Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Part III

To continue with the haulage....on Saturday I decided to go to Bloor-Yorkville area downtown since I wanted to check out the mens section at Holt Renfrew to look for a gift for the bf. Also I wanted to check out the Guerlain boutique, and the Lancome counter at The Bay which has a GWP until May 11th.

Holt Renfew was quite disappointing. They had their whole underground level and part of the ground floor for guys stuff, but there wasn't much variety there. I couldn't find anything in Harry Rosen, or any other stores either. I had an idea of what things I could get him, but the styles were either unsuitable or the colours didn't suit his taste :P Finally, I found something he might like at the last store I went into, but I'm still quite undecided about it. Mostly because I know once he sees it he'll say I shouldn't spend so much money...

But I did of course find some things for myself :P


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My favourite item out of this whole week's haulage is the Masaki Matsushima Cherry Eau de Parfum:


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I don't even know how to describe it, but its very pleasant, and falls into the fruity-floral range which is my usual taste. I don't like oriental type musky or vanilla-ish scents...I find I get tired of those after awhile, but not with the fruity/floral ones.

Notes: (from Sephora.com)

Cherry, Blackcurrant, Bilberry, Watermelon, Lotus Flower, Cherry Blossom, Sweet Pea, Raspberry, Crystal Musk, Blackberry.


At The Bay department store, I also ended up getting two pink lipsticks because of the GWP at Lancome.

302 SOS Pink (the lighter one) which has a cream finish
318 Rock Icon Fuschia (the same one as Nicnic :), has a reflects finish


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Anyway I don't know what was it about Saturday, but the SA's I encountered were either nice...or well, strange. Case 1: I was walking through the Bay past the Shiseido counter and the SA grabs me and starts raving about how gorgeous my lashes are. She kept saying they looked so natural, which is really nice of her and all, and I was feeling kinda flattered. Then out of the blue she said "oh you're so young but you have lines already, not good!" and proceeds to push some serums and creams on me :S How sweet of her to say that to a potential customer...:/

Case 2: Guerlain SA - I usually try to think the best of strangers, since I don't know them, but that woman seriously had a poker stuck up her you-know-where. Honestly! She kept talking down to me, but in an underhanded way of course. And she implied I had heavy makeup on, just because I had fake lashes on. The same fake lashes that the Shiseido SA said looked "very natural".

Plus she just wouldn't let me peruse at my own leisure. I went in there because I wanted to check out the Guerlain loose kohls. I was testing the colours on my hand to see which ones were nice, but she'd keep hovering, even though I said I wanted to look around a bit first while deciding on a colour. In the end she annoyed me so much I just said "I'll come back later" and left.

Btw I'm sure my lashes were at least decent, because my bf loved them, which I did not expect at all :) He likes natural looks and the Japanese way of wearing makeup, so he doesn't like too much eyeshadow on me that much even though I love eyeshadow lol. He's not a fan of red lipstick either.

I have noticed a pattern with SAs though. I find the ones working at stores/counters downtown Toronto tend to be more snooty, while the areas updown are a lot nicer and more down to earth. Also I find Sephora's SAs nicer than other brands/stores :P In fact my favourite Sephora is the one on Bloor. That location, even though it is downtown is an exception to the pattern. The ones uptown are nice too, but I don't like going to my closest store as much because there is an SA there with an attitude I can't stand.

15 comments:

♡ Nic Nic ♡ said...

YAY on lancome 318!! love the colour!! im so glad you do too hehe. Isnt it pretty??!

Ahh nice haulage!! Have you purchased an dazzleglass?? I bought mine on ebay since its not out in uk yet... i hopes its real LOL. anyway off the topic..

I cannot believe that SA!! Really rude of them.. that reminds me of a lot of HK SAs, they make these horrible comments about you to lure to buy their products! That SA sounded like one of those!

Ahh dont you just hate it when they wont leave you alone? Or even worse.. you cant get their attention at all lol.

You must do a FOTD with the new lippies :D

♡ Nic Nic ♡ said...

ps. I'm sure your bf will like whatever you get him! it's the thought that count :)

Christiana Divine @ Memoirs of A Shopping Addict said...

geezus... talk about not so great experiences with SA's. i've never had any problems with any SA's... i think it's cause i look mean. i mean, i don't try to look mean, but people say i look mean when i'm not smiling. LOL. :P

jing said...

You're definitely making up for your no-buy days! You can get unlucky with SAs sometimes. There are times that their advices are obviously nonsense. WHen I started buying dept store m/u, i trusted them so much. Until one SA told me that if I add the SPF in my liquid and powder foundation, that would be the SPF protection my face gets. MUA has been so helpful, not only with reviews, but the ladies on the boards know their stuffs well. Plus with all these beauty blogs and reviews, it does help finding what something that works for you without relying wholly on the SAs.

Chiara said...

Wow, so much haulage!!

MAs can be so weird sometimes... I don't get why telling you how "ugly" your lashes is good customer service. I would have probably report them. That type of attitude is just going to push away all of their buyers! But at the least, it seems like they do give you service when you walk in... lol As much as I like to shop alone, when I do need something, it takes 15 minutes to flag an MA down, for her to help me for less than 30 seconds. All because I'm uber short and look young. Haah, the story of my life

I hope you're not hauling away all that you've saved!

(g)ezebel said...

i loooove fruity/floral scents.

i've been eyeing that cherry perfume. does it really smell like cherries? i waaaaant!!!

theChas said...

O_O You've been a haulin'! Lol. Sorry about the b/f pressie issue, but, I must admit, I am intrigued by the cherry perfume. I'm not too much of a fruity person myself and stick to the florals, but I like cherry blossom scented things which is basically a sweet flower. ;P

I seriously hate SA sometimes. Like, they think by insulting you that you're actually going to buy something? The same thing happened to me at the Guerlain counter here. She was all, "you're a pretty Asian," and then proceeded to tell me that my eyebrows needed redoing because they were "too dark." Um, hello? I have black hair/eyebrows kthnx. Too bad because I was almost sold on the mascara which I heard is amazing.

Anonymous said...

Urgh!

I LOATHE hovering SAs. I notice you get a lot of those in Asia. In Melbourne, most are happy to leave you alone if you say you're just happy browsing.

You have the patience to hang around. I would've left and tried the counter at another store :P

alien man?! said...

haha, that SA's comment was just so dumb >_<;;;; i can kinda relate, though... when u've been talking and selling to hundreds of ppl every day, it's like you're bound to say something really stupid --;;; i know i've certainly been guilty of it

i've been appreciating the toned-down look more lately... i guess it's the warmer weather

sometimes, i don't want to wear more than just various eyeliners and mascara

which lashes were u wearing?? i think i missed that part somewhere

jing said...

Thanks for the heads up on Coffret d'or. I was wondering if you experienced any fall outs from their color. I read a review that it snowed down her cheeks when she applied it. I'm NC30, I wonder if it's pigmented enough to show. I'm torn between the Gold and Purple. Though I'm eyeing Lavshuca's PU2.

Bliss said...

Thats a nice haulage, i so want to smell your new perfume hehhe, the bottle is too cute and i love the smell of cherries :D. The lippy colours are also nice, Your SA stories are so true,i sometimes get that with the wierd SA but this time it was true, i was using a foundation darker then my skintone the embarassment of her finding out, i was a total makeup newbie that time lol

The Faux Fashionista said...

Urgh, how annoying! And rude! I've had an SA follow so close behind me that when I turned around I almost bumped into her! That was too much for me, so I told her "Could you please not follow me around the store? I'm not going to steal anything, I'll let you know when I need your help." And it worked! ;)

And I hate when they say "ooh you've got zits/blackheads/lines on your face" just to get you to buy their products. Ick! Too insulting...

cheryl said...

gosh i would've ripped that SA's face off if she said those things to me, LOL! when i shop, i just wanna b left alone... mm those lancome lipsticks look good!

cheryl said...

gosh i would've ripped that SA's face off if she said those things to me, LOL! when i shop, i just wanna b left alone... mm those lancome lipsticks look good!

na said...

Gorgeous lipsticks! I love the fuschia one.

SAs are interesting people. For someone who works in retail and makes their living by selling things, the last thing I wan to hear when I'm buying something is how bad my skin looks, or how prominent my lines are etc. I had a Dior SA try their $85 foundation on me, and just when I was kind of getting swayed towards buying it, she tells me that my skin was "not good for your age." I turned around and left, haha.

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