Let’s face it, we all live and breathe Sephora. I go there several times a month, even if I don’t need anything in particular. There’s just something about the store that draws me in, and I know I can’t be the only one.
As long as we can all admit that we have a problem, that’s the first step on the road to recovering from makeup addiction! But as much time as we spend in the store, there’s still a lot we don’t know. Thankfully a few former employees have taken to the internet to share some little known facts about the place hemorrhaging all our money, that may surprise you.
Check out these 6 secrets revealed by Sephora employees!
Employees Must Wear Makeup At All Times While On The Clock
Similarly to working in most retail or beauty-related positions, employees are expected to show up looking their best. Naturally, since Sephora is a makeup and beauty store, they want their staff looking the part. Unfortunately, this can be a tedious thing to ask of employees, since doing a full-face of makeup can sometimes take over an hour on someone’s best day. They don’t just have to wear makeup, there are actually very specific amounts of makeup they are supposed to wear, and specific trends they have to follow. Essentially, they want everyone to have a similar look.
Most Employees Aren’t Actually Makeup Artists
To get a job at Sephora, you do have to go through a pretty lengthy hiring process. Employers are scouting out people with makeup experience preferably, but will never rule out someone who just seems suitable for the job because their makeup is on point, they’re impressively self-taught, and they have sales experience. As a result, only a small percentage of the staff are professional makeup artists or estheticians.
The Travel Sized Items Located In The Cash Line Are Put There For A Specific Reason
It’s really no surprise that Sephora intentionally places products in the line-up area so that customers grab a few extra things on their way to the cashier. But they specifically choose to stock their travel-sized items in this area because otherwise they have a hard time selling them. Displaying the mini sizes on a customer’s way out of the store makes it seem like it’s just a small, inexpensive item that they’re adding to their basket— but usually the items are still quite costly. It’s all an illusion, really!
Employees Get A Ton Of Free Products
Approximately every third week, the staff are trained on new products and methods, at which time they are given the product of the week for free. The smaller brands tend to be a bit more generous with their free offerings, but ultimately, in just a matter of months an employee can have collected several free items.
The Makeup Brushes That Are Used To Apply Makeup On Customers Might Not Always Be Clean
I’m sure you’ve probably noticed before that Sephora is an incredibly busy place to be at almost all hours of the day, every day of the week. The staff are only human— it can be difficult to keep up with their duties, and the duty that usually gets swept under the rug, more often than not, is the proper sanitization of the communal makeup brushes. In-store makeovers are high in demand, brushes get passed around dozens of times in a day, and no one is really keeping track of what’s been cleaned or not.
They Use Theatre Terminology
This is an interesting fact, to say the least. Most workplaces try to spice things up to make themselves unique, and add a certain exclusivity for their staff. In Sephora’s case, they use show-biz terms to describe the areas of their store, the uniforms. But here’s the real kicker: They must use this terminology. It’s not optional. The staff must refer to the floor as the “stage”, managers as “directors”, other staff members are called the “cast and crew”, and their uniforms are called “costumes”. Seems a bit over the top!
Featured Image: Flickr
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