Walking through a department store you'll realize that sometimes the salespeople look more like doctors than makeup artists. This is a planned scheme to convince you they are "experts," says a former counter worker. "The lab coats and charts are a marketing tool. They give the illusion [that the] sales force are estheticians, research scientists and keep their area clean," she says. "If we were [experts], we would not be working at the counter. Experts on beauty are actually providing services in salons and developing new skin care technology in a lab," she jokes.
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The free makeover is NOT free
One of the biggest selling points of visiting the makeup counter is the "free makeover," but what salespeople don't tell you upfront is that the makeover isn't really free.
Makeup artists at counters work on commission. So although you're not obligated to buy anything, it is expected. "Technically it's free, but we invest our time hoping you will become our next big customer. It's like tipping — if you don't tip your waiter, no one is going to come after you yelling and waving their fist, but you would leave feeling guilty. It's just not courteous to get a free makeover when you have no intention of buying," says a former counter makeup artist.
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They judge you based on the products you use
Often when you chat with a beauty counter salesperson about makeup or your skin care, they will ask you what products you are currently using. This serves two purposes: They can judge how much money you might spend with them and then they can assess how much time to spend on you.
"If I ask you what products you are currently using and you reply [that] you use a 3 in 1 cleanser from the drugstore, I have learned you don't want to spend a lot of care, time or money," says one counter worker.
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They keep an eye out for sample grifters
You can and should be asking your beauty counter salespeople to try samples of products before you buy them, but do know that they are taking note of how much you are "sampling" and how much you are actually buying.
"I would give them about two to three days worth [of product], not more than that. I am not supplying their skin care, I am just letting them touch, feel and smell," says one former counter worker. But she warns "some beauty advisors have an on-going mysterious hostility with their customers and will not waste product on someone who won't buy."
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They keep their mouths shut
There are certain things brands won't want to tell you about the product if you don't know to ask about it, says one beauty counter veteran. If an ingredient in a product you are interested in "has scared the public," like for example the media scare over parabens, the salesperson won't mention the present ingredient when selling it to you, she warns.
Picture this: You're walking though Macy's on a lazy Saturday afternoon. You're not particularly looking to buy anything -- you just wanted to peruse the shoe aisle or see what's on sale in the handbag department.
But then, you walk by a makeup counter and a smiling face flashes you a new "gift with purchase" promotional deal. BOOM. Just like that, you no longer care about shoes, bags or anything else, and you're chit chatting with "Melissa" about your crow's feet.
Sound familiar? It happens to the best of us. For anyone that appreciates makeup, the beauty counter has a magnetism that's hard to ignore. All those gorgeous makeup products laid out for your conspicuous consumption just beg you to buy, don't they?
But while everything on and behind the makeup counter looks harmless and the salespeople seem as though they're looking out for your best interest, the smart consumer has to wonder: Is it all too good to be true? What's real and what's fake behind the beauty counter business? Or better yet, what secrets are the brands behind these counters keeping from you in order to make you continue to come back and spend more?
To find out, we asked real women who work or have worked behind the counter in department stores across the country to spill the beans on what's free and what isn't, what's a marketing ploy and what's real, what they really think about customers, and much, much more.
