Warning: Long entry ahead. May require long attention span, try to not read after a long day at work.
So I'm done.
With the job. Phew.
I'm not sure, but I feel a bit weird about it. 70% glad that it's over, cos it's friggin' tiring and I really don't like to see the different 'faces' of customers everyday. I think I'm not really cut out for the service industry, cos I couldn't give a damn to those people. But I'm 30% sad, because I really enjoy the company of my colleagues. They're all awesome people (except a given few) and the reason that I found the job bearable. Also, there's the handful of customers who are absolutely lovely to serve and who never fail to brighten my day, I'll definitely miss attending to them.
So here's a reflection post about my summer vacation job at Sephora, my thoughts and all the stuff I've learnt over the 2.5 months there. If this kind of reflection entry bores you, please do skip this post. I'll be uploading some other stuff, as well, as the Mario Badescu winners soon (giveaway is ending~)!
Things that i've learnt:
1) Money isn't easy to earn. Working a full day there only earns me a little over $60, which can easily disappear if I buy e.g. 2 pieces of clothings, cosmetics, etc or if I top up my EX Link card and go out for a meal with my friends. It made me realize how extravagant I've been with my parent's money in the past, and how to treasure and make full use of it now. Seriously, standing for 10 hours straight, having to smile regardless of what and having to ta-han some of the customers' awful behaviours = $60++ at the end of the day is really not worth it.
But I'm real proud that I haven't taken money from my parents for these few months, so I hope this lessens their financial burden a bit. And also the things that I've bought with my pay, I'm very proud of them since I know that I work hard to own them and not just buying them with my allowance.
2) People aren't what they seem to be. Just to be safe on my part, no name-mentioning but you guys should know which category I'm talking about. In front of you, they'll be sweetly smiling away and heaping compliments on you, but once you turn your back, they won't hesitate to whip out their verbal swords and gorge your innards out with them. There has been some pretty bad back-stabbing going on, I'm just glad I didn't stay long enough to be involved deeper.
3) On that point, one really handy piece of advice to share with you guys: Please do your own product research before stepping into the store. I'm just saying Beauty Advisors aren't what they're all cracked up to be. Often, they do recommend products which they themselves use and trust but sometimes, it all boils down to sales. I leave it at that for you guys to interpret my message.
4) On lighter note, putting on makeup in the train. LOL, I'm not joking! I've become totally capable of lining my eyes with my pencil or liquid eyeliner, sticking on fake lashes, curling my lashes, putting on mascara and touching up on my blush in a wobbly train. Necessity pushes one to one's limits, especially so in my case when I'm rushing for time and have only gotten my basic makeup on. Half an hour in the train gives me loads of extra time to complete the final touches. I'm especially proud of my fake lash-glueing skills - even on a crowded morning train with me smooshed in one corner, I can whip out my DUO glue and have my falsies on before reaching Bedok MRT.
5) Learning the basics of makeup, establishing my own unique way of putting it on and grasping the whole process of putting on Bare Escentuals' mineral makeup. After these 2.5 months, I've become confidant in matching foundation shades (would now dare to walk into MAC and match my own shade, instead of asking the BAs for help) and teaching people the entire process on buffing in mineral powders.
Before this, I've seen my roomie use Bare Escentual's mineral foundation but they were just bizarre pots of powders to me. Then I saw how tedious and messy the whole priming-foundation-mineral veil-concealer-blusher process can be, and how my colleague can use up to 1 hr just tutoring a customer on the process. But I went from that to being able to tutor customers myself, using the powders effectively and neatly, as well as convincing them the benefits of mineral makeup. I still wouldn't use it myself (cos I'm just plain lazy) but I now know how effective the foundation is, how natural it can be and its awesome coverage.
Last point to note: Everyone has their own unique eye shape. One's EOTD and e/s application technique may work wonderfully on herself but may not work at all for another. I think ultimately, everyone should discover their own eye shape and find out their very own way of applying e/s. After having to apply e/s everyday, I've already established my own way and it works very well on my own eye shape. However, I've experienced more than once where I tried doing the same for my customers and it came out horrible. That's because our eye shapes are so different! I know the process may be intimidating, but there's always YouTube to help~ I've learnt plenty from there, vintageortacky is one YouTube guru who's e/s application technique works amazingly for me.
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Ahhh... got everything out! Feels good! So yep, that's more or less the stuff I've learnt, it has been a very good experience while it lasted. I'm definitely going back more often to visit my colleagues, miss them already. Here's some pictures I'll like to share~
The colourful MUFE booth~
The Sephora bath range area which I was solely in-charged of. I make sure to replenish stocks everyday and to clean the testers every morning, these things are my babies!
And I found a new use for my collar bones! MUFE Aqua Cream rack, ah ha ha ha! My friend tried balancing the HD cream blushers, I can take one on each side too. :]
The half-closed gate which we had to wriggle under every night after closing. Tried to do the limbo with it but failed cos it was too low!
My lucky number 13 locker and my cabbage key! I alway went around the store with the cabbage hanging out from my pocket, everyone knows whom this key belongs to.
Nice memories~ Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed the Sephora series while it lasted! Thanks so much for reading all my ramblings and LOTDs. I'll be having some much needed rest at home now, then completing the stuff which I haven't done (the 6-things-I-cannot-live-w/o tag, and re-organising my makeup drawer) before school reopens. Cheers!
P.S. The Mario Badescu Giveaway is ending soon, quick quick join while you can!!!
