Bare Escentuals

While I agree that you can feel overwhelmed by attention at times, I don’t really agree with everything Amanda said. I do however agree that I LOVE the makeup. My skin feels healthier and cleaner ever since I began using it about 5 years ago.
And the Chesterfield store is small, but nice. The narrow, close quarters may be the reason it’s easy to feel crowded by products and people.
But if you know you want only one product, tell them so and don’t let them talk you into doing a little makeover with their new products. It sounds kind of awful, but if I give only one word answers as soon as I walk in the door, the sales associates tend to back off and let me purchase in peace. I hate saying no, so I try to avoid getting wrapped up in the fun of playing with all the makeup.
Alyse, I think she is a manager, is super cute and really loves the makeup and playing around with different looks. I won a «girlfriend party» and they worked the schedule around so that I could have a couple of extra girls join (all makeovers and demonstrations were free with no obligation to buy).
It’s never really busy except for weekends, so when I had the party (on a Wednesday), there were probably 3 other customers in 2 hours.
I like the girls and the atmosphere. Definitely worth going if you like to feel like you’re doing your skin a favor.

For starters, for anyone reading this review who would like to try the Bare Minerals product line, I HIGHLY recommend it. I’ve been using it for more than 3 years and I ADORE the way my skin looks as a direct result. I’ve tried to use the cheaper stuff you can get at your local Walgreens or where ever — no comparison. Bare Minerals is it for me. However, I DREAD that once every 3 months (which is about how long their foundation lasts me) I have to make my way into this store. You can get Bare Minerals online, at Sephora, and at Ulta, but the stupid store has this frequent buyer card and I’m a sucker for stuff like that. Otherwise, I’d never go there again. (You also get 20% off during your birthday month… scary territory.)
Every time I am there, they try to get me to buy hundreds of dollars worth of their products. I’ve tried a lot of them and I actually LIKE a lot of them, but I can only justify spending the 30 bucks on foundation to myself because of how long it lasts. Every other purchase I’ve ever made there, I’ve found later I could have done without it. In fact, I accidentally spilled my entire «Warmth» all over my bathroom once and was so distraught over how much money I’d wasted, that I vowed I’d never buy something that expensive again. Plus, it was a bitch to clean up.
But, those sales girls will come at you like hungry vultures and you will have to SCREAM at them to get them to understand that you have no intention of leaving your life’s savings behind in a makeup store before they will get off your back.
Once, I was there to purchase only my foundation, but I realized my brush (their brushes are amazing) had gotten kind of jankity and I was in need of a replacement. That brought my tab up to $ 60.00 — and the brush was an IMPULSE buy! There was a girl in there that was having her prom makeup consultation. Two sales associates were working at the time, but obviously, one decided she needed to take her break at that exact moment even though I was already in line at another cash register with my purchase ready to go. As the second one rang up the prom queen’s purchases (her bill being well into the triple digits) they suddenly realized they had a friend in common and began chatting incessantly for a good 15 – 20 minutes. Meanwhile, the first sales associate returned with her food and informed me that they will be with me in «just a moment» — then she went to the back and never returned.
Finally, the remaining sales associate and prom queen have wrapped up their conversation, exchanged e-​mail addresses, and she is finally making her way over to the cash register where I’ve been standing for 20 minutes. You’d think after making me wait for that long, they’d leave the sales pitch alone. WRONG. At this point, she starts to tell me ALL about this new product line (for the low, low price of 56 freaking dollars…) and I had to cut her off to say very pointedly «This is all I need, thank you.» She attempted AGAIN to sales pitch me at which point, my voice raised, my blood pressure climbing, and my face very very red, I said «I ONLY WANT THIS» and slammed it across the counter to her. (I know. I’m a dream.)
I only wish I could say this was the only time this has happened, but I literally have to surgically remove the sales associate out of my ass (and out of my wallet) after every visit.
So, to sum up: 5-​star makeup, 1-​star store. Buy online.