Beauty Pet Peeves 2

[veronika23]

The other thread was getting too long and difficult to load! 

So what are your beauty pet peeves? What grinds your gears? Share your stories!!!

[sprocketta]

omg @GG84 Why would they taunt you with a lipstick that doesn't exist in their advertisement!?

[GG84]

@sprocketta Right?!? I just kept staring at her. And she kept repeating the computer generated bit like it was the most obvious answer. At the very least suggest something similar!!! I left and went to Sephora. 

[BrideSona]

I hate it when you've ordered online and waited to get your package but it never arrives but it's marked as delivered. I hate ontrac and have had this same issue previously with other orders. They marked a package as delivered but it never got to me. Wait 2 days for them to try to find it and deliver it. Then calling them to find out what happened all I get from them is a "sorry, we don't know what happened to it, call sephora for a refund." Ugh! I had a freaking rouge promo that's out of stock now, and now have to wait even longer for the re-order to arrive. Sephora can you please not use Ontrac? They may be cheap but they are unreliable on so many levels. *already been issued a refund on the order but truth be told I'd rather have my package*

[Malicequinn]

Ontrac is absolutely horrible. I always go with the USPS option even though it takes a couple days longer, since I actually receive my orders that way.

[sprocketta]

In-store shoppers seem to get the sh*t end of the stick. I prefer to shop in person so I can swatch and see in real life. My stores never have samples. All the good promos for Sephora and Ulta are online and you get samples with your online order. And then there is cash back for shopping online. Ebates sometimes offers cash back on at Sephora in-store, but VERY rarely and the in-store is less than the % online. I don't want to shop at the store and have to walk out and order online later. How can you be sure your eyeshadow palette won't arrive broken?  It just seems SO unfair.

[MelD31]

Download the DOSH app. It’s like Ebates but has more in store rebates. Right now it has 5% back in store at Sephora up to $10/day. I got $10 back yesterday on my rouge sale purchase in store! I use both DOSH and Sephora. For some stores they both have in store so it really adds up if you have both.

[sprocketta]

Thanks for the recommendation @MelD31 I'll have to give it a shot. Do you have a referral code so you can get some credit for it? Or is the app not like that?

[MelD31]

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@sprocketta that is so sweet of you to think of that. They do give referral codes, mine is https://link.dosh.cash/MELISSD189

[Ispend2much6]

@sprocketta   I understand your frustration.  You're trying to be a responsible shopper, and you don't get the goodies while doing it.  I kind of figured the online shoppers get better perks because the companies are making sales without having to pay the expenses of having a brick and mortar store in those cases.  I'm quite certain the workers at the stores don't like that either; they have quotas to make in a situation that is inferior to online shopping (except for seeing products in real life.)

[WinglessOne]

@sprocketta  Ulta has online order pickup now. I haven’t used it yet but you just reminded me to try it, mostly to make sure my Ebates cash back will apply correctly as an online order. 

I’m half surprised Sephora hasn’t started order pickup yet. I assume the pickup store location could pull in-store stock together for my order (unless I order something they don’t carry and must order themselves), just like Nordstrom does. I hope that’s what Ulta does. 

None of if this makes the in-store cash back situation better. But it might be a way to kinda count an in-store purchase as an online order. 

[sprocketta]

@WinglessOne I can appreciate that this might help others but not me. I don't want to pay until I try it in the store. If I do an in-store pickup, I'm then paying in advance of trying and if I don't like it when i try it in the store before picking up, I could find I hate it. And that's a return on the order I already paid for. And Ulta and Sephora have banned people who do too many returns so I don't want to go that route. So I'm in the same situation. I feel like the lack of incentive for in-store purchasing is really a sign of the times. Companies are losing in-store shoppers to online shopping and trying to woo the internet shoppers as that is where the growth is. I'm being whiny, I know, but it really frustrates me.

[WinglessOne]

@sprocketta  Nah, you’re not being whiny. You have perfectly valid complaints. 

I don’t mind playing with a tester in-store and then ordering the product online—often while I’m still in the store 😂—but I realize I’m more patient (and possibly more cost driven) than many folks about that kind of thing. The only time it bugs me is with certain brands’ eyeshadow palettes, since I’ve received 3 broken ones from Sephora warehouses. From now on, if I can’t find those palettes in a physical Sephora store, I’ll buy them direct from the brands or from other retailers with better return policies/practices. 

About trends: many large companies have been trending toward online pickup over the last 5 years. It’s a clever way to lure internet shoppers into brick and mortar stores, where they may be tempted to browse more products. It’s also a nice middle ground for transitional shoppers—folks who prefer to shop in-store but are slowly accepting online shopping. And many customers see it as an additional level of convenience and customer service, which of course helps companies’ NPS (net promoter score). But yeah, with many companies there will probably always be a higher incentive to shop online than in-store. 

But then there are companies doing the opposite: driving in-store sales and discouraging online shopping. Starbucks is a great example. They closed their online store a couple years ago, which greatly annoyed me and (I assume) many other online shoppers. Now I have to visit a physical Starbucks store to buy bags of beans not sold in grocery stores, and only certain Starbucks locations carry more than their base level offerings. Starbucks has also been closing several locations (gee, who didn’t see that coming 10 years ago), making it even more difficult to find and buy certain things. 😡 I guess (I hope) my problems will be solved once the new roastery opens on Michigan Ave, but still. 

Now I wonder what the latest industry market research is on this general topic. I used to have very easy and frequent access to that kind of info through my former employer. Noting to self to check into this later. 🙂 

[l8totheparty]

@sprocketta @WinglessOne 

Instore pickup would work if a package was packed and shipped to the store for pickup.  My store is too small to carry all the stock and has no 'pick two samples' or 'spend $25/$35 and get a gwp' so I try not to buy in-store.  But then I would have to pay for parking 👎🏻

[silliluci]

Totally agree, I really don't get why the promos are mostly online, I would much rather shop in store but the offers and cashback online don't make it worth my while

[Ispend2much6]

I hope I don't offend anyone who has this sort of beauty ritual, because I wish I was more like you if you do, but I received an email from a beauty company that featured "ten things we don't talk about," one of them being...bum spots.

I had no idea that was something I had to worry about, because I never spend time looking at that part of my body; I'm just grateful to have enough cushion there to make sitting comfortable. I'm also too concerned with "face spots" and "eye spots" to make it to that next step. lol

[heartsmyface]

@Ispend2much6   folliculitis is a bacterial or fungal infection or irritation of the hair follicles mostly from poor hygiene or from shaving and then sweating.  Rinsing the area with water and using benzol peroxide over the infected area usually will do the trick as well as wearing breathable loose fitting clothing.  An oatmeal moisturizer also helps.  

There’s no need for a special wash product for it.  I mean, unless it gets really bad and then you should be seeing a doctor for a prescription.  

This marketing is insane.  

[Ispend2much6]

@heartsmyface   I know that is the cause of folliculitis, it being an infection of the hair follicles. Because of that, I was, um, surprised that could be a big issue for females in that area.   My son gets is very easily on his arms, and since we have soft water his doctor recommended using shower gel so it will rinse more easily, and it did help.  I'll remember the tip about using benzyl peroxide, thanks!

The ad annoyed me for several reasons, one being that in trying to be cutesy, it was condescending, trying to create new insecurities,  that "everyone has trouble with their p_bi_ hair and needs this Liquid B_ sh Balm" to smooth, soften, and condition the pu_ _ c hair. 

And they started the email with this image: (it was Bath and Unwind.)

[heartsmyface]

@Ispend2much6   Message- don’t be openly ashamed but be secretly ashamed. You’re not allowed to admit you don’t like your cellulite, thinning hair or dry scalp anymore even though they’re not ideal and you need to fix them and we have your cure.   Yeah no.  I am not into the mind games.  Just tell me the suggested solution and stop with the campaign that makes women feel suppressed about voicing their insecurities while making them insecure.  

[WinglessOne]

@Ispend2much6  Oh good grief. I reeeeally hate it when retailers/magazines/brands/etc. do this crap. “Oh, you have this harmless thing that most other humans also have? No need to be ashamed but, um, you gotta fix it or you’re not worthy. Let us tell you how!” 😡 Insecurity = profit. 

I say that a lot about products aimed at reducing neck wrinkles. I realize some folks really are self conscious about their neck wrinkles and hey, if they wanna use products for that, it’s cool. I’m not the skincare police. But when companies create marketing buzz around it and focus on the insecurity aspect, I get very annoyed. I don’t care about my neck wrinkles. My neck has bent and swiveled all day (and sometimes during the night as I sleep) for nearly 48 years, so of course it has wrinkles, and I’m not gonna let some insecurity-targeted marketing buzz make me worry about them. 

We all probably have at least one insecurity about a part of our body. We don’t need companies/media creating new insecurities about body parts we hadn’t thought about. 

[Ispend2much6]

@WinglessOne   You are very eloquent, and described exactly how I feel.  Obviously I love to pamper myself with beauty products; no shame in any woman doing that.  But yeah, where does it stop?  How perfect do women have to be?  Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't see quite the same pressure on men to be physically perfect.  My husband loves me the way I am, and that's all that really matters.  He would even like me to use less makeup (because, he reasons without saying so aloud, it would cost less money.)  🙂

If there were a neck wrinkle or chin reducing cream that really worked as well as it is promoted, there would be no demand for plastic surgery. 🙂 

[heartsmyface]

@Ispend2much6   Men feel that pressure too but in a different way.  They’re marketed at for balding, body building (being scrawny)  and for how much money they bring in and save.  As women were more likely to be objectified and to objectify ourselves as a result of where we’re at in society.  It’s changing but not as fast as people like to think.