Merf. Thinking is Hard.I was recently asked if there are any other makeup brands I don’t work with, since I’m as unenthusiastic about MAC as I am. My answer? Only one.
I won’t use anything by Smashbox. I’ve heard their products are amazing, and I’d love to work with the photo finish product set, but I won’t do it.
Several years ago, I walked into Sephora. I had a date that night, a Very Important Date, and I’d scheduled a makeover. Someone screwed up their schedules, and the only person who could do the appointment was the visiting Smashbox artist.
I have rarely in my life been so insulted. He scanned me up and down, curled his lip, and told me he didn’t work with fat people. That Smashbox didn’t need my fat money. That he’d like to personally have me escorted from the store, because my fat body offended his sight.
Seriously.
I’ve worked in fashion as a model, fitting model, and design assistant for most of my life. My mom is a designer, and that’s where it all got started. Over time, I’ve been privileged to work with other designers over the years, and only one of them worked with fat people explicitly. Still, with all the horror stories of Karl Lagerfeld and other remarkably shitty pros in the field, I was never so slapped across the face as that day.
I marched, furious, humiliated, and on the edge of tears, straight back to my car, where I broke down before cancelling my date. It took me a couple of days to summon the courage, and then called Sephora to lodge a complaint. Sephora was amazing, and instantly won my loyalty. I won’t go into details, but they did their best to make things right, including putting me in touch with the regional vice president.
Smashbox did not do so well. The same day I dealt with Sephora, I called Smashbox. And they literally laughed at me over the phone. They told me that the artist was more important to them than a client was, and that they weren’t going to have anything more to do with it. And then they hung up.
They hung up on a legitimate, honest complaint from a client.
So, no. I don’t use Smashbox products. I’d love to see other people stop using them, even if they have gotten their act together—I have no evidence either way. To this day, walking into Sephora and seeing their displays makes me angry.
The only product I’ve ever bought from them, I returned.
I’ve never heard any of their products praised above similar products from other companies.
AND NOTHING OF VALUE WAS LOST. Fuck Smashbox.
Wow. Note to self.
(via soliloquize)
