Six Ugly Secrets of the Cosmetics Counter(zz)

marylin_zh

If you’ve ever set foot in a department store, you’ve probably had to navigate through the beauty and fragrance gauntlet—bombarded by salespeople in medical-inspired lab coats, spritzed with the latest scent, or pressured to be “made over” with the season’s newest colors.

I used to be one of these people. For seven years, I worked as a makeup artist in almost every high-end retail store—from Saks Fifth Avenue to Barneys. Dressed in the beauty-counter uniform of head-to-toe black, my job was to make people spend—even if they didn’t want to. If I failed? Well, I was out of a job. Most cosmetics counters run on freelance labor, and beauty companies supply stores with makeup artists who work without benefits and with little job security. But the pay is decent, the free products are great, and without a college degree, my options could have been worse. So I spent my days dutifully, but not happily, stopping strangers like you to ask, “Would you like a makeover today?”

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Eight years later (and with a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College), I’m a photo editor at NEWSWEEK—and an artist documenting the beauty industry. I also, on occasion, reveal the tricks of my former trade. (Like how I was trained to turn “I’m just looking” into several hundred dollars in sales.) So before you head to Bergdorf’s, or any other department store, consider these six secret tactics of beauty-counter makeover artists:

1. Invoke science.
The single best marketing idea ever created for a cosmetics line is the Clinique white lab coat. People are trained to listen to what people in lab coats have to tell them. By extension, a makeup salesperson in a lab coat is an automatic “expert”—they must know what products are best!—except that what they’re spewing is nothing more than marketing mumbo jumbo. Try this test: next time you’re in Sephora, check out how many products have the words “doctor,” “derma,” “chemist,” or “Rx.” Implying some kind of medical or scientific backing is a surefire way to sell a product.

2. Play the expert.
Another option is to play up the philosophy of the brand, and provide a long list of “proven” facts why this product is superior. Brands that bear the name of makeup artists and brands from foreign countries are best for this trick—because “the water is better in France,” or “this makeup artist does so-and-so’s makeup” and if it’s good enough for her, you should feel lucky to use it. There’s a reason every cosmetics ad out there is graced by the face of the actress du jour.

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3. Disparage other products.
There are several versions of this method, the most common being to ask customers what products they’re currently using, and then give them “the look.” The look, of course, is a combination of horror and disgust that clearly lets them know that what they’re currently using is crap, or that they’ve chosen the wrong product/shade/color. (The bitchier the look, the more horrified the customer.)

Option two is to gain trust by praising one product they use in order to make them think you’re genuine—which, of course, you’re not. I would often employ the “take-away” trick at the end of a makeover. After laying out all the products I was recommending to the client, I’d remove one or two, and tell them what they were already using “would be just fine.” Nine times out of 10, they’d grab the products back from me and insist they needed them.
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4. More expensive equals better.
There’s a reason the cult cream, Crème de la Mer, became an immediate bestseller when it was introduced in the early 1990s, at $150 an ounce: it was more than twice the price of anything else on the market—and price, in beautyland, is the ultimate symbol of quality. In fact, the “if it’s more expensive, it must be better” trick is one of the oldest (and most successful) in the book. Just look at what’s happened to skin-care prices since la Mer was introduced: La Prarie has a platinum cream that sells for $650 a jar; there are various other top sellers hawking the use of gold that, “at best, [does] nothing, and at worst, can give you irritation of the skin,” one dermatologist told The New York Times. The recession, meanwhile, hasn’t seemed to slow anything down. Why do women keep buying? Maybe because when they come to the cosmetics counter, we are there to tell them how these expensive ingredients work miracles.

5. Become your friend.
Yes, that’s right, those kind souls wielding blush brushes want to know all about you, what do you do for living, where you’re from—in fact, they want to know everything you wish people would ask you about. They enjoy hearing about your daughter’s wedding last year, and can’t wait to hear all about your problems with your girlfriend/boyfriend/spouse, or how your boss is a raving jerk—because they care about you. Except that they don’t.

During my time at the counter, I often dreaded having to hear customers prattle on about people I didn’t know or care about, but I knew that if I feigned interest, the client would trust me all the more to select the products they just couldn’t live without. If makeup artists were really your friends, they wouldn’t use brushes or tester products that, in some cases, have been used on hundreds of people—or sell you multiple products when you only need one.

6. Yes, it’s free (if you buy at least two products).
This is one of the biggest secrets of the beauty counter: most department stores do not allow cosmetics counters to charge for services. But there is an unspoken rule: if you sit in a chair, expect to buy at least two products. So is that makeup artist insisting there’s a two-product minimum to have your face done? Well, that’s just one more reason to run for the elevators.

marylin_zh

转贴的，说得还真是有道理。。。

zf22

lz翻译一下，这里大部分人的英语都退化了

parisdoll

挺有道理的

ftfly

下一本paula begoun 的魅力圣经， 里面揭发的所谓的魅力秘密更多。

xtripled

如果您曾置身于百货公司，那您一定有在琳琅满目的化妆品香水柜台和众多化妆品导购中辨识方向，寻找去路的经历。这些导购往往身着医生似地服饰，使用最新款香水以及描画着这一季最in颜色。
我曾经就是其中的一员。从Saks Fifth Avenue到Barneys在那七年里我几乎在所有的高端零售商店都工作过。那时，我身着一身黑色的职业装束，我的工作就是让顾客花钱，即使他们并不想这样。如果我总是卖不出去产品，我就失业了。大多数的化妆品导购都属于自由合同工，厂商为商场雇佣导购，而导购的工作既没有津贴也没有保险。但是薪酬也还算是合理，那些免费的产品很好，而我没有大学的学位，如果我选择其他工作会更糟。因此我尽职尽责的但不由衷高兴的一次次拦住顾客问：Would you like a makeover today?
八年以后，我成了一个Newsweek的时尚图片编辑。我也曾揭露我我从前工作的伎俩，比如我是如何被训练成能够使您从“仅仅看看”到一掷千金。在您去Bergdorf或者其他商场之前，请您看看这六条化妆品导购的秘技。
1、        以科学的名义
历史上最成功的独立的营销策略非倩碧的白大褂莫属。人民就如同听从实验室里的研究人员的忠告一样听从导购建议。或者说身着白大褂的导购因白大褂而自行的成为了expert，他们知道什么产品更好，而实际上他们只是说些莫名其妙的推销语言罢了。您下次在Sephora的时候您可以试试这招，看看多少产品上印有“doctor,” “derma,” “chemist,” 或者“Rx.”--暗示着医药的科学的背景是个必胜的法子。
2、        以专家的名义
另一招是充当专家，并提供长长地已经证实的事实说明某产品的优秀。以makeup artists或者进口产品都很适用这一方法。因为“the water is better in France ”，因为“makeup artist does so-and-so’s makeup”，您应该为您可以选择这一产品而感到幸运。这就是化妆产品总是请当季一线女星做广告的原因。
3、        诋毁其他产品
这一方法有很多版本，最常用的就是先问问顾客她们目前适用什么产品，然后给她们“the look”。当然，这是一种混合了尊重和嫌恶的，能让顾客意识到自己正在使用的不过是些不怎么出色的产品或者她们选择了错误的产品的表情。这表情越恶毒顾客就越惶恐。
第二个版本是先夸赞她们使用的某一产品让她们觉得你是天才以此取得顾客的信任。我通常会在试妆快结束的时候用“保留战术”。再给顾客使用了我推荐的产品后，我会从中取出一两件，然后告诉她们，这样已经很好了。十只有九，她们会从我手中拿回那一两件产品，并坚持她们的确需要这些。
4、        更贵就意味着更好
风靡一时的面霜Crème de la Mer以150美金一盎司的天价能在其推出的1990s就迅速成为销售榜中的翘楚是有原因的。这个价格是市场上其他同类产品的价格的两倍还多。在化妆品市场上，价格就是衡量质量的指标。实际上，更贵的就会更好是众多推销伎俩中最为古老最为畅行的一个。您不妨回顾一下La Mer上市之后的护肤品市场，La Prarie推出了650美金一罐的护肤品，同时还有很多其他顶级品牌也都跃跃欲试的要在配方中加入金子。一个皮肤科医生告诉The New York Times说“金子在护肤品中添加最理想的结果就是对您的皮肤不造成伤害，最坏的后果是对皮肤的刺激”。然而皮肤医生的忠告并没有对护肤品行业造成任何影响。女人们为什么还在一如既往的热衷于购买这类护肤品呢？也许每当她们走进化妆品柜台，我们就会不遗余力的告诉她们这些昂贵的成分可以创造出奇迹。
5、        做您的朋友
这些整日摆弄腮红刷的人想知道您的全部，您的职业，您从哪里来—实际上她们想知道您希望别人知道的内容。她们热衷于倾听您女儿去年婚礼的情况，她们耐心的聆听您与您的配偶的小摩擦，或者是您的老板的种种罪行---因为她们关心您，虽然实际上她们并不关心。在我做导购的过程中，我总是是不是的听顾客闲话那些我并不认识并不关心的人，但我清楚的知道，如果我假装出有兴趣，顾客会更信任我以及我推荐的产品。如果美容顾问真的是您的朋友，她们就不会用无数人使用的化妆品或者化妆刷在您身上挥舞，也不会总是给您推荐套装产品，即使您只需要套装产品中的一件而已。
6、        免费小样