I just had to blog about a recent experience I had at Barneys department store in Seattle. We’re working diligently to update all the brands to be featured in the 8th edition of Paula’s book, Don’t Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me, as well as compiling information for new skin care brands that will be added to the book and www.beautypedia.com. It’s going to be a busy summer!
Chantecaille was the line I’ve been working on. I was almost finished with compiling all of the information, but needed one more ingredient list for a moisturizer: the Nano Gold Energizing Cream. I’d called various stores and spas locally, as well as a spa in Vegas that sells the brand, hoping that someone would be willing to photocopy the info and fax it to me (this was offered by a local spa, but they were out of stock of this product) but nothing panned out. I also tried requesting the information through live chat of department stores that carry this brand. No luck. So my last resort was trying Barneys in Seattle. I’ve heard stories of Paula’s employees who had helped with her previous books and their experiences at Barneys. Needless to say, they’re not the most pleasant department store to visit for the information we need, as I soon found out for myself.
I called in advance to see if I could come in and write down the ingredient list. The gentleman on the phone offered various other solutions, like trying Chantecaille’s web site, or other retailers who might carry it. I told him I’d exhausted all of those options, and would like to just come in and quickly jot down the information. I assured him I’d make myself discreet and wouldn’t get in his way. He agreed.
After sitting through our infamous freeway traffic, I was at the door for Barneys. Deep breath. I walked in and a saleswoman smiled, but offered no help. I looked around for the Chantecaille products, and decided I wanted to get in and get out as quickly as possible, so I asked for assistance. This saleswoman was eager to give me the catalog for Chantecaille’s products, and pointed out the “key” ingredients listed for the Nano Gold Energizing Cream. I asked if I could see the box and write down the ingredient list in its entirety, rather than just seeing what some of the ingredients are. She hesitated, then brought the cream to me and suspiciously looked me over. As I was jotting down the ingredients as swiftly as my hand could handle the pen, she was shooting all sorts of questions at me: Are you allergic to an ingredient? Is there something specific you’re looking for? (I thought to myself, Yes, I’m trying to come up with a sane reason why someone would buy this ridiculously expensive product!) How was I supposed to write anything down with her hovering like this?! She finally walked away, and the gentleman I spoke with on the phone was standing in front of his counter, eyes locked on me, watching my every move, as if at any second I was going to run out the door with this moisturizer in hand. I was only jotting down information that is readily available if I were to just stand there and read the box! How come if you write down the information it immediately becomes suspicious?
I finished writing down the ingredients and thanked the saleswoman for her help. (She didn’t help all that much, but I thought I’d be friendly about it anyhow.) I didn’t get kicked out, but I sure felt on the verge of being accused of something—though I have no idea of what (maybe wanting to be an informed consumer? Perish the thought!). I’m amazed at how intense the Barneys salespeople were. With a department store that sells only designer (I use that term loosely) brands, you’d think they’d be more eager to help than be so scrutinizing. Especially when someone is inquiring about a $420 moisturizer! Hopefully the next line I handle won’t come down to such a tense standoff between me and some imperious cosmetics salespeople!
40 Comments until now
Sounds like you need a little spy-camera…a la James Bond.
I’ve actually used the camera in my phone to take shots of back of boxes to I could go home and research the ingredients.
I understand that we (and the Begoun team) have a right to that information without having to shell out additional money, but out of curiosity, do you encounter the same level of animosity when you actually purchase the product? It’s absolutely *no* excuse for their rude behavior, but perhaps they want to at least make a sale before they allow you to (justifiably) slam their product. Or maybe they’re uncomfortable with what they perceive as a flagrant copying of their information (thinking you want to re-create the formula on your own?)…sure it’s legal, but I bet they don’t want to stand around watching it and having it “rubbed in their faces.”
Again, I’m not making excuses on their behalf, and I think what you & your team are doing is great and courageous, but I’m just trying to understand the other side’s point of view–especially since these blog postings have been coming across so defensive and “victim”-like lately.
I’m also curious to know how the strategy of brute honesty has been received so far, “I represent millions of interested cosmetic & skin care consumers, and I’m here to do a review of your product based on its research and ingredients. What I write may make or break you, so it’s in your best interest to be helpful!”
Has that worked??
lol~ believe it or not, i’ve interned at barney’s new york, when i was 15. i was very young and naive, and didn’t know anything about the retail world and about rude and nasty ppl. i didn’t know about “fashion” and didn’t come from a wealthy family that was able to buy me pretty clothing. i also didn’t know anything about these “name brands”, heck…i didn’t even know at that time that barney’s was such a high end retailer! i worked on the floor training under experienced sales ppl, in the younger and trendier section of the dept store. the sales ppl were just like the ones in “pretty woman” where they all look down at you, if you don’t look like you fit in. and if they knew you weren’t going to buy anything, they’d totally disregard you. they were all willing to turn on each other and steal other’s customers so they can get their commission. they were so mean to me that, in the end, i had to transfer out of that dept and work in the stock room instead where ppl were more genuine and much friendlier. it was a horrible summer intern experience. to this day, i remember their faces, and vowed never to make anybody feel so inferior as they did to me.
I know from experience working at a makeup counter that people like to look at ingredient lists. I also knwo that you’re always supposed to be helping your customers and that if a manager saw a sales associate just standing around while a customer copied down ingredient information, they would be VERY upset. I also know that the questions about the products can get uncomfortable, especially if you haven’t received any training of any kind on it yet.
I used to work for a skincare line that was sold at Macy’s (they pulled out of US stores in 2007). Within my first week, I was questioned about formulations and reformulations. I had no good answers, as you’re not trained before you’re sent to the counter, but sometime afterwards. Always remember that the people in department stores working those counters are *sales* associates above all else. They should have good customer service as well, but they are primarily trained to sell you something. They are also employed by the department stores in which they work, with the lines sometimes contributing towards their pay as well. So when you go to a counter, that person may have no specific line training and may only be at that counter because she or he applied to be in Cosmetics generally.
My guess is that part of what happened at Barney’s was their actual attitudes, part was what I like to call the “primer effect” — what was noticed was behavior that was warned about in advance, behavior that was already at the forefront of your mind because you might need to defend against it — you were basically “primed” to pay attention to that type of behavior. Another part might be that with the economy struggling, their numbers are down and they’re getting pressured by management to do anything they can to raise those numbers. Nothing excuses poor customer service, in my mind, but I think we can all benefit from trying to understand one another. (I’m a therapist trainee now, can you tell?)
I agree with Yvonne. Anything happening at the counter that is unusual will be automatically met with suspicion, and that is true of really anything in life. The “elite” places such as Barney’s are just more obviously on the lookout for suspicious behaviour then the norm anyway.
I’m a little uncomfortable with this post.
Barney’s is all about image and atmosphere. That’s why people pay their ridiculous markups. The people who work there are interested in maintaining this atmosphere and keeping their jobs, and allowing a non-buying “customer” to stand at the makeup counter copying ingredients off a package is the kind of thing that could get you in trouble. It looks tacky, a little weird, and frankly suspicious.
A passing manager would think the guy at the counter wasn’t doing his job. The guy is wondering if he’s going to get chewed out because you’re copying down some “secret formula” without paying for it.
It’s not Barney’s fault that Chantecaile makes their ingredient list hard to find. You are expecting good customer service without any intention of being a customer.
Can’t Paula’s employees buy these products outright, copy the labels, and sell the products unopened on EBay for close to cost?
Amphitrite:
I can see why you’re uncomfortable, (and I can assure you that we’re often uncomfortable too, however it’s work that needs to be done) but I think that there might be a flaw in your customer service logic. Anyone who walks in Barneys door is a potential customer. If I write down ingredients, then research them, I can make an informed buying decision, especially important when the salespeople don’t seem to have even the most basic grasp on what the product does and what’s inside of it, which is exactly what happened in this instance.
If high-end skin care and cosmetics operated with more disclosure of what’s in their products, then there wouldn’t be the need to do this much work to uncover the “secret formula.” The truth is, the formulas are rarely secret or revolutionary, which is exactly why they are treated like classified information. There’s such a racket, such an injustice taking place in the industry, and *that* is the big secret! More often than not, the $420 cream is essentially identical to a $40 one. No wonder they don’t like giving out that information…
As for your suggestion, though we do buy many, many products — but we always keep them here for reference (in fact we just had to add more shelving in our offices because we have so many products) — I think it would be even more disingenuous to buy products and then turn around and sell them on Ebay than to make companies aware that they should freely distribute ingredient information. Perhaps the more people who go in and take down this information, as uncomfortable as it is, will help the industry see that full ingredient disclosure is part of customer service. Many brands are following this trend, and it’s nothing short of commendable — and has the added benefit of cutting down on the amount of people they have hanging around their counters writing down ingredients!
What goes on your body should not be kept a secret you can only know until after you buy — that’s the worst kind of customer service I can imagine. Every time I spend an hour at a counter writing down ingredients, as uncomfortable as it is, I think that it sends a message to the brand that this information is important, and hopefully, eventually, it will be readily available to all.
Amphitrite,
Your logic doesn’t make much sense, but I guess if you really believe beauty is nothing more than “image and atmosphere” it becomes more logical.
I completely disagree that someone who doesn’t buy isn’t a customer. They may not buy that day or later in the week, but how they are treated and the “vibe” they get from the salespeople plays a big part in whether they’ll return to purchase. Haven’t you ever been out shopping and seen somehting of interest that you knew you couldn’t (or shouldn’t) buy right then and there yet you needed assistance? By your logic, a customer is only someone who purchases something, though it seems Barneys has the same logic.
We spend an absurd amount of money on cosmetics each year–far more than the average consumer or even most self-proclaimed beauty junkies. When we occasionally need to write down ingredinet lists in store, I don’t feel one iota of guitl for not making a purchase. And none of us have the time or inclination to resell cosmetics on eBay.
Woot. The 8th edition!
arrogance and knowing your stuff is one thing but snottiness and not knowing jack but pretending to know everything is another, and the latter is what i frequently run into at cosmetics counters. I think that’s why sales people freak out about ingredient inquiries.
i used to work for benefit, lauder, origins and ‘fill-in’ for call outs at clinique (she rolls her eyes). out of all the department store cosmetics lines Origins customers were not surprisingly the most health conscious and label conscious (not to mention most pleasant and interesting). but the most common questions they asked were not about the main ingredients(toward the top of the list) but ‘does this contain paranbens?,’ usually the last few ingredients. and to a lesser extent, ‘is Origins organic?’. That question came after our super ground-breaking Organics skin-care launch followed by the super duper storm of confused customer questions, ‘but I thought Origins was organic’…
as a long-time reader of every Paula B book published since my high school years, the constant parabens questions drove me up the wall. I always felt like saying ‘hello, if you’re that informed and if ingredients were that important to you, you wouldn’t touch let alone buy 95% of Origins products’, but alas a girl must make sales, so not such a good sales technique. in fact another sales girl broke out in a rash on her hand, immediately after trying out Dr Weils ‘treament lotion.’ this was made all the more comical when she continued to demo and sell Dr Weil’s line, with increased fervor, to every customer who walked in. But I have to say Origins was the best as far as sharing ingredients, it’s easily accessible and when requested we would actually stand and read the ingredient aloud with the customers. As
an Origins sales associate I was always torn. I loved beauty artistry, the customers we attracted and what the line represented but not what it actually stood for… so sometimes I told customers to not use certain products but when ever possible I’d recommend reading “Don’t Go the Cosmetics Counter without Me’!
“Image and atmosphere” was a reference to Barney’s and the employees’ responsibilities, not to any cosmetic product, which I felt sure would be understood. No one who doesn’t care about image and atmosphere would shop at Barney’s.
A customer is someone who buys or is looking to buy a product. Otherwise it means nothing for me to say I’ve been a Paula’s Choice customer for three years, a sign on a restroom door that says “Customers Only” is meaningless, and the skateboarders in the Lord and Taylor parking garage are all customers. Salespeople also get a “vibe” from people that tells them if they are dealing with a prospective customer. They are there to make money. A woman who drives in from out of town to write down ingredients for a $450 face cream and ignores inquiries about her cosmetic needs is not a prospective customer. There is no way she was viewed as just a shopper.
I’d just like to know what the point is of this post attacking Barney’s, especially with such an accusatory and inane headline. I know they’re hardly an underdog, but come on: They let her write down the ingredients, even when they knew she wasn’t there to spend money. No one else would let her near the stuff. Brooke gripes that the saleswoman smiled when she came in but didn’t offer any help. Seriously? This is an issue? Then she doesn’t like the way the guy looked at her while she was doing it?
This high horse stuff is getting silly and is distracting people from the good work you do. Heck, read the posts above mine!
(And I still do not understand why reselling a product on EBay is more or less disingenuous than keeping it. )
Amphitrite:
I’m glad that you’ve brought this up, and that we can discuss this in this forum, because we are certainly entrenched in this world unlike most consumers, and I can see how we might seem to be constantly complaining about dealing with uncooperative companies (though you have to admit that our hard work, however peppered with complaints, certainly saves Beautypedia subscribers the headache of doing it!). But I think that what Brooke is trying to articulate is not a sense of entitlement or her stance atop a “high horse”; rather, she’s addressing the growing indignation that comes from having to constantly justify and deal with an industry that does not want its consumers to have information that the FDA mandates should be readily available. If you have a business permit and something for sale, it is the customers right, by any definition of the word “customer,” to have access to what comprises the product they buy — weather its the origin of car parts, the calorie content at McDonald’s or the quality of fabric making up their clothes. It just so happens that we are dealing with an industry that is quite antiquated when it comes to this type of information, so when day after day we walk into a store to gather information that is rightfully ours to gather and meet resistance, it brings out the snarkiness in us. Sure, such products *could* be purchased, but by law, they shouldn’t have to be. That’s the point.
Your books have indeed saved me thousands of dollars by informing me about products that cannot not fulfill their claims, and more so by educating me about what is even possible for something that comes in a package.
Anyone who spends $420 for a face cream is NUTS! You can get the same thing with the same ingredients at the drugstore. All people are paying for is packaging and the name. I dont see how these companies stay in business especially in this economic climate. What a waste of money. We dont have any Barney’s in my area, closes one is in NYC…I would not step foot in the place if you paid me.
I don’t know. All I really think about this topic is that it shouldn’t be surprising that any type of store like Barney’s would be put off by someone wanting to read an ingredient list, though I can understand a researcher’s frustration. This is typical “snobbish store” attitude, and yes, Chantecaille should be responsible and publish their ingredient list. I can’t believe people don’t get the same type of attitude anywhere in the store, not just at the cosmetics counter.
If anyone else is curious, the ingredient list has been posted in several places on the Internet (not by the manufacturer).
Rosa damascena flower water,glycerin,cyclopentasiloxane, ethylhexyl palmitate,myristyl myristate,glyceryl stearate se,butylene glycol, peg-40 stearate,cetyl alcohol,stearic acid,sorbitan tristearate,butyrospermum parkii (shea butter),sorbitol,ruscus aculeatus root extract,ananas sativus (pineapple) fruit juice,calendula officinalis flower extract, centella asiatica extract,algae extract,aesculus hippocastanum (horse chestnut) extract,echinacea angustifolia extract,plantago lanceolata extract,camellia sinensis leaf extract,rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf extract,dimethicone,caprylyl glycol,ptfe,chlorella vulgaris/lupin albus protein,ferment filtrate,borago officinalis seed oil,oenothera biennis (evening primrose) oil,propylene glycol,polyacrylamide,diphenyl dimethicone,pullulan,phenoxyethanol,alpha-arbutin,bisabolol,hydrolyzed fibroin,mica,lactobacillus ferment,maltodextrin,disodium edta, titanium dioxide,dimethiconol,acacia dealbata flower wax,ascorbyl tetraisopalmitate,hydrolyzed yeast protein,jasminum officinale (jasmine) flower wax,narcissus poeticus flower wax,panthenol,tocopheryl acetate,hydrolyzed wheat protein,sodium hyaluronate,arginine,glycine, methionine,retinyl palmitate,palmitoyl tripeptide-5,rosa damascena flower oil,pelargonium graveolens flower oil,ammonium glycyrrhizate, gold,sodium polyacrylate,xanthan gum,hexylene glycol,laureth-7,sodium hydroxide,peg-8,helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil,iron oxides (ci 77491), tocopherol,benzoic acid,sodium dehydroacetate,sorbic acid,ascorbyl palmitate, potassium sorbate,sodium benzoate,bht,ascorbic acid,citric acid [citronellol,geraniol,linalool,citral]
Amphitrite:
Thank you for going through the trouble in finding the ingredients for the Nano Gold Energizing Cream. However, your ingredient list is wrong. Please be sure to find ingredient lists from reliable sources before posting.
Now you can see why it is imperative for us to go directly into the stores and look at the packaging. We often have to sift through sources to find accurate ingredient information. The ingredient list you posted is a good example of one that seems correct, but when compared to the packaging, only contains some of the ingredients in the Nano Gold Energizing Cream.
Going into stores, whether it be drugstores or department stores, salons or spas, we are able to obtain the exact ingredient list as it is printed on the packaging. It is our goal to make sure Beautypedia (and Paula’s book) is as accurate as possible, despite how often makeup and skin care change in the industry.
For those who are interested, the correct ingredient list will be posted to Beautypedia when Chantecaille has been reviewed. **It will also be in Paula’s 8th edition of Don’t Go to the Cosmetics Counter Without Me. (**By “It” I am referring to Chantecaille. The full line review will be in Paula’s book, not the ingredient list.)
With myristyl myristate so high on the list…it probably causes breakouts.
DGttCCWM is going to start featuring full ingredient lists for every product?? I thought it was long already, but wow!
Brooke, I’m not writing a book, and I didn’t say the employees of Paula Begoun should find their data online. I just posted someone else’s published ingredients of the famed $420 face cream for those who were curious, since we’re on the topic. Let’s be honest: This list alone is enough to discredit it.
Since you bring it up, though, why are this anonymous person’s handwritten notes somehow obviously not credible while yours are? (You took down your information under the stressful glower of an untrustung salesman, after all.) She is a consumer advocate too. Is your point now that only Paula’s employees should be recording this information?
Moreover, if you believe this information is supposed to be publicly available, then why not just post the rest of it here? Surely we shouldn’t have to pay to read an ingredient list!
And tell me the truth, Brooke: Did you you comb through the entire list looking for a discrepancy?
You guys should let Daynah handle the customers. You’re doing nothing for the face of your company.
Amphitrite- you’re starting to sound a bit rude now. I think both brooke and bryan have done a stellar job of interacting with the questions and comments on this forum. Brooke had to go to the actual package, because ingredient lists are constantly being updated. So why do you say they aren’t being a good face for the company? Is it because they’re actually disagreeing with you? I hope not. We need to make a distinction here between Paula’s Choice products and their Beautypedia website- the latter is more research-focused, more polemic, whereas the former would be your more traditional customer-is-almost-always-right approach.
Chris, the disagreement re Barney’s had been put to bed very nicely, and Brooke decided to get in one last snotty harrumph and chastise me for posting what she says is an incorrect ingredient list. (She then clarifies that “incorrect” means “incomplete.”) I had already stated my list was not from the manufacturer and that I had posted it for those who wondered what might be in a $420 cream. If the missing ingredients honestly were something that concerned her on behalf of readers–and not just her wounded ego trying to win one–she could have expressed this in a polite and constructive way…for example: “My own list also shows grape juice and glycerine–just goes to show you why we have to be so careful and why the manufacturer should take responsibility for posting these online!”
This is what someone would have said who was looking to inform.
She didn’t. She started with sarcasm and then a transparent snipe. “Please be sure to find ingredient lists from reliable sources before posting.” If you can’t see how condescending and rude that is, or how silly it is that she didn’t simply post the remaining ingredients, then I do not feel you’re being very objective.
She also could have e-mailed me privately if there is some undocumented guideline I violated.
In Bryan’s reply (since you asked), he seemed to me to willfully misunderstand what I had written, and then dismissed my suggestion (i.e., why not purchase the products online, open them, photocopy the inserts, and then resell them for a slight loss, but still possibly save time and money because you don’t have employees driving to malls and writing things down at counters–which is not an unreasonable suggestion, even if it would not work for this company) and responded as though I was being ludicrous. Then I get a lecture on how much the company spends on product and all the shelves it takes up, like I’m some kind of ingrate who doesn’t “get it,” even though this is irrelevant to the suggestion of a resale program. “Neither the time nor the inclination” is one of the snottiest phrases in the English language.
It seems to me that the purpose of this blog is to give fans of Paula Begoun some insight into the work involved with writing her books and creating her brand. One of the amazing things about Ms. Begoun is that in the 15 years I’ve been following her, she has never condescended to her readers. And she is the expert. There have been some terrific posts on here, but others seem sanctimonious and silly, implying that we just don’t “get” the complexity of what her assistants go through.
When I (among others) questioned this post, Brooke got personal and tried to call me out for something unrelated and, frankly, dumb. I feel that is unprofessional on a public-facing blog.
Amphitrite.
Please take a chill pill or two.
Kevin, you are absolutely right. Time for me to check out of this thread and conversation.
Seriously now: writing the ingredients list down?! Get down with the 21:st century people: don’t you guys have cell phones, or even just plain ol’ digital cameras?! It’s a snap and go!
I think any salesperson, for a high-end store in particular, would react adversely to something like that. I mean, it’s just a weird scenario.
With that said, I gotta’ give you some praise too, for your wonderful work. Beautypedia.com. is truly a resource unlike any other, which I have come to depend on immensely. So, thank you!
Amphitrite,
Please stop being a petty b****.
This blog is not your personal soapbox, so pipe down already.
Angela,
Believe me, I wish it was as easy as snapping a photo with our cell phone or a digital camera! We’ve tried that in the past, and inevitably it gets us kicked out of the store. My co-worker was escorted out of our local Nordstrom by store security when she used her cel phone camera to snap a picture of a Chanel product’s ingredient list. It seems the old-fashioned way nets the best results. Cosmetics salespeople figure if we’re taking the trouble to jot down the ingredient lists by hand, we must be serious (which we are). We welcome your help though, should you want to try your hand at photographing some ingredient lists. Perhaps you’ll have better luck than we’ve had!
It’s amazing to me that simply snapping a quick photo of a product would get anyone thrown out of a store. Then again, I don’t frequent uptight, bourgeois department stores on a regular basis.
What about buying the product and returning it later? Kind of a pain, but if the package is unopened I imagine they would take the return – then the ingredients could be transcribed without pressure. (You’ve probably already thought of this and tried it, but it came to mind).
Keep up the good work.
Bryan: incidentally, why is there no March 2009 on Paula’s letters/question of the month archive? My question made it in, but it’s not there anymore
Just for the record, I think that Amphitrite mistook Brooke’s heartfelt sincerity as a sarcastic last-dig, which is unfortunate but understandable. I’m the first to admit that I suffer from jaded-by-internet-commentary syndrome, and have to remind myself to give everyone the benefit of the doubt in online forums (The Isomers drama springs to mind!). In this instance, anyone who knows Brooke could assure you that snarkiness in not in her nature and her intent was not to admonish anyone, rather to illustrate the importance of what we do, and that ostensibly correct ingredient list was a good opportunity to do so. I know this for a fact, because I sat next to her while she crafted her reply — and I can assure you that her aim was true. It’s easy to assume the worst when reading comments, especially when discussions get lively, but I think that if you step back and take Brooke at face value, you can see that she was only trying to defend her hard work. She’s a lovely person, and I hate to see her unfairly put in the line of fire. If anyone’s to blame here, it’s Chantecaille and Barneys for their unwillingness to share freely and/or gladly the information that consumers have a right to know.
I agree with you whole heartedly Daynah, you have such a wonderful way with words:)
Amphitrite,
I think you need a hobby or something
When I worked for a computer company taking incoming sales calls, I would have probably had a kneejerk reaction and responded in a similar way. We were being monitored at all times. We had a pattern we had to go through with the customer. If they asked for a piece of information, like what is the processor speed on X computer, we would have to say that’s a great question (then ignore it), and then go through the pattern of how to deal with the customer. Some specifications we were not even allowed to give out. It was all about sales, and their proven model, whether it made sense or not on the individual call, even if just being helpful would have engendered better customer relations. And don’t get me started on trying to sell extend warranties that cost more than the product itself…
All I am saying is that the person that was rude to you may not have wanted to be–there is probably a lot of pressure on them.
I don’t agree at all with the argument that it looks tacky to have a customer in this situation at a luxury department store. Why would other people walking around the store pay any attention to other people’s business? If I were to pass by another customer at a store counter (be it cosmetics or anything else), I know I certainly wouldn’t start to ponder why a person would be crouched over the counter writing something down. That’s just a little neurotic!! I mean, isn’t that what counters are for- to serve as work and exchange surfaces (in a commercial context)? Lets get real here people lol!!
If a salesperson wants to tone down any perceived awkwardness, they could just stand across your research assistant instead of staring at them from afar in discomfort; this only creates more anxiety in the atmosphere.
How stupid would ANY employee of a store like Barney’s have to be to actually believe that ANY moisturizer is worth hundreds of dollars? This means the people who gave Brooke the evil (or at least unfriendly) eye for copying down ingredients probably suspect their toiletries are at least ludicrously overpriced, if not actually ineffective (or even harmful). Further, they probably suspected Brooke was a ‘consumer advocate’ of some kind. Imagine the attendant ‘baggage’ that label might suggest to some upscale retailers: Rabid activists who throw blood at people, stage protests, and block entrances–even firebomb buildings, a la ALF. At the least, they probably watched her like a hawk to see if she tried badmouthing the merchandise to other customers. They don’t know Paula (and her employees) very well, do they?
By the way, how can a person copying a publicly-displayed, FDA-required ingredients list be guilty of trying to ’steal’ a secret formula, when a customer BUYING the product isn’t? That’s like saying bolts of cloth and spools of thread provide any clue to a couturier’s designs. Not really.
I applaud the Cosmetics Cop and her Courageous Cohorts for the marvelous job they do under pretty trying circumstances–all while remaining civil and amazingly non-confrontational in the (neverending) battle to educate and provide accurate information to us.
I can understand why you would be hesitant about visiting Barney’s after hearing stories from your colleagues, but I’ve gotta say the your experience at Barney’s described in this post really does not seem so bad. You feel that you were treated horribly and the staff were rude because you were given looks and your were watched while you jotted down the ingredients?
I am no defender of this store and I have had terrible service at most department stores (including Barneys), but Barney’s does not stand out as exceptionally rude. Good luck even finding someone who can form a complete sentence at Bloomingdales. While I think there has been a general decline in civil behavior across the board in America, I also think we have become a very demanding bunch. We expect to be treated in a reverential manner that is without warrant…a behavior that often annoys people from other countries. If you really felt that you were being treated poorly, you probably should have mentioned this to the sales person and discussed this issue. Sometimes when we say something out loud, it can put an issue in context and allow us to look at it from a different perspective.
I just read ur horrible experience. But I was just wondering, if u already knew they were rude then why didnt u just buy the product, goto ur car, write down the ingredient list and then return it? Just say, that u r allergic to one of the ingredients. That would serve them right!
I don’t understand why DGTTCCWM is not purchasing all of the products that they are reviewing. Seems that it would be fairly easy to make a mistake or skip an ingredient when you are attempting to jot down a lengthy ingredient list under the scornful eye of a jilted sales person. I am a long time subscriber and reader of Paula’s but it just seems very petty of ya’ll to net even purchase the product that you’re reviewing.
A customer copying down ingredients would go against the whole cosmetics sales scene at Barney’s, because it’s all based on people buying into fantasy and image. It’s akin to the “wizard saying, “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain” in the Wizard of Oz. A customer copying the ingredients is looking behind the curtain of the illusion they want to maintain, so they become hostile.
I happened to stumble upon this website, and came across this particular post.
As the Chantecaille Manager of this counter (yes, Barneys Seattle) I am not sure if I personally had this interactation with Brooke, although I am having trouble understanding exactly what it was she was so displeased with. It sounds as though she was given all the information that the salesperson was able to supply her with, she was greeted with a smile when she came in. I understand perhaps she felt uncomfortable when she was observed by another sales associate as she copied down the ingredients. Perhaps the sales associate was thrown off, this is not something clients generally do when shopping our store. Not that it is wrong, just unusual behavior. Please understand, we are always more than happy to accomidate our clients concerns, and questions, and I absolutely understand reservations in purchasing a face cream that is in the $420.00 category. It sounds as though whomever was assisting her tried diligently and patiently to help her as she pondered whether or not this was a good product for her to consider. That is our job, and as an employee, that is the best we can do to try to service our clients. Is it worth it? Well, that’s up for each individual to decide, and we happily offer samples, along with any written material we have to aide you in your decision making process. ( And anyone who is reading this in the Seattle area, please feel free to come in and try a few samples of any of our skincare, it’s lovely, and the price point starts much lower than the nanogold : )
If you want more information Brooke, I will happily go directly to the Chantecailles to see if I can resolve your original question.
Sincerely,
Melissa Korn
you know i have to say that after reading this blog post and knowing the job that you guys do as researchers and consumer advocates, i find it to be very tasteless and vindictive. i think doing the work you do, a bit of objectivity should come into play. when you’re trying to inform the public on making educated purchases the information you supply should not be biased.
i understand that walking into a luxury department store one would assume to be treated a certain way and there will always be stories and experiences of people being treated poorly, being sneered at or just down right snobbery. it happens to all of us. sometimes it even happens at places like the GAP. it’s not exclusive to barneys. i’ve even had it happen when i walked into many nordstrom’s and that’s supposed to be the height of customer service! however, i think that you shouldn’t walk in there assuming to be treated this way off the bat because of hearsay. you’re going in with a chip on your shoulder already and that never makes for a good experience. the woman who smiled at you when you walked in gave you a non-verbal greeting. it was her way of saying hello. in a day where people rarely pay attention to you is a smile from some one, even a salesperson, so bad?
your experience with the various salespeople aside, wouldn’t you find it rather suspicious if you were in their shoes and you have a random customer come in, feigning interest in purchasing a product while trying to be sneaky about jotting down ingredients for research. normally when people do research that requires information from an outside source being sneaky would not be the best tactic. you could have been upfront about what you needed with the nano gold cream and asked politely. i’m sure if you went about it that way the person at the counter would have been helpful about getting your information.
it seems to me that you projected your fear and anxiety about going to a high end store and being sneaky onto the people that work there and then you got all defensive and snarky and decided to write a very uninformative and deliciously catty blog post.
honesty is always the best policy and it seems like you got upset because they were onto your dishonest methods of recovering information. i hope that next time you do research for another product you go about it a different direction and not be so spiteful to people who are only trying to do their job.
Re the myristyl myristate…that was one of the first things I read about in one of Paula’s books a number of years ago. It was in so many products and I know a cause of breakouts. And, companies can change. Some Mary Kay products–over 20 years ago–almost ruined my skin. In recent years I’ve used a few products when my daughter sold them and I had no problem.
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