Bare Escentuals Boutique

One of the gals there with purple hair was rude! I came in to test out new eyeshadow… I’ve been using bare minerals for years. As I was sitting down applying different colors at one of the two tables, ol purple hair has a client and sits her down at another chair and spins the makeup wheel I was using and all of my stuff went flying. No apologies. I said «I was using that». Silence. I said to the other rep who witnessed it «I don’t deserve to be treated like that». She just looked awkward and didn’t respond. There was another wheel that was open that she could’ve used. Granted I wasn’t dressed up that day like had money, but I was going to spend. Will never go back there.

Taylor at West Towne is awesome. I’m in the mall a lot, but not always shopping for makeup, but I make a point to stop by and say hello. When I do need something, though, she makes me feel like a model.

My experience at the boutique in West Towne Mall was eh… okay. The gal who helped me was nice and seemed to know the product well (even though she wasn’t all that great at explaining), but didn’t know anything about competitor products. I’m kind of surprised with all the training they have to go through that their training doesn’t cover how Bare Escentuals’ products differ from other lines of cosmetics.

I love Bare Escentuals products and have gone to several of their boutiques on a regular basis, including the one in Cherry Creek, Denver, and the counter at Macy’s on State in Chicago… The only applicable description of my experience at the Madison location would be BIZARRE. My husband and I walked in for me to quickly pick up some Mineral Veil powder to replace the supply that is in my combo brush/​powder dispenser. I’m not a huge make-​up person and I got this gizmo at Sephora a couple years ago. Anyway, my husband and I were kind of looking around to find the right shade when one of the two sales clerks there came over to us and asked if we needed help. I described what I needed and she said, «Do you want the foundation or the regular Mineral Veil?» And I said, «I don’t use foundation, so I guess I want the regular one.» She seemed confused and started to show me foundation. I said, «Sorry, but I don’t use foundation.» She said, «Well, I don’t understand because the plain Mineral Vein is meant as a finishing powder.» I told her that I understand but that it also works very nicely on its own for those of us who don’t need/​use foundation. She still seemed confused and said, «But Mineral Veil doesn’t actually DO anything.» Really? A sales person who wants to argue about the relevance of their own products? So I said, «Are you familiar with the product I’m talking about?» She said yes, which clearly, she was not. Her face was very pock marked and caked with make-​up, so maybe she was just sour that some people don’t need to use as much product. In any case, my husband didn’t say anything but I could tell that he wanted to get out of there so I said, «You know what? I have the brush/​compact in my car… Should I bring it back to show you what I’m talking about?» And she said YES, that that would help her. Needless to say, we left and never came back. I can’t believe that BE employs such an idiot in Madison but it cost them a sale. We noticed a Sephora and went there, got the product I wanted (which BE itself says conceals imperfections and fine lines while decreasing pore size)…Clearly, this woman had no idea what I was talking about, much less what she was talking about. BE still made a sale on the product when I bought it at Sephora but I’m sure it was at a loss. In any case, it makes me think twice about shopping at one of these boutiques again. This woman definitely needs to be retrained in customer service or let someone else more competent have a job. Sales isn’t tricky– just be helpful to customers and make the sale! Especially when they come in wanting buy!