Bluemercury

I was dismayed to see how low of a rating my favorite store in Princeton received on Unilocal!I felt the need to remedy some of the old complaints and update Blue Mercury’s feed with some of the things I love! 1. I love this store for the people; Meg, Jean-​Luc, and many others have always been so incredibly helpful and FUN to talk to. If you are passionate about beauty products, and talking to others about them, this is a store for you. 2. I also love Blue Mercury because it stocks the best of the best. I like being able to try products and get a feel for them before buying, especially products at a pretty high price point. 3. When you are overwhelmed by the plethora of good things in this store, all you need to do is ask for help… or if you don’t know what you’re looking for, start a conversation! In the world of retail, this is becoming such a gray area — people hate being approached, but complain when they are not! I have found that this particular store gets very busy, but the staff are dedicated to finding whatever is it you need! 4. Last but not least, don’t forget to check out their make-​up parties. They bring in top artists from Chanel, Laura Mercier and Bobbi Brown who are all very talented and nice. I always make an appointment and have fun trying new products and experimenting with colors I wouldn’t ordinarily gravitate to. This is truly a wonderful store with many experienced and knowledgeable people willing to help ensure you find whatever it is you’re looking for.

Dont like condescending people at all. Came in here, was ignored, then when helped irritated by the sales girls hideous make up. Sorry but I will spend my money elsewhere. Somewhere where my business is appreciated and people are cool and friendly. The prices here are high and I would love to try to understand the people in this world who will spend $ 30 on bath wash!

I got a fusion facial from Lori, the esthetician at the spa there. And I was really happy with her service. She really understood my needs and did the facial according to that. Couldn’t be any happier!
Smiling and a friendly atmosphere at the store from the other staff would be nice.

They have a lot of great products but the sales associates could careless about you. I walked in the store with the intension of buying a Laura Mercier translucent powder but no one seemed to help me and I felt like I had to force someone to help me. It may be because I am 18 and they assumed I would not buy anything but neither the less they should at least try to greet everyone that comes in the door and not be so dismissive when asked to help. If it weren’t for the products they offer and their proximity I would never go.

Walked in, described the lip color I was looking for and walked out with the perfect pink lip color, all in five minutes. That’s good customer service. The saleswoman knew exactly what to show me based on my skin tone/​color (I’m Asian) and description (a natural looking pink like the discontinued NARS pillow talk, but not too bright, not too orange and not bubble gum — I’m picky). Their makeup artists have also done my makeup twice for weddings I was in and did a beautiful job. I’ve shopped at this location and other locations in NY and DC and have had good experiences.

Talk about poor customer service. I went in looking for a wrinkle cream today and not one sales attendant offered to help despite their not being busy at all. I will shop at Sephora in the future. Oh, and the attendants had the snooty attitudes of real professionals earning 20 times their salary. Ick.

Really uncomfortable and awkward conversations with the sales people. They’re pretty condescending too. I was looking for a lipstick similar to the Smashbox Megatint (which has a silky texture and is matte) but the lady claimed that the Smashbox line was beneath them and that I was wrong in thinking that a lipwear can be both matte and silky.
Um … What?
Thinking of yourself as more «niche, boutique and high-​end» than Sephora and yet still carrying Clinique and a bunch of not so special brands is just embarrassing. And trying to correct the customer is down right rude.

I LOVE shopping at Blue Mercury for Chanel, Bobbi Brown, and all the other great cosmetics they carry. They sell some of the best hair and skin products as well. My experience with the sales people has been consistently positive. I have never had a problem buying, returning or exchanging. During the winter holidays there is a fabulous opportunity to get 10 to 20% off your total bill depending on the amount you spend.
It’s an upscale shop and I can understand that it could be somewhat intimidating to some customers. If people perceive the staff as being unfriendly, I would suggest that they give it another try. I personally don’t like being approached by overly aggressive salesladies.
I have never used the spa.

Very snooty Staff!!! BLUE MERCURY in AC is so much better.

I had the worst Brazilian wax experience here. I have previously had waxes at BM, and they have ranged from mediocre to good, but this time, it was TRULY AWFUL. I was waxed by a lady with mid-​length blonde hair. She put huge amounts of wax on and ripped off a gigantic area at once, and while she was doing it, she would press her hand down on the other side very hard. I asked her if she could do smaller areas, and she just looked irritated. I think she wanted to get out of there ASAP and just wanted to do it as quickly as possible, not caring that I was in pain. She basically ignored me and continued to do large areas. I tried to hint to her that it was incredibly painful by asking if they had changed the wax, because it hurt more than usual. She just said «No» and didn’t try to reduce the pain. Her wax was so badly done that I got an incredible number of ingrowns right after — I have never experienced anything like this before.
I am never going back to BM for a wax again, and I highly advise others not to. I do go there to buy make up, but I find the staff to be very snotty and unhelpful.

I have been here twice for waxing, both times, it was unacceptable. The first time, the woman was pleasant, friendly and did a good job. EXCEPT, that I asked for a bikini wax, and she took off more than I requested because SHE didn’t think I should have hair in that area. This is not the waxer’s decision. If the waxer really feels more should come off, I’m not opposed to a suggestion, but she simply informed me of this as she was applying the wax.
When I returned I asked to see a different waxer, and this experience was an absolute nightmare. The woman seemed to have no real plan for waxing and moved completely randomly around. When she finally finished (it seemed more like she gave up) she explained she didn’t have any oil for removing any leftover wax and then just left. I really didn’t know what to do. As I checked myself, I noticed there was a very large section of wax in my remaining hair. Even if I’d had oil it wouldn’t have removed it. I was afraid to get dressed because I thought the wax would ruin my underwear. Finally she returned and handed me a pair of scissors and told me I could «take care of that». So I scissored myself.
She then tried to overcharge me. When I explained the situation to the manager she was sort of blandly apologetic, but didn’t offer any discount, assurances that it would never happen again, or any incentive for me to return there. I will never use their spa services again.

I am a total beauty and skin care junkie. I always keep myself up to date with the newest lines etc. I’ve been a sephora vvib for a long long time and after moving, realized that blue mercury is closer to my house than sephora. Happy to know they carried Kiehls I gave them a lot of my business. Their product selection is great but there is something seriously wrong with the women who work here. They have the biggest attitude problem I have seen for people who are selling products and make u feel like you are not good enough if you buy 2 products as opposed to 10. I’m afraid to try their facials and treatments because of the attitude problem I may have to put up with! I prefer Sephora for shopping any day!

I’ve noticed bad reviews on here for waxing, so wanted to add my own. Having tried a few other places in Princeton I now ONLY go to Christie at Blue Mercury for my waxing. She is great. Everything she has waxed (including bikini) she has done in a professional, efficient, and warm manner.
This is also a great place in town to get brands that can be hard to find in this area — Dermatologica, Kiehls, etc… I agree some of the staff can appear a bit snooty (and sales reps can be pushy), but I’ve equally had excellent service from others who’ve been prepared to give me samples of things to try even when I’m not spending lots of dollars.

Summary:
SIX (out of 5) stars for my facials from Marianne
ZERO stars for everything else
Average = 3 star review
Long version:
Here is the good news: Marianne gives the world’s best facial. And I have had A LOT of facials, all over the world. She is in a category all to herself. Here is why:
— Her knowledge about skin is astounding. Like getting a facial from a dermatologist. She knows exactly what my skin needs and what products she needs to use.
— Her knowledge about products is unrivaled. She can tell you what high end products are rip offs and which are worth it, as well as what the best value-​for-​money products are, all for your personal skin type. But she never tries hard to sell me anything, even after I ask for recommendations.
— She has magic hands. The whole treatment is enjoyable, and even the extractions are tolerable.
— During the facial she can talk about anything, or nothing, depending on your mood.
— But bottom line, my skin always looks radiant when I leave (and believe me, it does not look that way when I arrive)
I live in New York City, where there is no shortage of estheticians, but I travel down to Princeton to see her. I love going to spas, but never ever book facials because I will always be disappointed with anyone other than Marianne. Now if only I could find a masseuse I liked as much.
The bad news is that I have to walk into Blue Mercury to get to Marianne. Other than to see her, there is no compelling reason to go. The staff is perpetually snotty and browsing is frowned upon. The «locker rooms» don’t even have lockers that lock. They have a nice range of products, but they usually steer you towards the basics whose reps are present (so you are not actually getting the Sefora-​like benefit of bias-​free advice across multiple lines) and the prices are high.
But despite all that, I am still a loyal fan of Marianne’s facial. I’ll keep going back as long as she works there.

Rude, snooty staff, tried to sell me far more than I wanted, and did not care that the products that I ended up with were not the right match. The women that work there seriously need an attitude check. A baseline of respect would be a good start.

WORST brazilian wax EVER!
AFTER the lady started waxing me, she told me my hair was too short. WHAT??? If she knew that from the beginning, she should have sent me home!
Also, she kept complaining about how «coarse» my pubic hair was. How rude! And really, you can ask my partners, but I really don’t even have that much hair. She just saw that I was «ethnic» or whatever and just decided what kind of hair I had without even looking at it.
She committed the BIGGEST waxing faux-​pas ever: she triple-​, sometimes quadruple-​waxed over the same spots! I was lucky I didn’t walk out of there bleeding. Any good aesthetician KNOWS you can only wax one spot ONCE. And after she couldn’t get some hairs on the fourth try, she tried to tweeze. OH GOD that was even more painful than the wax!!! She was TERRIBLE at tweezing!
When you tweeze, you’re supposed to draw the skin taught, then make sure you have a good hold on the hair and pull tight and fast. This woman was so bad. She didn’t try to get the hairs close to the root and her hands kept slipping mid-​pull.
Seriously, I have given myself better waxes at home and not paid myself quite so much. Do they train these people at all?

Ick! I just purchased over $ 600 of Trish MacEvoy cosmetics here on «presale» and am considering taking everything back. Why? Because I wasn’t even greeted by the snooty girl at the desk. In fact, I wasn’t even looked at. She seemed annoyed by the fact that I was there at all, despite the fact that I was handing over twice her weekly salary in a cosmetics purchase.
Did she say «thank you»? Of course not! Even though I saved 20% on Trish MacEvoy products, I am considering returning every bit of it and rebuying at Nordsrom, where I am always treated nicely.
Blue Mercury gets a black mark from me.

I signed up for Unilocal just to write this review. It deserves a ⁰⁄₅.
My experience with the Blue Mercury at Princeton (Palmer’s Square) was undoubtedly the worst wax and/​or spa experience that I’ve ever had, by far.
I had a brazilian wax. The woman definitely rushed (much like in the other review on here) and put the wax on in a very sloppy manner compared to my past wax experiences elsewhere. She had a brusque, condescending manner about her to go along with it. (All of Blue Mercury’s staff act in a pretentious manner that I cannot fathom: you work for a middle-​range esthetician or salesgirl salary in Princeton, which basically puts you near the bottom of the salary range in this town… what do you have to be snobby about? Waxing the pubic hair off of rich girls in town everyday? Unfriendly people will not get my business… I’ve moved to CompletelyBare, downtown NYC location)
Even though the bluemercury site said that trimming may be done before waxing by the esthetician, and when I called I was assured that it would be done, there was NO trimming and therefore I felt incredible pain all the way through. Plus there wasn’t any numbing cream to make up for that. Most painful and rushed wax experience ever.
Even with all that pain, the wax was insufficient and left stray hairs too. No wonder, given the poor lighting and sloppy, imprecise job overall. No tweezing at all.
I’ll take self-​waxing, or completelybare spas, or a privately owned boutique spa over Blue Mercury’s sub-​par services any day. Wish I could pay double the price of the wax just to take it all back.

I went here for a brazilian wax and it was super uncomfortable. The girl seemed very nervous the entire time, kept chattering away, and couldnt seem to look me in the eye.
I felt as if she was really rushing thru the whole thing and Im not surprised, as there is not much lighting in the room and you are practically in the dark. Not sure how that figures for removing body hair?!?
When I got home, I (again, not surprisingly) realized she missed quite a bit.
Blue mercury should advise its employees (and dare I say) TRAIN them to make spa clients feel comfortable — ESP when they are getting something done as personal as a wax.
If you arent comfortable seeing another womans vagina, perhaps you are in the wrong field.

Blue Mercury is a swank boutique which offers cosmetics, candles and toiletries.
BM carries, trish, kiehls, fekkai and the list goes on. Exact same price as the Department Stores, but if you want to spend $ 15 on a candle and $ 25 on soap, then this is your place. The staff is very helpful and the store exotic and beautiful. They offer spa service, they don’t take checks and they carry red flower.