said they were officially certified in being a makeup artist and they didn’t get to do makeovers, but if their attitude in the comment was reflective of their actual attitude it could also just be that they are not as customer service oriented (aka friendly) as the others. People who are managers favorites are often so because they work hard and are personable. If you have to spend over an hour with someone where you are basically staring at each other’s faces the whole time, I would rather have someone that is personable and hardworking, than just highly skilled.

Especially because they will be more likely to actually accept feedback and my opinion. Not that I often go in with a “I want exactly this” attitude. But still, if I did, I would like to think they would listen and help me with it, rather than dismiss it based on their training and view that they know better. Like, maybe a Smokey eye won’t look as good on me as a cut crease or maybe I have more of warm skin tone so should stay away from blues, but I still want to try a Smokey eye or blue anyway to see what it looks like. Maybe it won’t look as good, but it will still look good.

That was a little bit of a side rant. Anyway, my point is that I might not actually get assigned to do them. Also, if I did do them, there is always the fear that the customer won’t like it. I have always liked it, sometimes I’ve been a liiiiiittle picky because there will be certain things that look a little rough (like maybe a smudged eyeliner or not properly blended foundation), but it is easy enough for me to fix and the lighting isn’t always great in Sephora, so I’ve been super happy with it. But, I’m pretty chill. Not everyone is pretty chill, or even a little chill.

Especially if they are coming in before prom or some big occasion. They might have an exact look in mind and if I can’t do it or even just can’t do it to the standard of their vision of it, then they might be unhappy. I know a lot of hairstylists complain when people bring in pictures that they got off the internet of photo-shopped hair colors and want their hair to look exactly like the picture. Or will come in for a haircut and it won’t look as good on them as the model/actress they saw it on and assume the hairstylist did something wrong. And I know that certain YouTube makeup artists edit their photos/final looks, which makes it harder to do as well. And the promotional photos for the makeup brands are done by serious professionals and STILL edited to look better, so some looks aren’t easily achievable or possible without an editing software.  

I don’t want to be the reason some’s special occasion doesn’t go the way they would like it to go. Partially because I don’t like confrontation and don’t know what I would do if they got mad, but also I would just feel guilty about it. Maybe it is just a sign that I need to practice more with my own makeup.