I’m a big fan of Sephora, but in Dubai the service is often quite bad. On several occasions, I’ve walked into the Sephora branches in Marina Mall and Mall of the Emirates in Dubai, only to leave again empty-handed, because I got tired of waiting for the staff, who obviously couldn’t care less and seemed to pretend that the customers were invisible.
I therefore usually only buy beauty products in Sephora, when I’m in the States and even though I’m only there once or twice each year, I’ve managed to keep my VIB status for two years in a row now. VIB is the second level of Sephora’s U.S. loyalty program and I’m only around $200 of purchases to make it to the VIB Rouge level. Hmm..that’s actually a bit embarrassing, isn’t it? *shopaholic warning*.
My favorite Sephora in Los Angeles is the one in Hollywood & Highland. It also appears to be the busiest Sephora in LA, but the people working there are always in a great mood and ready to help.
On my first night in the city, I was browsing the store for some emergency products for my skin, which was stressed out from jetlag and lack of sleep. One of the female staff members offered me a free 15 min. mini-facial, which sounded like a great idea, so I took a seat, while she went to pick up the products, she intended to use.
I was diagnosed with dry cheeks and an outbreak-prone forehead, and to attack these issues, she chose two different masks; a hydrating Cucumber Gel Mask from Peter Thomas Roth and the Clear Improvement active charcoal mask from Origins. Before applying the masks she cleaned my face with Evian water from a spray can and the Soy Face Cleanser from Fresh. What a bliss! It was 15 minutes in heaven.
When I was sitting with my mask on, I noticed that Sephora also offered Custom Makeovers with focus on contouring. Contouring has been really big among the beauty bloggers for years, but for people like me, who usually to stick to their decade-old make-up habits, this was completely new. With the help of either powder or cream sticks, you can create shadows and highlights and thus the illusion of more flattering facial features, should you wish to do so. I found out that my VIB status entitled me to a free makeover (usually there’s a $50 minimum spend), so I signed up for my own personal contouring lesson the following day. It was such an eye-opener (literally speaking), but this post is already much too long, so I think I’ll save that for another blog post.
