My MAC day- comments on some uk MAC stores!

[cutandrun]

Okay, so I said I'd post how my day went in the other thread about where UKers go to buy their MAC, so here goes. First though I have to say, I didn't have time to cover all MAC stores (didn't go to the house of fraser one in bank, or the harvey nichols one). That, I am doing tomorrow (haha there's gonna be a part two of this! It's my half term so I have lots of free time

)

So, I left at about 12, and got to selfridges. poddygirl- the blink brow bar is amazing! My eyebrows actually have a shape now, and they look neat for once, not bushy at all! The woman doing it was really good, fast and precise. Didn't hurt either! And it turns out I have been plucking my brows all wrong, but it doesn't matter since I don't think I'm ever gonna tweeze anymore, threading is the way to go! *ahem*

Anyway, rave aside, I played round at the mac counter there for a bit cos I had to wait until my appointment, MAs ignored me, didn't expect anything else really.

After that, I went to the pro store (thanks for directions Turbokittykat, got there with no problem!) The store was totally empty, I walked in and started looking at the eyeshadows. A MA walked over and asked me if I needed help, so I asked her if she could teach me a way to make my eyes stand out. Maybe she misunderstood me, or I should have phrased it better, but she said something like 'Well, I can't TEACH you a way, I can show you some eyeshadows' and then she proceeded to take out three boring looking matte dark browns. I have dark brown eyes, I'm definitely no makeup artist, but I'm sure dark brown matte e/s don't make dark brown eyes pop? Plus, I hate mattes, and I don't really like neutrals that much. I told her I'd look around, and played with the pigments and glitters for a few minutes, then I walked out. I always get vibes when something's wrong/right, and I knew then that I should just walk out the store. What did she mean by saying she couldn't teach me?? I had to get to the other MACs anyway, so after leaving...

I went to the Kensington Church Street store, I was told there's a man there who's always happy who's good, but I only saw female MAs. I got approached by a MA, and decided to ask her the same qn as I did with the lady in the pro store. It was better this time, she took out some e/s, asked me what colours I liked. I said I liked vivid colours. She put on 3 colours, when I looked in the mirror though, I really didn't like it. She had put pink on my lid and in my crease, but the problem is with certain shades of pink my eyes look swollen. She lined with my eyes with purple haze, which looked ok, but I just thought I looked way too weird with the pink, and I told her this. But then she something like, I didn't want to put pink all over though, because then your eyes would look swollen. Huh? I told her I'd look around, then I just left, I only went cos I wanted to see if the guy I was told about was there.

It was getting late by now, and the stupid underground had delays, so I had just enough time to get to the Kings Road store. Walked in, got approached by a MA, didn't ask her the same qn this time, asked her what brush I could use for fluidlines, and how to use it. She showed me on the back of her hand, asked what colours I had, I asked for her brush and practised for a bit. Then I decided to ask her the same qn, as before, about making my eyes stand out (cos I swear, it's good qn for seeing how helpful/talented MAs are, lol). She asked me what colours I liked, I said I liked greens. She took out juxt, swimming, and humid but used juxt and humid only. I looked in the mirror, thought it looked nice, but then she decided to grab sushi flower and dab a bit in the middle of my lashline? It looked odd, that's all I can say. I asked her about colour combinations, and how you'd apply two different colours together. She then said something like she could put orange on top of my eye, and then blue on the bottom. I was very curious as to what she wanted to do, so I asked her to show me.

URGH IT WAS HORRIBLE. I think she used something like coppering, and applied it all over my lid, then she applied a thick line of freshwater on the bottom. In her words though, she thought it looked 'cute'. Sigh. It looked so strange... I then asked her how to do a smokey eye look, just to see what she'd say/do, but she didn't show me, she just told me that I'd need a dark colour and a light colour, and that it took a lot of practice. I told her I'd look around a bit more, and she just left, didn't offer me makeup remover or anything. So I was left with one green eye and one orange and blue eye. Yeuch. Found some wipes and rubbed off all the makeup on the blue and orange eye. I looked at my green eye, thought it was looked a bit dull, so I took swimming, and applied it over juxt, then I applied more humid as well, and blended the two together. Then, I put gorgeous gold on my tear duct area. What was so funny was that, as I was doing this, another MA came up to me asking if I needed help, I told her I was experimenting with colours, asked her the same qn as the other MAs, and she said that she really liked what I had put on my eye! So, maybe this is a sign I should just not ask for the MAs help, I should just be my own MA lol. This MA put parfait amour and deep truth on me, but I couldn't see where she'd put deep truth, looked like she'd just put parfait amour all over my eye and underneath. I looked like I had a black eye. She then said she liked my green eye better. I told her I'd keep looking, then played with stars n' rockets and parfait amour, the colour comb of which I liked a lot. Played around a bit more, then got told it was closing time, so I walked out of the store with nothing, I felt a bit tired and weary then.

So basically, this is quite sad, does this mean I just have to choose e/s myself, without the MAs help? Not that I mind, don't get me wrong, but it's just that, I've only gotten into makeup recently and it'd be nice to have some good advice from a MA. That said, I haven't been to the bank house of fraser counter, which I've heard ppl say is pretty good. I might go back to harvey nicks and convent garden tomorrow too. Right now, convent garden ranks highest. Oh yeah, today, I found that the MAs I encountered all seemed to be polite, but not genuinely nice, it was like they were polite cos they had to be. They didn't seem enthusiastic either. Needless to say, I don't feel like going back to those places, except maybe the pro store to buy pro stuff. What is so wrong the UK MAs? I hear tons of stuff about how nice the US MAs are, or how creative they are, maybe they should have MAC Idol or something lol. Still, it was fun just playing round though, and hopefully tomorrow I will find 'my' mac store... Sorry, this was so long, I hope it was detailed a comment enough

 

[modernclassics]

Wow, thank you that was really interesting to read. The only one I've been to in London was Selfridges. Is the pro-store the one off Carnaby street?

 

[Sarah]

I've been waiting for this, after you're post yesterday I was looking forward to hearing how your experiances went and I'm sorry to hear that it wasn't so good, but hey at least you were pleased with your eyebrows

I think it was a great idea to go into the stores asking advice about how to make your eyes pop its a great way to find out how nice and friendly the MA's are as wether you like the way they work like their style of how they do makeup etc.
You hit the nail on the head with how I find most (and I say most because I have come across a couple who I really like) MA's in London come across being polite just because they have to be not because they want to be and really enjoy what they are doing which is sad because with a job like a makeup artist esp working for a well known brand like MAC should be polite and helpful because they want to be and are enjoying the job, if not I suggest they chose another career path because working with the public doesn't seem to be for them.
I enjoy my experiance buying MAC much more fun and would probably tend to buy more if the MA's were alot more enthusiastic, the only place I have come across with a few enthusiastic, nice and very friendly (and when I say friendly I mean being friendly because they are and not because they fill they have to) is the counter in H.O.F bluewater.
In my honest opinion the mac expericance is deffo different over here to in America, I've never had so much fun in a store than what I did in Orlando

 

[cutandrun]

I totally agree with what you say about the experience being a lot more fun if MAs were more enthusiastic, I could have gotten a major haul today, with the stuff I tried on like swimming, humid, stars n'rockets and maybe a brush or two, but I just didn't feel like it. I really think the atmosphere, the whole vibe you get, is so important, and today I really didn't get good vibes. What I also don't understand is that there's some sort of applications process to work for MAC, and so why aren't there more talented artists that are like, say, Son_Risa, but in the UK? I actually have a good idea, which is to look at the MAs makeup, see if I like it, and then ask my question. Funnily enough, majority of MAs I saw today wore neutral colours, one wore glitter eyeliner, but nothing special. Darn, that should have been a sign already, but I guess I didn't think about it then. Well, as I said earlier, I'm going to go to the mac at hof in bank, try harvey nicks and convent garden again, and post a part two. And if I have mediocre experiences again, I think I'm going to have to visit the USA sometime soon

 

[Sarah]

I really hope your experiances tomorrow are better

 

[cutandrun]

Thanks, I hope so too

 

[poddygirl]

Thanks for posting about your adventure cutandrun! Sounds like you were a MAC mystery shopper

And welcome to the threading club! I felt the same way you do - the best brow shape ever. Those women that work there are amazing!

I do find the MAC MAs over here are for the most part less enthusiastic than my countrymen in the US (moving back next month, can't wait!). As Sarah mentioned HOF Bluewater is the only counter where I can walk up and ask for recs and immediately be seated and have the MA apply all sorts of colors - they seem to approach it like play there rather than work. The other MAs I have come across seem to view it like they were working at Tesco or something. Maybe they get jaded after awhile - but surely then it is time to move on? I can get disinterested service at any other makeup counter but from MAC I expect a bit more interaction, professional advice and fun.

Not sure if it a culture thing (US vs UK) but I did notice that when Sephora opened here that their attitude to "try before you buy" was distinctly less visible than in the US stores. Hardly any makeup applicators, wipes, cotton balls, mirrors etc with which to test stuff out, whereas in the US stores there are plenty of such things on top of every counter display and the sales assistant definitely encourage you to try stuff out. That being said, Sephora folded in the UK last year, hmmmm ....

P.S. Have you stopped looking at your new brows yet? LOL

 

[cutandrun]

Oh no... Don't tell me I have to go all the way to Kent to get MAC!!! That's crazy!
Oh well, I have heard some good stuff about the hof in bank, so part 2 of the adventure starts today! I remember when Sephora opened in Brent Cross! Pity I wasn't into makeup at the time, I remember going in there to look at Urban Decay stuff (which I now am really interested in), the Boots there also stocks it, but what's annoying is that half the testers are missing, either that or the whole stand is in a gunky mess. I am so sad Sephora has folded, and really regret not getting any makeup from there (I got a pretty blue butterfly bag though, when it was their closing down sale, for £3! I use it to store jewellery

) It was such a cool store cos it had perfume, and most of the high end m/u lines in one place. I remember when I went to Sephora in the US it was so cool, didn't seem as if people would get annoyed at you for trying out stuff! But with the one in the UK, I swear there were never really any tissues and stuff? That said, with the Boots Urban Decay stand (and the one in Regent street as well), there were no tissues, and I had been playing with a ton of glitter eyeliner on my hand! Had to wipe it off on a piece of paper I had.

Well, if I still don't have a good experience today, I shall just use Specktra and all the lovely people on here's advice, they shall be my MAs, lol

Might as well just start buying off here too, it's quite sad that buying off here is actually more fun than buying in store, the sellers are way more enthusiastic, hahaha

I keep feeling the skin underneath my brows, cos usually there are stray hairs I can never get rid of, but now when I feel it's sooo smooth! The skin between my 2 brows is also soo smooth! So the answer is, haha everytime I see a mirror, I have to look cos I can't believe my brows actually look this nice!

Okay, will post part two tonight!

 

[Eemaan]

what a brilliant learning experience, im so impressed by all the perseverance, patience and travelling to find 'your' MAC.

Unfortunately i dont have that luxury, i have to do with what i get at Harvey Nics in Leeds. im looking forward to the next instakllment of 'cutandrun's travels'

8)

 

[gorgeousgirlie]

How much did it cost to get your eyebrows threaded? I'm growing out my eyebrows and I'm sick of tweezing them.

I agree with the attitude of the MAs over here in the UK. They are polite nothing can be said against that, but then you get the feeling that they don't really enjoy what they are doing and the whole experience ends up being a let down- especially as I don't go to the counters that often as they are 1hr away and when I do go, I'm so excited about new collections and stuff but I end up being disappointed by the lack of good customer service.

Most of them (Ok the ones I've approached) don't seem to know what they're doing. I remember asking one MA for a neutral matte lipstick to go with the dark eyes, light lips combo and he recommended shitake lipstick which is a lustre and has greyish/dark brown tones, definitely not right for a light neutral lips!! Also I've watched many MAs do makeovers on customers and many times haven't liked their results and felt that I could have done a better job. Added to the fact that the prices have increased, they're usually sold out of stuff and have no postcards- thats why I do most of my buying online.

 

[Steel]

I only moved to the UK last year and so far I've been to one MAC store and one counter.

I haven't got anything bad to say about the MAC store in Nottingham, the MA that helped me was really, really friendly and instead of me asking if she could try some products on me she did it on her own initiative (like when I was looking at a product she immediately asked if I would like to try it on). I would go there again anytime!

I've also been to the counter at Debenhams at Sheffield Meadowhall. It was really crowded, the MAs did ask me if I needed any help but overall I thought they were really rude and unhelpful. They also didn't know the names of some of the Paints I was looking at (Chartru, Canton Candy) which I thought was a little weird. There's no way I'll go there again.

 

[cutandrun]

gorgeousgirlie- it's 15 pounds

Ok, am going to post part two now, in new thread

 

[Sarah]

I want my eyebrows done now it sounds great

 

[cutandrun]

comments on UK MAC stores, part two! (well, kind of...)

Ok, just before you read this, I'd like to clarify, I didn't really get to do proper MAC counter visiting today, cos my friends wanted to meet up, and they don't really understand the point of me visiting different mac stores across london when 'we could all meet up in selfridges instead'. But, I did have time to spare, since I got to central london way before them, so I decided to do 2 quick visits to the counter at bank, and the one at harvey nichols.

The one at Bank-
Urgh, I should never have gone here. The MAs just do not pay attention to you at all. Kind of like Selfridges really. Then I got the attention of one girl, I asked her for help with choosing e/s. She asked me what colours I liked, so I said green. She picked out swimming, then one matte dark brown shade, and one grey, but then she got a q tip and just swiped the three colours on my hand. Sigh.. She then proceeded to do it with pinkish colours, I got the the whole 'get out of here you're wasting your time' vibe, and so told her that I'd look around. She gave me a tissue (which was no good, I had to get one of those makeup remover wipes instead, unless I wanted to scrape my skin off to get all the e/s off!) Didn't say anything else to me. All the other MAs seemed to see through me. Spent a total of about 3 minutes there.

Harvey Nichols

Given that Selfridges and Harvey Nichols are similar, in that they're both big department stores, very much high end, etc. I thought service wasn't going to be great. I walked in, got to the counter. There was a MA there, but she sort of looked at me, and continued walking round. That counter was pretty busy, with two people having makeovers, and other MAs attending other customers. But then I walked over the the e/s, and then caught the eye of a MA, who walked over I asked if I need help. Ok, so I asked the same qn, as I have done before, and he asked me what colours I like, what occasion it would be for, etc. He picked out swimming, and juxt, cos I said green, but then he also picked out petalescent and hepcat. It was really cool because then he took the initiative to apply those two latter colours to my lid, and then he was really good cos he said that he would apply the two colours differently, on each lid, as there were different ways I could put the e/s on. Silently inside I prayed I wouldn't look like a total weirdo when I looked in the mirror. And then, when he finished, I looked and...
Omg! I actually liked it! On one eye he had put hepcat on the outer lid, petalescent on inner, and then the other eye hepcat on lashline, then petalescent above blended upwards. Usually pink shades like hepcat make me look bruised/swollen, but this guy made me look pretty cool!
I asked him about combining 3 colours together, and then he said, for my eye shape it's good to put a third colour on the bottom lashline. Funnily enough, he reached for freshwater (what is it with MAs and putting freshwater on my lower lashline? See previous post for what I mean!), but unlike yesterday, it actually looked pretty good! I'd just like to note here, that yesterday, when the girl did it, her line was thick, and she didn't actually apply it close enough to the lashline, so there was a 'gap' between the lashes and the line. But with this guy, the line was thin, and accurate!

At this time, I had to go meet my friends, I was already late, so decided not to do a haul. I asked the guy's name, and it turned out he was a freelancer

And he had to rush off too, to go to another store... What was so nice though, was that he wrote down everything he picked out for me, including the brushes he used. As I walked out, I noticed the two girls having makeovers looked pretty good with their new m/u on, and the MAs seemed cheerful. I can't truly say whether this will become my counter though, I think I needed to spend more time there to truly decide.

But right now- HN and Convent Garden are now my top two. I think I have time tomorrow (haha half term is great!) so I will go to convent garden and does the whole question thing again. And then go to HN again, see if I get the same sort of treatment I got today. I have to say though, I'm quite surprised that I got good service at HN, I wasn't expecting it at all, I guess I thought there would be a very snobby atmosphere, but there surprisingly isn't. Any stuff you want to ask, go ahead, my account of today wasn't detailed as yesterday's, I think

 

[cloverette]

lol, you're unbelievably ambitious & patient! going to different MAC counters/stores 3 days in a row. WOW!!!
anyway, inspired by your threads, i went to the HOF counter today. i was quite impressed by it (went just before closing time), it was quite empty, nice atmosphere, and they had so much stuff... all the products were so perfectly placed where they belonged.
so, with regard to *my* MAC, i still have 4 to choose from:
1) covent garden
2) king's road
3) kensington
4) HOF

great!!! when will i decide between the 4

 

[cutandrun]

I also liked the fact that with HOF you could find everything, all everything was neat, but I felt the service was really lacking. I think right now I have narrowed it down- it's either going to be convent garden, or harvey nichols. I have to say, convent garden MAs seem pretty nice, last time I went, at least they seem more enthusiastic about their job anyway.
Update coming tonight! Actually, I don't know why I'm doing this, lol, but for some reason it just seems 'right' that I should try and find 'my' mac store. Gosh that makes me sound so weird, but you know what I mean...

 

[cloverette]

i know EXACTLY what you mean. i feel the same way & might visit & compare my 4 in one weekend, too, to finally decide.

you're so right with regard to covent garden, i don't ever remember coming across a rude MA there. they were all so nice, always took the time to apply things on you etc. hm... makes me wonder why i'm still searching!?

 

[cutandrun]

comments on mac uk stores part 3!

Ok, today I went to compare the convent garden mac and the knightsbridge mac. I had mixed feelings about the whole of today, partly cos my nose kept running and I felt a bit weird. But of course, once I got into HN I felt a bit better, lol.

So I walked over to the MAC counter, it was busy, so I looked round at the lipglosses for a bit. Then I caught the eye of a MA, and asked her for help with e/s. Usual thing happened, got asked what colours I liked, etc. She asked me what colours I already had, so I said I had nocturnelle, trax and aquadisiac. She then said something along the lines of 'Oh, that's limited edition, isn't it?' Funnily enough, she was standing right in front of aquadisiac, and it was only till she picked it up and turned it over that she said, 'Oh no, it is permanent'. Then she started to apply e/s, but on my hand... Sigh... At least she had good colour combinations, can't remember exactly what she did, but at least it looked a lot better than what that kings road lady did. It was funny again when she was telling me I could add a bit of gold to it, and then she took out gorgeous gold, but said, 'Oh yeah, you could try old gold...' and then she paused and said, 'Oh no, sorry, gorgeous gold'.
I told her I'd look around. I was quite lucky cos the nice freelancer guy came, and recognised me. He was nice cos I needed a brush to apply fluidlines, and he let me practice, and taught me the correct way to apply. So I got gorgeous gold and the 266.

Then I went to Convent Garden. It seems as if this store has different staff on the early days of the week. I didn't recognise anyone from before, and I think they're nicer when you go on thurdays to sundays. I got help from one girl, who I asked what I could pair with gorgeous gold. Then I pointed to swimming and said that it might look quite nice, and she said to me 'That's a bit bright isn't it?' What was she implying here? Anyway, she put velvet moss and gorgeous gold on me, but I decided I'd go out the store cos I had to call someone back. When I went back in, it seemed as though there were different staff again! This time I got the help of another girl, she actually understood what I meant by bright colours, cos she said to me I should think of unusual options and put them together. She also asked me how she could help, and so I asked her if she could apply the e/s on my lids, so I could see how the combos worked. But then she said 'I can do one better, I can put the colours on a face chart, so you don't have to apply and remove the makeup.' How is that one better?? Surely the best thing to do is the apply it to the lids, so that you can truly see it in person. Anyway, on the face chart she put on stars n' rockets and electric eel together. I told her I'd looked around, then I got stars n' rockets, swimming, and the 239 brush.

When I walked out, I realised that I was getting some golden lemon pigment in a swap, so didn't actually need gorgeous gold, golden lemon is brighter. Since I could return the e/s I went back the HN, kicking myself for buying gorgeous gold for no reason, and returned it. The guy wasn't there, but there was this girl that recognised me from earlier on that day, she had to call the department manager. The freelancer guy had billed me £21, he hadn't listed the items separately, and what's more he only charged me £9 for the e/s! Thing is, I got refunded £10, but I didn't say anything cos I didn't want the guy to get into trouble. I went to selfridges cos I was bored, and overheard a MAC MA saying that the e/s were £9. It's really weird how some of them aren't aware of the price increase.

I had more fun in the food section of selfridges (jelly belly! yum!) than the beauty hall, but no surprise there. I think convent garden *might* be my store, taking into account the times I have been there before, but I think I would probably have to go there on a later day in the week. I'm not going to HN again, I just find it so weird that the girl didn't know aquadisiac was permanent? Plus I'm embarassed after the whole refund thing now!
But I have to say, specktra is basically my mac store, lol. UK's prices are crazy, and plus the people here are so much more helpful with qns about m/u, even though it's not actually face to face? It's sad when going on the internet for mac is more fun than shopping for it in person, sigh... Ah well. I bet you I will find my mac store when I'm not looking for it! Cloverette- you should post comments too when you get the chance to visit the mac stores! Maybe we can compare notes

 

[cloverette]

great! i'll do that! i don't know if i can make it this weekend. but i'll try.
i went to HOF again today, this time during lunch break. there were quite a few people by the counter. the MA helping me was nice, but i didn't ask questions or anything, told her directly what i wanted. so, i can't say anything about helpfulness etc. hm, i don't know... it doesn't feel like the counter in HOF could become *my* MAC... it's nice there, but feels kinda artificial?!
also, i feel like i would want a MAC store as opposed to a MAC counter to be *my* MAC... this doesn't mean i'll never go to HOF, again, but i'd rather mainly go to *my* MAC once i found it. which leaves me with:

1) kensington
2) covent garden
3) king's road

to be continued... 8)

 

[tiff]

Where do you guys buy your Mac online, Ebay?