The Cosmetics Company Store

Came here today for lipgloss came out with nothing. Two older ladies behind the counter were chit chatting about possible hires and how they are no good. Asked them for help and they didnt even freakin hear me because they werent paying attention to customers only themselves

Summary for people who hate long reviews: good selection of products, very helpful and knowledgeable employees, and clean and organized displays. It was a completely different experience than the last time I was there, and I will definitely being going back on a regular basis now that there are more friendly and helpful people working there.
I too experienced poor customer service the last time I was here — about two years ago. That time, I was mostly ignored, and the young ladies seemed like they couldn’t be bothered to speak with me, let alone actually assist me. I finally went back today and am quite pleased to report that my experience was VERY different. I was greeted the minute I walked in the door with an energetic and cheerful hello. I actually had help from all three employees that were there today — Kristina, Sade, and Miss Sheila, the store manager — and every single one was both cheerful and very helpful. They were happy to start me a «pile» behind the counter of items I wanted, and to explain about different products I was not familiar with. Despite the plethora of signs posted asking people not to open the boxes, at least one customer did, and while the employee was quick to remind her to please not do that, she was polite and cheerful about it — no yelling as I saw in another review. In fact, all the conversations I overheard between the employees and customers were polite and cheerful.
I had reread all the reviews before going, and while I can’t speak for every product, I didn’t see anything old, as in rancid, as someone else mentioned. Yes, some things will be older, such as the eyeshadow palettes I saw from some older MAC Limited Edition collections, but I didn’t see anything in poor condition or unwearable, and I inspected each item I bought when I came home. (BTW if somehow you get a truly bad item, don’t throw it out — bring it back to them with your receipt.) Also, I’m a little OCD and dirty and unorganized anything is a pet peeve of mine, so I definitely noticed that the store was actually very clean and well-​organized.
Although they have a wonderful selection of the various brands they carry (including a lot of great Bobbi Brown cosmetics and tons of EL and Clinique skin care), I was disappointed to not see some items I had hoped for. But that didn’t surprise me as I was seeking mostly MAC Limited Edition items that usually sell out in the stores and online. I also was disappointed there were no Tom Ford eyeshadows or blushes, just fragrance and nail polish — but this isn’t their fault. They get shipments of discontinued and overstocked items and have no control over what they do and do not get. (BTW, right now they have a bunch of good Bobbi Brown LE eye palettes.) But I was able to score a bunch of a discontinued LE Estee Lauder items and to buy several for me plus some for friends who don’t have a CCO near them — so that was awesome!
They do have a limit of 3 of any particular item, and there is a sign on the counter near the register stating this. They will also tell you about it if you look like you’re loading up on something while shopping (as I was) and haven’t yet made it to the counter to see the sign, but they weren’t snotty or mean about it at all. Just informative.
All in all I would say this store is worth your time. Even if you were there before and had a bad experience, give it another shot. I am certainly glad that I did.

Some products are old, The liquid makeup I purchased was old and rancid and not near the original color it should be. They don’t take returns so I threw away $ 60. There is one employee that has been there awhile that is rude and screams at you when you walk in the door, DO NOT OPEN ANYTHING. Wow, the store must have a policy in effect for opened items. It does not come out of the employees pockets. On the other hand there is a employee who is extremely nice and helpful. It’s a pleasure to see her working. If the product is not fresh, it’s really not worth the savings. Buyer beware.

I do not know why this store exists. The products are old. S e seems like theyve been exposed to extreme temperatures and therefor damaged out by regular stores. The prices are not cheap. On average you save exactly 10%. A 10% savings does not warrant, the drive or the gamble with spoiled product. Steer clear. Go to your brand of choice’s website, they always run at least free shipping. In fact, right now, Clinique is offering free 2-​day shipping and 20% off.

The positive: The store itself itself has some favorable qualities. A decent selection of Estee Lauder, MAC, Bobbi Brown, Clinique, Smashbox, Origins, etc. all at a discounted price. If you’re looking for a beloved product that one of the Estee Lauder brands has discontinued, there’s a good chance you will find it here as I noticed several items of the kind available in ample quantity.
The BIG negative: I dealt with an incredibly rude, disrespectful, and condescending employee during my most recent visit. Her flagrant insolence progressively worsened despite my restraint and $ 200+ purchase. The experience left such a bad taste that I almost complied with my urge to give a 1 star rating as a result. However, one (UTTERLY) rotten employee shouldn’t completely inundate the overall quality of the store. Instead, I will likely resort to visiting one of the store’s alternative locations and highly advise others to do the same.

This shop is clean and organized, which is important for an outlet store. Inventory comes and goes, and it’s hard to keep up with consistent shelf labeling. There’s a good amount of product on their shelves. Brands such as Estee Lauder, Smashbox, MAC, Clinique, Bobbi Brown, and Prescriptives, can be purchased here for a slight discount.
The items on the shelves are mostly discontinued cosmetics from limited edition lines.
Fragrances are also available, and there is a variety of gift sets to choose from.
There was a hoard of women surrounding the MAC display while I was shopping, which was aggravating since that’s why I went in here in the first place. The displays are small, so it’s difficult to browse if someone else is present. I had to wait a few minutes and do a little pushing to elbow my way in front of the display.
I purchased 2 MAC eyeshadows ($ 11/​each) and a MAC brush set ($ 34). MAC only sells brush sets around the holidays, so this is a good destination if you’re looking for quality brushes.

This is one of my favorite stores in this center. Great collection of MAC, Estee Lauder, and Clinique cosmetics and gift sets. Perfect resource when you need to give a small gift to someone, or for your own collection.
They even have Origins and some other harder to find body products.
They also have a side of the store mostly dedicated to perfumes, and they have some nice, harder to find ones.
The staff is always friendly and eager to help. Great prices that can’t be beat – especially for discontinued MAC collection products!

I usually LOVE this store! I hit up the CCO for mostly MAC products. I love MAC, but don’t always love the price tag. I usually will buy a color lipstick I wouldn’t normally purchase or blushes/​bronzers from here. The last time I visited though I SWEAR they sold me a FAKE lipstick! It was a Viva Glam lipstick. I thought it was Lady Gaga since I also got the lipgloss, but I could be wrong. I could be wrong because the label is in CHINESE!!! Wtf. I have never in my life seen a MAC label in Chinese. The tube is black/​pinkish red like it should be, but there is no signature of the tube like there is with the Nicki one. Everything seems to be legit, but the label. I was tempted to turn around and return it once I was home, but I live 45 mins away and really wasn’t up for the trip again. Needless to say IF I ever purchase anything from here again I will make sure to check the product packaging BEFORE walking out of the store!

This is my second CCO I’ve been to (if only I could quit working and visit them all), and it was definitely more spacious and plentiful than the other one (the Legends in Kansas). That being said, I didn’t seem to find as many great MAC limited edition products at this one compared to the Legends. It may be the case that it was simply a bad time for the kind of products I was hoping for. After all, you can’t always expect for a day where you pick up a Petticoat MSF and Coco pigment. The selection of other brands (especially the Bobbi Brown) blew the Legends CCO out of the water though. It may be mainly limited edition items, but I’m a sucker for good makeup even if I have to buy 4 of something to ensure I have it for a while.

As a self proclaimed makeup junkie and an avid shopper, this place reeks of trouble for me. I found out about the Cosmetics Company Outlet from a MUA @ MAC when I was looking for my favorite (limited edition) lip gloss. I love to shop but have never been crazy about the Chicago Premium Outlets so I hadn’t familiarized myself with the bowels of this shopping mecca. When I first got to the mall, I fumbled around looking for this mysterious store that I knew nothing about. Expecting to be disappointed due to my admittedly prissy attitude regarding cosmetics, I walked into the store (after passing it twice) to great delight. Instead of slim pickings and broken test palettes, I found a bright and well organized space filled with top department store brands at low prices. The staff was friendly and attentive, and willing to answer questions and offer testers (they are out but little signs are posted indicated that you should ask to test). The store carries a wide array of products from my personal favorite brad MAC to Estee Lauder, Clinique, Origins, Bobbi Brown, and American Beauty among a selection of others. The prices are marked down significantly, and they offer some amazing finds for those of us who need a backup of our favorite limited edition items. I found my lip gloss and bought the remaining stock (oops). I’ve found some other great buys from previous collections, although I tend to stick to the eye shadows and powders for fear of the chemical decomposition as previous reviewers have indicated. The store also boasts a great selection of fragrances and professional grade cosmetic brushes. For any beauty junkies out there, this is a must. Definitely worth battling the cold weather or the weekend crowds for, especially in a last ditch effort to find the one (lip gloss) that got away…

I love, love, love this store. Everytime I step into this store, I totally feel just like a kid in a candy store and before you know it, I’ll have arm fulls of MAC cosmetics that would make any beauty junkie envy. The best part is when I finally go up to the counter to pay for it, I’m constantly amazed by how much I get for the price in comparison to my usual hauls at a regular MAC counter. Everyone here is SUPER nice and they really seem to know what they are talking about. I’ve discussed past and upcoming collections with some of the salespeople here and have always come away with insightful advice. Of course, the selection is limited, but sometimes when you find those extra special and coveted limited edition items that aren’t even in regular stores anymore, you just can’t help but feel like you just won the lottery (and most likely at a fraction of the price to boot!)
I love this store, I find that even with my occassional stopovers, they always seem to recognize me and will never fail to say a quick hello!

The Cosmetics Company Store is the outlet for all brands under the Estee Lauder Company. This includes Bobbi Brown, MAC Cosmetics, Clinique, Stila, Origins, Prescriptives, Estee Lauder, and American Beauty, among others; those are just the brands I’ve actually seen in the store. They sell items from these lines at a discount of up to 30% off retail. Since they’re a TRUE outlet store, their stock will vary from shipment to shipment. If you call and inquire about a specific item (for instance, Bamboo eyeshadow by MAC), they can tell you if they have it in stock, but cannot give prices over the phone. As an example of savings, I saved $ 4 on an eyeshadow; $ 6 each on a couple of brushes; $ 6 on pigments…
I’ve only purchased MAC items from there. The items they carry may be from a limited edition collection, or may be an item from the permanent collection that was a little older (I’ve found shadows there with a date code from just last year; the shadows are fine). It was a pleasant surprise to me to find brushes here; they also have makeup bags and train cases from time to time.
A plus for this store was the size. I’ve been to two other CCO’s, and this one was easily twice the size. The clerks were all friendly, too. If you visit, make sure you ask if there are any eyeshadows, blushes (etc) of the line you’re interested in in the back that aren’t out. While they have testers for the vast majority of product, there are sometimes things they don’t have testers for.