I wanted to share my recent experience visiting Sephora in Canada, in one of the biggest malls in North America.

I knew the items I wanted to check out and buy in advance, and one of them was a foundation by Haus Labs. I tried the sample and liked it, so I decided to buy it but needed help to confirm the shade that suits me best.

The store assistant was friendly at first, asking questions about why I liked the foundation and what qualities of it I liked most (texture, shade selection etc). She asked me to try a few options with a swipe on my face to see the colors in person. She then tells me how cakey it looks and I should try a different brand instead. I told her sure (?) and that I liked Dior and Fenty foundations from the stand and I wouldn’t mind trying them too. BUT, she went on and on to insist that I SHOULD try the foundation she thinks would be a good fit for me. She went on to say how much better it is and then she herself uses it ( a person with a different skin color and type than mine?). I told her no, I want HL and I just needed help with the shade, but she went and took the other’s brand foundation to show me the sample, asking me to try it on? I tried it and didn’t like the applicator and I thought it’s pretty small for a price it had, so I told her No, I like the HL applicator. She then tells me how applicator is better in her foundation because listed the reasons, me: okay, but I LIKE the HL applicator and I don’t care about the reasons she listed.

I should add that the HL foundation is priced at about $54, while the one she was pushing on to me was priced ~$100. The difference is pretty significant, at least in my opinion.

I ended up just grabbing the shade I thought works for me, said thanks and left to pay for it. But the overall experience and such ‘assurance’ went a sour feeling from visiting the store. Not sure how normal it is, but I never experienced such attitude before.