Conquering your fears: My visit to Sephora

Today I took a day off to tackle a few of the items on my to-do list. Conveniently, all of my tasks could be accomplished in one location--the mall.

Now you see why I had to take a day off from work for these tasks. If you've been to a shopping mall on a weekend in December, you have probably sworn never to do it again. After we got stuck in gridlock in a mall parking lot for an hour a few years ago, we avoid it on Saturdays and Sundays.

But I figured a Monday was a safe time to go, and I was correct. The mall was more crowded than I expected--though it's always good to see people spending money--but I found a parking space without a problem and was off and running with my to-do list.

My first stop was the camera store to print our PR photos and to inquire about a digital SLR. I love my little point-and-shoot camera but I think the Canadian Rockies might be worthy of something more sophisticated. I'm a Nikon girl and am eyeing the D3000, which is their entry-level model. I love photography but I'm not a sophisticated photographer, so I'm looking for something that's easy to use and that will shoot good-quality photographs without my having to know too much about aperture and other technical talk. A purchase like a digital SLR shouldn't be impulsive, though, so I'm going to hold off, watch prices, and see if I can convince B that a camera is a better purchase than a computer, flat-screen television, and new water heater. (That last one will be a tough sell.)

After the camera store, I went to Sephora. Well, first I walked past it because I was scared to go in. But I convinced myself to go back. They had sent me a coupon for $15 off a $35 purchase, and I had never ventured into the store and wanted to pick up a few makeup items.


Sephora is an intimidating store. I always feel like I should have better hair and more make-up to be able to enter. But I tiptoed in and saw that there were other normal-looking women there and decided to stick around.

The store was mobbed. If you're feeling bad about the economy, just hit up your local Sephora to be reassured that all is well. There are also lots of helpful associates around (I think at least 5 asked how I was doing).

I wanted to buy blush and eyeliner. My blush is so old I don't remember when I bought it, and ditto with my eyeliner. I think you're supposed to replace every 6 months, but at Sephora prices, I think I'll hold on to the stuff for as long as I can.

The store organizes items by brand rather than type, so you can't just walk up to a display of all eyeliners to compare all of them. You have to walk from display to display, find the eyeliner, try to figure out from the sample whether it's what you want, and then hope it's in stock.

After about 15 minutes, I was ready to give up, but I couldn't leave because I had not yet found $35 worth of items. When the next associate asked if I needed help, I said (with more than a hint of desperation), "I need eyeliner and I'm overwhelmed!"

She looked sympathetic and asked if it was my first time in the store. I said it was and she gave me a little tour and took me over to another display (with cheaper eyeliner than what I was looking at) and used the samples to draw on her hand and show me how the liner looked. I chose the brown option, thanked her for her help, and hopped into the line.

She told me that Sephora associates do not work on commission, so they won't steer you to the brand that will make them the most money. Having never worked on commission, it never occurs to me to wonder if someone who is helping me is making their money that way, but I'm glad to know that their associates are offering bias-free assistance.

For my purchase, I was rewarded with a free sample and could choose from 3. There were 2 moisturizers and 1 lip gloss. I have a history of never using moisturizer samples so I went with the gloss. A girl can never have too many glosses, right?

Overall, my Sephora visit went all right, and I now know that the first thing I should do upon entering is ask for help.