MAC has to be the best make-up, ever. And the girls who work at the MAC counter (this one is inside Macy's), are very helpful and totally low-pressure on the sales.
I bought 2 eyeshadows, a lip gloss and a nail polish today. I can't remember the name of the girl who helped me, but she was very honest and helpful when I became indecisive over lip shades (do I go with the Odyssey lipstick or the Rebel gloss?). As I completed my purchase, she also offered a tip or two about one of the eyeshadows I purchased (Black Grape - an awesome, sparkling dark purple).
You can have one of two experiences at MAC: shopping on a weekday afternoon or shopping on a weekend. I highly recommend shopping on a weekday afternoon if you can, because you will have the counter to yourself to sample and play to your heart's content. I applied and re-applied several lip shades and eyeshadows, and the employee checked up on me several times to see if I needed anything. On the weekends, it can be extremely difficult to get individualized attention and even more of a challenge to squeeze between shoppers and see, let alone sample, any products. Because of this, I feel kind of sympathetic to the other make-up counters which are noticeably dead in comparison to MAC.
The MAC staff is more than willing to help, and they check in often, but I've never felt pressured to buy anything nor have I been upsold. Although today I did buy $70+ worth of product, there have been times where I walked away empty-handed because I just wanted to browse.
The only thing I don't like about this make-up counter is Macy's store lighting. Some things look absolutely terrible with their lighting (mostly the pale lip glosses), and other things I have problems assessing the depth of color in the eyeshadows and lipsticks. That being said, it really helps to ask one of the employees for their opinion on a color. read more
