sephora

In the scheme of things, Sephora is pretty new to me. I did not live particularly close to one until they opened one in my local mall’s JCPenney store. They did not have events and classes right away because they opened right before the madness of holiday shopping struck. Now that things have settled down, they started offering events – I had shopped there, but never attended one.

On a whim, I checked earlier this month and found (to my delight) that they were hosting an Urban Decay event. I recently reconnected with a friend who I knew was also a UD lover, so I gushed about it to her – we made plans to go. After that, I realized I had no idea what to expect and the only information listed on Sephora’s site was:

Enjoy a complimentary makeup application featuring Urban Decay’s iconic Naked collection. Receive tips from our beauty experts–and get a free gift.

It also said you had to be enrolled in Sephora’s Beauty Insider program to participate (but you can enroll at the store!) and that because space is limited, you should call to make sure they aren’t already full. Fair enough – I called, was greeted by a friendly employee who took down our names and the time we would be coming in. Cool, I jumped that hurdle.

But what else should we know? Should we come in bare-faced, or are they just going to do an eye look? How long does it take? Are we expected to spend a certain dollar amount in order to participate?

A friendly acquaintance from high school is actually a makeup artist for Sephora these days, albeit in a different city. I asked him what he would prefer from clients – though it is best and easiest for everyone to come in clean, moisturized, but otherwise bare-faced, they will be happy to hand over a makeup removing wipe.

Because I don’t like wasting effort (or product), I arrived bare-faced. We arrived at our appointed time and were greeted and welcomed to Sephora Urban Decay Event by the (awesome, might I add) artists; they let us get settled at the vanity and decided on a look together. There were a few template looks, or they said they could create something unique. I felt adventurous and went with the unique option – my artist applied a full-face including Urban Decay’s facial primer (if there are more than one, I can’t remember which) actually, here’s a list:

• Naked Skin foundation
• 24/7 Concealer pencil
• UDPP
• Naked3 palette for shadow
• 24/7 liner pencil (I cannot for the life of me remember which shade)
• Big Fatty Mascara
• Naked Flushed for blush
• Naked Skin Ultra Definiton Pressed Powder
• Revolution Lipstick in Naked
• All Nighter Setting Spray

My artist was attentive and made sure I was comfortable the entirety of the time – colors, intensity, etc. Once complete, the finished look was great – it took maybe a little over a half hour from start to finish. The women in our store even went so far as to bake and decorate UD-themed cupcakes which I found to be a very nice surprise. We weren’t pressured to buy anything, but we were invited to shop around afterwards and that they’d hold our gifts at the register before we left. They were in reach when we had questions (except for a brief moment when they were all helping others, which is fair), but it never felt as though they were crowding us.

I definitely did expect a little pressure to buy so the lack of it was very nice – I’m thrilled to share that it was not the case. We obviously talked about products, but it was a legitimate conversation, not pushing; not being sold to. Granted, that might depend on the employee and the local store but if you were avoiding an event like this for fear of sales pressure, give it a shot and approach it with an open mind.

Once we finished up, we were given our gifts, which I talked about here. Here’s a look – it is one of their full-sized polishes and a TSA-approved clear plastic travel bag. Though the polish didn’t blow my mind, it is still a neat gift (that I was definitely excited to try out – and write about!)

In the past, I’ve heard a lot of sass about Sephora employees being too sassy, judgmental, etc. and that some people have been deterred from shopping there – this made me nervous before my first time in my local store. Obviously YMMV, but I had a great experience with the event and with every time I’ve been to mine. If you enjoy Urban Decay products and your Sephora is hosting an Urban Decay Event soon, I recommend checking it out.