Sephora is a beloved retailer of beauty products, but according to many of its former and current employees, there’s nothing pretty about actually working there. In the confessions we’ve gathered below, they open up about the worst part of their jobs, the craziest stories that have happened to them, and yes – the things customers do that annoy them the most.
‘That red is too red’
If you’re into makeup at all, you’re probably aware of how challenging it can be to shop for a red lipstick. There are literally hundreds of options out there, but still, it’s tricky to find one that perfectly compliments one’s undertones.
That’s why people ask for professional help, but one woman apparently didn’t want to admit it. She got the assistance, wasn’t happy with anything, then she “found” exactly what she was looking for – the first option the Sephora seller had showed her.
Life’s not fair
It often happens that, in a workplace, the people who are the loudest are the ones who get promoted, regardless of competence, experience, or aptitude. It’s like, “they’re shouting, so they must know what they are doing. Let’s make them a manager!”
According to this person who used to work at a Sephora, folks with the loudest voices were always the ones moving forward, even when they were clearly wrong for the job and had no work ethic.
That list of priorities
If you have a lot of things to get done in a day, listing your top priorities is the easiest way to organize your schedule. In general, you want to move from the most important tasks to the least important ones, but not everyone follows that rule.
This former employee from Sephora shared a story about a woman who didn’t seem to have her top priorities straight – she claimed her father was dying in the hospital, but for some reason, there she was, trying to cut in line to pay for her two concealers.
Overworked and underpaid
Sephora employees have a bit of a reputation for having a bad attitude, but the person who posted the confession below wanted to set the record straight, saying that it’s not like they do it on purpose – they’re just overworked and underpaid.
They’re tired and not compensated enough, and still, they’re expected to always have a smile on their faces – and if you’ve ever been in a job where you’re in the aforementioned situation, you know that’s very hard to do.
When people are the worst
We often hear that you need to have thick skin if you want to work in retail, and this is perfect example why. This Sephora employee said that a client came to a store to complain about how she didn’t get any samples in her online order.
As far as we know, physical stores don’t even have anything to do with the company’s website, so if doesn’t even make sense that the woman was complaining over there, but she still chose to be extremely rude to the employee who was trying to help her.
Losing your mojo
For the person who wrote the confession below, the experience of working with the public at a Sephora store was so bad, they not only started to dislike the job, they also started to lose themselves and their spirit.
They acknowledged that their claim “sounds dramatic,” but that’s what happened after they lost their love for makeup and artistry. Fortunately, though, they added that they eventually found their mojo again, so that’s good; we hope it won’t go anywhere.
What did you just say?
It’s not like we expect everyone to know how to pronounce every single brand name out there (especially because some names are kinda weird), but we don’t understand why some people get angry in a situation such as the one described below.
The woman mentioned in the confession above entered a Sephora store and got angry when the employee didn’t understand what she wanted – because she was pronouncing OPI, the famous nail polish brand, as “Oh-Pee!”
‘There, we’re even’
People who’ve worked in retail for a while always have plenty of stories about wacky clients, and this one made us laugh out loud. The Sephora employee who shared it online said the client wanted to buy eyelash glue, but was a few dollars short.
That’s already funny because the price for eyelash glue IS a few dollars. Anyways, she woman wanted to borrow money from the seller, then tried some lowballing. We wonder if, in the end, she took the eyelash glue home or not.
Calling all sample hoarders
One thing that Sephora’s current and former employees seem to have in common is the dislike for people who complain when they don’t get free samples. The person who posted the confession below, for instance…
…Said that some customers make such a fuss about it, when the samples are simply a courtesy. According to the poster, those people would be better off if they stopped shopping at Sephora, “since they hate it so much!,” but for some reason, they never do.
Why are people like this?
Some of the stories on this list are funny, some of them are sad, some of them are kinda scary – and then there’s this one. A disgusting thing happened to the coworker of the person who shared this online, not only once, but TWICE.
You’d think that finding someone’s used pad inside a gondola in Sephora would be a “once in a lifetime” revolting surprise, but according to the OP, it happened again two years later, but this time the used pad was in the trash.
‘Doesn’t pay the bills’
When people think about what it must be like to work at Sephora, the first thing that comes to their mind is usually “free products.” Yes, that’s a famous perk of the beauty giant, but according to a person who has since left the company, it’s just not worth it.
According to them, the free products are fun, but they don’t pay the bills. You’re expected to do a lot of work for minimal pay, so this could be a “nice hobby job,” just not if you actually rely on your salary to survive.
No help wanted
One of the most challenging aspects of working in retail is trying to help a customer who’s asking for help, but doesn’t really want to receive it. This former employee from Sephora knows this all too well.
In their confession about working for Sephora, they told the story of a woman who was “furious” during a shade matching session, but the plot twist was too much for us. Apparently, the lady was legally blind, and ended up matching herself to an apricot color corrector.
Unfair treatment
Many people who’ve worked at Sephora had problems with their managers, and it wasn’t necessarily because they didn’t like their jobs, or anything like that. The person who shared this confession, for example, claims they loved leading the team, but…
…The management was “undermining and took advantage” of their work. Apparently, this person was made the DIC (director in charge – what most retail stores would call a floor manager) without any breaks, because the other leadership wanted to chat in the office.
Raised by wolves
Some folks seriously lack manners, which always makes us think that they must have been raised by wolves. Look at the customer described in the story below, for instance, who was cursing and bad-mouthing a Sephora employee because she didn’t know a particular “Estee Lauder” foundation.
In the end, the foundation turned out to be from Clinique, and when the employee found it for her, do you think the woman apologized? Nope! It’s as we said before – raised. By. Wolves.
Reality check
This person who works for Sephora has had enough of customers complaining online, especially because of what’s going on in the world today. They didn’t hold back when writing their confession, and we have to admit, they do have a point.
In their view, makeup is not a necessity, but a luxury, and people need a serious reality check when they’re making a huge fuss due to shipping delays and lack of free samples. We are, you know, still in the middle of a literal pandemic.
Lacking basic social skills
We’re not sure what’s up with some people. Were they just raised poorly, or do they spend so much time staring at their own phones, they forgot how to interact with actual human beings who are standing right in front of them?
Retail workers are happy to help customers, but some folks seem to have never learned the basic social skills we usually unlock during our kindergarten years – saying “hello,” “excuse me,” “please,” “thank you,” and waiting for your turn to do stuff.
Be nice to people
Shopping is fun, and sometimes we want to go to a store and feel pampered and showered with attention, but imagine what it must be like for the retail workers to have to fulfill that expectation for dozens of customers every single day.
This Sephora employee confessed that the weekend at their store had been so difficult, they almost had a breakdown before leaving for work. It goes without saying, but we should always try to be nice to people.
Just walking in circles
These confessions from former and current employees at Sephora are quite eye-opening, and it’s interesting to hear their position about things we usually find annoying in the whole retail experience. According to this employee, a client once cussed at them and accused them of following them around…
…But they claim that’s not true. In their words, “We can’t move out of our zone. We stay put in a specific part of the store. If it looks like I’m following you, I’m not. I just walking in circles waiting for someone to need help.”
All for show
It’s not unusual at all for a establishment to work extra hard in cleaning and organizing everything when they’re expecting a visit from an inspector, or from their leadership, like in the case described below. However, it’s indeed problematic when everything is done only for show.
According to this confession, they’d spend hours making sure the store looked spotless for a leadership visit, and after that was done, things would go back to being “filthy.” Not a great way to work.
‘No job is worth that’
When we think about the challenges of working in retail, the things that come into mind are the long hours, the low pay, and the stress from dealing with unpleasant customers. However, we weren’t expecting the type of examples we found here.
This person said that “no job is worth that,” and they gave some chilling examples of why. Not only were they called “every name in the book,” they were even threatened verbally and physically – once, with a hypodermic needle!
Money grabbing
On employment websites that allow people to write reviews about the companies they’ve worked for, there are plenty of evaluations about what it’s like to be at Sephora; some of them are really good, and some are really bad.
One former employee wrote that their job started off great, but kept getting worse as the years passed because management was all over the place, and everyday there was something new that made no sense. Money grabbing became their thing, and it just wasn’t the same.
One memorable day at work
Just one note in case you’ve never worked in retail: “LP,” mentioned in the confession below, stands for Loss Prevention, and refers to the people who protect the assets of a store against theft.
In this story, the shoplifter was the definition of “only sorry you got caught,” and when the LP showed up and proved she was onto her, the “lady” decided to make a scene by yelling and knocking products off the selves.
A candid recommendation
Now this is the type of recommendation we never get IRL because management wouldn’t be happy about it, but since they left Sephora, this former employee is not afraid to get candid with their reviews.
Their theory is that designer brands know people will buy from them no matter what, “even if they put out garbage,” so their price/quality value is unjustified. In their opinion, smaller brands know that when a person buys their products, it’s for quality alone, so they work hard to make excellent products.
Much ado about nothing
When we started reading the confession below, we were expecting things to go in a whole different direction. We thought the OP would say they ended up uncovering a credit card fraud, but talk about an anti-climax.
Some people have no regards for company policy, believing that if they just yell loud enough, or long enough, the rules will be changed for them because they’re special. In this customer’s case, the only thing she accomplished was to give everyone a headache.
A chain of events
This person who used to work as a Beauty Studio Coordinator for Sephora did have one good thing to say about their former job – it was a great place to learn about cosmetics. Unfortunately, the rest of the experience wasn’t as stellar.
This seems to be one of those cases where the folks on top created an unhappy environment, then conditioned the workers to be unhappy, then received unhappy results, and then they where like, “I’m SHOCKED, how did this happen?” Those people.
Step away from the lipstick tester
With everything going on in the world right now, it seems like a lifetime ago that we did some pretty unhygienic things, like touching our faces with unwashed hands, and thought nothing of it. But using lipstick testers directly on our lips?
That’s always been a no-no, and this confession from someone who used to work at Sephora is an eye-opener for everyone who still thinks there’s nothing wrong with it. Testers for lipsticks, glosses, mascaras, etc? Better to keep a safe distance from those.
Too much drama
According to this confession from a person who used to work at Sephora, both in the stores and in corporate, there was too much drama, gossip, and people being two-faced. Doesn’t exactly sound like a healthy work environment.
They reported that there was a lot of backstabbing and people getting thrown under the bus, and not only that – if a superior decided they didn’t like you personally, it was extremely difficult to develop your career.
That arrogant attitude
This Sephora employee opened up about how challenging it is to do something they love – giving tips and advice – to people who are completely unpleasant and come in with an arrogant attitude.
The key word here is “entitled,” which a lot of the most unpleasant people we’ve ever come across happen to be. According to the employee, the woman was ordering her around “like her maid to fetch her things,” and in the end, she came back to return everything she had purchased.
Not recommended
In this review left on an employment website, a person who used to work for Sephora said that the only good thing they can bring up about the company is their schedule and the weekly pay. Their general advice, though?
They would “absolutely not recommend anyone working there.” Like many other people on this list, they complained about management, and how they obviously had their favorites, and not only that – they said that “bullying occurs frequently.”
Lies on top of lies
Some people have no shame, and they’ll do anything to try and get the best out of every situation, even if that means piling lies on top of lies. This woman came into a Sephora trying to return an eyelash curler…
And according to the employee, first she lied about the time she had purchased it. When it was revealed the item was from three years before, she then lied about being a great customer who spends a lot of money there. It’s like – does she really think they can’t check that information?
Don’t be shy
A lot of people don’t know this, but you can ask for a sample of pretty much any product that Sephora carries. Even for folks who are aware of this, though, it can be uncomfortable to be forward about it, so they do this “dance” with the sellers, waiting for them to offer the samples.
According to this employee, there’s no need to be shy. They don’t work on commission, and they’re there to help, so if you just want samples, the advice is to go ahead and ask for them.
Make it work
For this person who used to work at Sephora, one of the main challenges about their day-to-day was knowing they were airing their griefs constantly, and nothing was ever done about it – they were told to just “figure it out.”
It often happens that companies brush off any feedback from their employees that actually requires action and change, so workers start to feel under-appreciated and undermined – then the company lose their best workers, and management is like, “well, who could have seen this coming?”
The rules of retail
“Make yourself at home” is the type of pleasantry that seems harmless, but really, you shouldn’t say that phrase to everyone, because some people will take it literally and forget they’re not in their own house.
The client in this story, for example, had plenty of testers to choose from, but she opened a new product, used it, then stuffed it back in its box like it was completely fine. Uh, is this your first time in a real store, Oliver Twist? You can’t use products then put them back in the box; someone’s gonna buy that!
Negative feedback only
In the end, work is a service you provide in exchange for money, so if you look at things that way, it shouldn’t matter whether you particularly enjoy spending time with your colleagues – except that it’s not that simple.
Many of us spend more time at work than we do at our own home, so yes, the office environment and the energy of the people you’re dealing with on a daily basis matter a lot. If your management only ever gives you negative feedback, you gotta ask yourself if you’re in the right place.
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