Bombay finally has a Sephora. My male friend who does not wear makeup informed me of this fact. So imagine the drama this has created if even he heard about this!
Bidisha is as unimpressed as ever – she is usually unimpressed by anything popular and anything you would stereotypically expect a fashion stylist in Bombay to be impressed by. Anisha was slightly more interested. (There is no Sephora in London, the poor thing). She raved about the Paris one she checked out and talked about how great it was. Stocked to the brim, a thousand different shades of fuchsia pink lipstick (she got confused and went and bought the Mac Candy Yum Yum. Fantastic free samples. Testers for everything. Super helpful people at the counters giving real, helpful makeup advice and suggestions, not only to sell product. Mentioned how you can return used products for a refund if you don’t like it. Brushes of every size, colour and shape.
I had no idea what she was talking about.
There appears to be a completely different version of the same store in India.
The problem is we don’t have a dearth of great makeup and makeup stores. Most department stores in India stock a lot of brands (the generic Loreal, Revlon, Lakme, etc). And you have your MAC, Colourbar, Faces, etc. The point of Sephora is not to have a store (hear me out) which has makeup from every brand you can think of. The point of Sephora is to have great customer service, allow people to test out and experiment without paying through their nose, building brand loyalty with great loyalty programmes – Sephora is not only a makeup store. Its almost a makeup school, somewhere you can go and experiment with makeup as a student or youngster. Or try a new look when you are bored of your predictable makeup routine. Or try out the new trend if you are a dedicated makeup person.
Well, this wasn’t the Sephora I recognised when I went to the Bangalore one. Anisha told me she has a similar experience in the Delhi one. The tester section is almost empty. She went with her list of ten products she wanted and they didn’t have a single one. Including Sephora’s self-branded eyeliner. A makeup supermarket didn’t have black eyeliner.
The largest collection in terms of quantity in the store was of Sephora brand makeup and haircare. Which was great, I was pleasantly surprised at the great quality of the lipsticks. There was also a large collection of brushes, but they were so expensive I don’t ever see myself buying one. 7000INR for a contour brush, really? I don’t understand. Even some drugstore brands like Nyx Cosmetics was priced higher than they are elsewhere. So even though I’m excited that some of my favorite products like the Benefit Hoola bronzer and the Makeup Forever primers are now within reach whenever I run out, I’m very disappointed with the prices.
So what did you think about the new Sephora stores in Mumbai and Bangalore? If the one one where you live is better then let us know how. I’d love to know 🙂
– Anisha
although im from poland, i dont like going to sephra and hardly ever buy something there. i would much rather have a boots than sephora, as thing are so expensive and in drugstores you get good quality for quite nice price. And stuff in Sephora’s ive visited was rather unpleasant.
Good reading though
Thank you for weighing in! Sephora seems terribly overpriced to me too! I don’t mind paying for good quality skin care but the ways the brushes are priced its prohibitive. I think it maybe cheaper in Paris than other cities. Definitely can’t afford Sephora!
Thanks for saying that, the same happened in Brasil!
Just discovered your blog, and already live it!
Thanks for the love! Would love to know more about Sephora in Brasil!
aybe you can write next articles referring to this article.
I want to learn even more things about it! Thanks for sharing such a great article 😉 🙂
You spoke my mind! I prefer Boots in terms of price and variety of products. Most of the stuff in Sephora are very expensive. The store in Pune rarely has people stepping in side. I went there once to get compact powder, and they didn’t even have the shade that I wanted in stock.
I am so sad to keep hearing its the same everywhere! Really wish Boots would make its way to India! I don’t understand why a new Sephora store like the ones in India wouldn’t have stock. I think the whole point of Sephora is to get all your makeup in one place. What a fail!
Holy cow! Rs.7000 for a brush? What brand was it?
P.S: Thanks for adding me to your indiblogger network <3
This is the own Sephora brand we are talking about! Bit much na?
As much as I love Sephora, I hate to say that whatever you said is true. They don’t have testers. Even if they do they don’t entertain. The brushes are at a price of gold. And they for sure need to have brand loyalty programmes.
I think after visiting the Sephora in Paris the one I went to in Delhi was such a disappointment. I really don’t think it will do very well and I predict it will just pack up in sometime.