M.A.C.

It was my birthday, and my friend and I wanted to get our makeup done. They were so talented and so nice. The entire staff was very friendly and just having a great time. They didn’t push products and really listened to how I wanted my make up done. Thanks for a great experience!

So I didn’t expect to stay in the city an extra night, and didn’t bring my makeup. I stopped in this MAC counter located in Saks. For a full face of makeup, there is a $ 50 minimum product purchase. Jasmine ended up doing my makeup, I told her a general idea of my day to day face and she took some liberty with it.
Jasmine is a great makeup artist and showed me new products, as well as a new style. It looked great but the liner wasn’t exactly how I like it. Either way my skin looked amazing, I got a bunch of compliments and walked away with some new products.

MAC.
Bummer that I’ve been exposed to it’s decline as they have been my only makeup of choice for 10 years. Way back when, the artist working with you would bring out a sheet with a face, and showed you where to apply all the shadows, bronzers, etc they were selling and you were purchasing… That’s what had me hooked, plus all the fabulous colors and trends and the great cool attitude that was not my mom’s lancome.
Years pass — yes, every season I go in, (I dont even have a favorite location anymore as the artists come and go so fast.) get my new eye colors but the past two shopping excursions — wowser.
Ok — in fairness to this location, I needed/​wanted two new shadows to pump up my pre summer look so I went into the MAC at Macy’s in Boynton Beach FL — the girl at the counter was so goth, and I begged her to get creative and choose two terrific new colors for me… literally had to wake her up — she finally brought back some greens and i went for a light shimmery green on the lid and the second dark green I was going to put into my crease and she CONVINCED me that the «CREASE» was OUT!!! what??? MY DIVA HEART ALMOST STOPPED! she said to use it as an under eye liner. I needed a new powder base — I walked out with a color that made me look like Johnny Depp’s wierd white ghost sister. Somehow! I also listened to her into buying a dark long lasting lipstick which is not.
Fine, that’s my problem — always hoping that an artist will give me the art I need… Ok, I’m over it —
So back to NYC my hometown. I was staying at the NY Marriott Marquis and ran into an emergency. I was out of eyebrow liner and lip gloss. So, scoot i go — run downstairs and into this MAC. The divalicous spectaculator guy who helped me find me color — just dissapeared — he had to go home and couldnt find a pencil in that color!!! thank god, a true diva extraordinaire came to my rescue — ran all around the block and got me my eyeliner, a lip gloss and all was well — FOR THIS THE TWO STARS…
Day after, miserable conference day at the Marquis, and I’m feeling yukcy so before the evening event I had an hour and I thought the best thing to cheer me up is go down and have my face done up.
So — here’s what I find out. Yes, you pay your $ 50 before tip but: hello! None of the kids working at MAC have experience nor do they get classes or training! The cute little midwestern girl who moved to Brooklyn has loose lips and made me look pretty good) told me it was just to pay the bills and I even watched a girl being interviewed on this little stage in the middle of the room by the manager, the only guy in the store wtih any training. You just had to love doing make up and be able to sell.
Ugh. My perfect makeup bubble was burst.
Well, heres a post script… I finally run out of that ghostly white base powder and run into a MAC in Chicago this week. I have two items on the list 1 — the friggin eyeliner pencil — which runs out faster than any other product 2 — the new darker color powder. I was loving the new orange pencil and liipstick which i do admit is all the rage. but — people, c’mon — look at my coloring. I’m a light brunette blond pretty white and brown eyes. that does not an orange marriage make.
i let her put it on me, sell it to me and then i went to the ladies room. I stood there for 15 minutes and asked every women who came in «hey, please be honest — what do you think of this look on me» and hand to heart — nobody said anything positive. i went downstairs to the station and got my $ 32.50 credit.
I know I won’t give up on MAC. Same for Lancome. They know nothing about the product, yet I’m afraid to move company’s.
But this NYC one was a bummer — be «fabulous» help me find something, I’m on a time crunch too — and blast out the door!!! Come on!!! and the whole finding someone on the floor who can do a face? it’s become a joke…
Not happy.

I’m not a huge fan of MAC makeup, it makes me break out. But, the MUA here are super talented and I do pop in here after doing a little Bendel-​ing to get my makeup done for events. If Melissa is working, have her hook it up, she is incredibly talented. Also — remember to tip your makeup artists!

If you’re planning on getting your makeup done or need extra attention with your cosmetic selection, make an appointment! I arrived at Henri Bendel on a Sunday morning @ 1145am to find a mob of women waiting for the doors to open. MAC is directly at the entrance so it gets very crowded. I had a makeup appointment with Deja, and she was absolutely amazing! Deja is so talented and can hide every flaw on your face! I definitely recommend her for special occasion makeup.

This is a review for the service at this store, not the products. I love M.A.C. makeup which is why I submit myself to the irritation of visiting this store when I run out of my M.A.C. staples.
The service here is horrendous. Before my current career began I worked in luxury retail. I understand the idea of creating a positive client experience in a store. It seems to me that management at M.A.C. must be taught that one-​on-​one consultations are a necessity for stellar customer retention.
What they have failed to realize (so it seems) is that a returning customer, a loyal customer at that, likely knows what she likes and needs to get it and get out. This is NYC, no one has time to wait to be noticed at a makeup counter for 30 minutes.
I go in for the same products most of the time. The last time I went in there must have been 5 consultants working. Granted there were several clients there but I was blatantly ignored for a solid 15 minutes because I didn’t need a consultation. A couple consultants even asked if I’d been helped but walked away when I mentioned that I just needed to be rung up. No one was even willing to ring me up… they were too busy patrolling the floor like barracudas looking for someone who was ready to drop $ 100+ on enough makeup to create a whole new face. They need to either hire chashiers or take pains to cater to loyal clients who are in a hurry.
It pains me that I have to continue to go back here but I do love the products.

For a M.A.C., I must say that everyone at this branch was very nice. I was asked if I needed help almost immediately. Even though after the first girl told me she’d be with me in a minute and then walked away, another girl could see that I was trying to get back to work and got me in and out of the store in a hurry. I spent $ 50 in less than 10 damn minutes. I’ll definitely be back when I have a little more time to test out their make up applying skills.

If you work in a makeup store you should probably be able to apply it as well on a potential customer, no?
I’ve been in here countless times to restock my largely mac dominated makeup collection and every time the service gets worse and worse.
The ‘makeup artists’ refuse to ever show anything to you on your face. I went in today with one of my gf’s who worked FOR mac as a freelance artist and the marilyn manson looking salesgirl told my friend she already had enough makeup on when my friend asked her to apply a specific product. Goth chic also forgot to put the lipliner I asked for in my bag. I’m resorting to CVS lipliner at this point.
I came in a few months ago to have my makeup done (by appointment!) and the girl didn’t even understand basic applications of makeup. When I’m spending over $ 100 on products you better put it on my face right.
I really hate this store but I really love its makeup. I think I’ll have to resort to a Connecticut mall and find it’s Mac store with sales help that actually wants to help!

Let me let you in on a secret, whenever I’m in New York for business, I make a stop at this M.A.C. shop to have one of their talented make up artists glamour me up before having some drinks with potential clients! I always come out splurging and spending about $ 300 but WHY NOT??? THIS GIRL WORKS HARD FOR HER MONEY SO YOU BETTER TREAT HER RIGHT!!! See you next month New York!

In a brief visit to NYC I couldn’t resist stopping into my favorite M.A.C.store. I know, there are locations in Boston. Perhaps I should be making more judicious decisions with my short time in NYC and visiting stores I cannot find in the Boston Metro Area (see Bergdorf’s, Forever 21) but this was always my go-​to MAC. The people are immediately helpful and always hit the nail on the hit when it comes to finding what I ask for.
I was literally in and out of MAC in under 5 minutes with exactly what I had been looking for in hand: some light bronzer and a loose, allover base-​colored eyeshadow with a little sparkle.
A bonus: I recently learned that MAC has a recycling program. If you turn in 6 used, empty MAC containers, you get a FREE lipstick. While I think they could be more generous with what the ‘reward’ is, ou have to hand it to them for thinking green!