Like many before her, Leslie Jones is finished with Sephora.
The beauty chain has been alienating customers for years now. Complaints of rude and even insulting employees abound on the internet, and many women have shared stories of leaving a store in tears. Jones this week took to social media to share her own story.
Jones said via Twitter that her makeup artist Lola Okanlawon, along with her best friend’s wife, were treated terribly at the Upper West Side Sephora location. “I sent my makeup artist @LolasBeautyMark and my best friends wife to @Sephora 2103 Broadway store,” Jones wrote. “She needed makeup and to learn how to apply. My makeup artist just called in tears of how bad they treated her and my friends wife!! The salesperson and manager. SO NO MORE SEPHORA.”
I sent my makeup artist @LolasBeautyMark and my best friends wife to @Sephora 2103 Broadway store. she needed makeup and to learn how to apply. my makeup artist just called in tears of how bad they treated her and my friends wife!! The salesperson and manager. SO NO MORE SEPHORA
— Leslie Jones 🦋 (@Lesdoggg) June 4, 2019
The Saturday Night Live star wasn’t finished.
She shared her tweet on Instagram as well, adding in her thoughts on Sephora’s upcoming company sensitivity training.
“I am tired of the fuckery yo!! If we spend money in your store we deserve customer service too,” Jones wrote. “SO FUCK YOUR STORE @sephora you got to close your store to teach your employees sensitivity how about fire they ass and hire people who got sensitivity. Cause they exist!!! I’m tired of this shit!! What happen to customer service. Do we just not give a fuck anymore!! #NOMOSEPHORA”
https://www.instagram.com/p/ByTNpCgn5xX/
Stories of mistreatment at Sephora stores began flooding social media last month after Solána Imani Rowe shared her own experience. The singer, known professionally as SZA, was accused of stealing products from a California store. The artist was forced to speak with security after a cashier—whom she jokingly referred to as “Sandy Sephora”—accused her of theft. Everything was resolved, but her story inspired many other women to share their own negative Sephora experiences. Often, the negative reactions from store employees seemed racially motivated, according to stories.
Following the incident with SZA, Sephora announced its plan to schedule “sensitivity training” for its employees. More than 400 locations of the beauty retailer were closed for one hour on Wednesday to train employees in inclusivity.
Lmao Sandy Sephora location 614 Calabasas called security to make sure I wasn’t stealing . We had a long talk. U have a blessed day Sandy
— SZA (@sza) May 1, 2019
Several former Sephora customers shared their Sephora tales on Reddit. One woman said that she entered a location to find some makeup that would accent her skin tone. “As I’m swatching, one of the Sephora girls comes up to me and tells me that it would look terrible on me (I was swatching the TooFaced Natural at Night at the time) because I have brown skin, and ‘makeup isn’t meant for people like me,’” the woman wrote. “She continues on and tells me that they have nothing in the store that could help me because of my ‘very dark skin.’”
Terrible experience at Sephora.
byu/MyLittleLabMonkey inMakeupAddiction
Another woman shared a similar experience. After explaining that she was looking to spend some “treat” money on makeup, she visited a Sephora. After asking for some assistance only to be repeatedly rebuffed, a woman finally agreed to help. What came next was, as the woman described it, a “horrible, self-esteem crushing” experience.
My horrible, self-esteem crushing Sephora experience :'(
byu/mzmiyagijr inMakeupAddiction
The internet is peppered with similar stories. Many of these women never got more than an apology from Sephora, and some didn’t even get that. Perhaps, with the involvement of high-profile figures like SZA and Leslie Jones, Sephora’s training will change course for the oft-criticized company.
READ MORE:
- The feel-good viral hero behind #ItsAboveMe has been canceled
- Netflix’s ‘When They See Us’ ignites call for boycott of prosecutor’s books
- Racist Airbnb host refers to Black guests as ‘monkeys’ in viral video
Got five minutes? We’d love to hear from you. Help shape our journalism and be entered to win an Amazon gift card by filling out our 2019 reader survey.
H/T Jezebel
