I'm a secret beauty buff. I don't wear a lot of makeup, and eyeliner scares me, but my goodness do…read moreI love to treat my skin right. I'm trying to be nicer to my hair, too. Sephora may be best known for its amazing selection of makeup and fragrance, but lately, they've really been killing it on the skin and hair treats. Sephora used to be the kind of place that has some ultra-luxe items that are definitely in the "treat" category, but they've been adding more and more brands that are a bit more budget-friendly while still offering great results. I scored myself a big bottle of Moroccan Oil (treat) and a couple of items from the new-to-me TheInkeyList brand. This brand uses ingredients that you definitely won't see in your typical drugstore brands but keeps the prices lower. Bonus: they go on great and work well. Absolutely stop by and look at their serums. Helpful staff and a clean and well-organized store make this location one of my favorites. (This location always keeps their testing stations well-stocked with applicators, tissues, alcohol, and makeup remover, too.)

The lighting at this Sephora location is unlike any other I've ever set foot in across the Twin…read moreCities or the United States in general. It's so dark and dreary that it's quite impossible to compare colors and undertones properly. I generally avoid it for this reason, as the dim lighting is a hindrance enough that I can't discern swatch differences despite holding the palette of colors on the back of my hand up to any brighter source of light possible. A lot of people like to vary their makeup looks, and I enjoy appreciating their creative personal expressions of beauty. I prefer only to subtly enhance my natural looks, so I'm specifically seeking only most natural color possible. I take my time comparing products in being very deliberate in anything I do. With beauty products, I test new bestsellers in every beauty product type against my current kit once annually. I do the same with digital apps and programs twice a year. As I'm starting to become more active as a model again now, I'm fleshing out my kit again for the first time since pre-quarantine. One of my last products to find is a longwearing liquid lip product, which I narrowed down to two products across six colors to test in the store. Southdale was on my route, so I stopped in and was able to narrow the six down to three. With the lighting at the Southdale Sephora making the comparison of subtle swatch differences entirely unreliable, I asked to use my allowed three samples to be used for the three lip colors I'd narrowed down to from the palette of rosewood, tea rose, and nudes still swatched on the back of my hand. The Sephora teammate was visibly unwilling though verbally stating otherwise - before suggesting that I use the lip swatch applicator sticks to sample the three lip colors and bring outside to sample. Let me get this straight: You're actively suggesting that a customer swatch a lip stain product on three open-ended sticks to walk outside with. Questions: 1. The lip product is so known for its staining power that it comes with a warning, and you knew it had staining qualities as it was part of our conversation. I'm wearing white. Are you covering the cost of cleaning should a customer get bumped and get the staining product on their clothes on their way out? 2. The walk from the storefront to the parking lot is 5-10 minutes long. Long-wearing liquid lip products are known to be fast-drying, and the movement of walking plus the time between applications dry each one that much further, thus affecting test application, appearance, and wear. How did this factor into the logic of suggesting applicator sticks? 3. Testing immediately outside with no makeup removal product in hand to wipe clean between tests, the residue of each last color would of course affect the next. How is this conducive of proper sampling procedure? 4. Part of the intention of this sampling was to test the longwearing claim of the product and see how each of the three compare against each other. How does swatching one right after the other in a parking lot allow for practical wear testing? This is not the first time Sephora has been awkward about sampling. I've witnessed plenty of representatives assisting guests and being very passively aggressive about the practice, and that's across the nation. That said, this experience of mine was paired by far the most ridiculous reasoning I've received or witnessed yet. Sephora, if you don't want to offer samples, it's simple: Don't offer samples. If Sephora locations actively make customers feel unwelcome for asking for samples that the Sephora brand so proudly claims is a part of the brand experience, expect customers to have a major problem with this consistent incongruence in brand identity and the disconcerting treatment that has me looking elsewhere for ongoing subscription purchases for all products that become part of my kit as my response in voting with my dollar. That's bad business for Sephora considering that the brand carries over 50% of the products in my kit in stores and over 80% when ordering online.

Fantastic staff that is so welcoming and friendly to all . I just got snubbed walking around the…read moremall at several stores and the staff here took great care of me . Alexis even gave me a nice facial cleansing and just took time to make me feel special . It's the little things ! Customer for life now

Rude customer service. Spent over $350 and found my eye shadow crumbled. Called right away. In the…read moreend they did not address this issue. I had to get a replacement direct from the line of cosmetics. Never returning to this business.

Monica was amazing so kind and helpful! She is wonderful at her job, very knowledgeable on the…read moreproducts as well

Honestly, I haven't even bought anything in particular yet from Kiehl's stores but just giving a…read morehuge s/o to their in-store service. Went to the MOA location looking to get what I could for skincare advice since I'm dealing with some new breakouts and don't think it's too serious for a dermatologist. Chris, one of the employees working that night, helped me out right away. He was very eager to help, knowledgeable about all products and skincare in general, and honest about how I should deal with the breakouts and what they actually meant for my skin type. He was more than impressive. To top his awesome advice, I told him I was not ready to purchase all of what he recommended today. He said that was no issue and provided SOME, but not all [didn't have it or out of stock] samples to me in order to see how they worked for my skin. I thought was more than above and beyond. He went to the skincare stars and back! I will be trying out all products [which I really only hear great things about, including celebs who could buy any product they wanted] and reporting back to the employees at this store because I know they'll give me great feedback. Even if the products don't work for my skin, I'm more than satisfied with the service they provided at this location. Thank you Chris!

I love L'occitane's lotions so I was super excited to find a shop in the cities! They have a cute…read moreshop tucked into the Edina Galleria. Definitely stop in and try all of their different flavored lotions and beauty products. They even have items for baby and men! I made a special stop to get their advent calendars for the holiday season. They are expensive but worth it! So many amazing samples to use as you count down December. They have cool ornaments which include their products that make really sweet gifts too! I've always been a Francophile and hope to visit Provence, France the area that this company was founded from. Until then I'll stop by the Galleria and sample some of the Cherry Blossom lotion and buy another tube with the fancy key to roll it up for my purse. Plus some travel sized items for when I travel. Love this brand and will save up my spending money to splurge on their products when I can. petit à petit, l'oiseau fait son nid

Terrible customer service. There was no greeting as I entered the store. No one came to help or…read moreacknowledge me. Both employees just standing there talking to each other as I was testing out perfumes and was the only one in the store. The only reason they got my sale was because I was getting my mother her favorite scent otherwise I would have skipped giving them my money

I've been in my share of weddings and wish that I would have had an artist like Malee to do our…read moremakeup! She has incredible talent and was very personable & professional (even though she had done a wedding before ours and had been up and working since 4am!). She offered regular makeup as well as airbrush, which I prefer because the flawless finish is worth the small extra increase in price. She offered lashes as well which I LOVED. The photos just do not do it justice but I absolutely loved my makeup. She spent many years working at MAC and was able to match a few shades that I mentioned that were favorites.

Earth Beauty has amazing customer service! They were incredibly helpful and understanding with a…read moremiscommunication on my end the day before, which I really appreciated. I'm new to the Twin Cities, and they made me feel so welcomed and comfortable from the moment I walked in. Such a great experience overall , kind people, great atmosphere, and excellent service. Highly recommend!

Legendary local beauty shop with a couple locations. This store is my favorite of the two due to…read moreits size - and although the area it's located in can be sketchy, I love this store. Black owned since 1983, the products cater to people of color. The selection varies - but the prices are fair and the vibes are wonderful and uplifting. Staff is helpful and kind. It's my go - to place for hair product

The Sanrio collab for sure got my attention. When I walked in I was greeted by an employee and…read moreasked if I needed help with anything. I was kind of just browsing though. The bombs [for the Sanrio collab] were ~$7.50/ea. which isn't horrible. Plus they had my fav characters; HK, Kuromi & My Melody (Cinnamon Roll is cute too). They had a lot of other options as well which is nice if HK isn't your thing. I didn't care for the smell of the Sanrio shower gel but the bath bombs smelled good got the most part. I do appreciate how the staff will help you understand the products if needed. I will say I also appreciate that they gave me space to browse as well.

Lush is my favorite spot for body products! Everything smells amazing, the employees are so helpful…read moreand friendly. I love that they offer so many samples and let you try things to see what works best for you. The store is always neat and organized.

OMG LOVE!! They have an amazing resource where you basically FaceTime a hair expert and she helped…read moreme with all my questions and I was able to go from neon pink to a beautiful chocolate brown in one day!!!

I've done my own hair as long as I can remember and so I've been shopping at Sally's for YEARS and…read moreI just had by far the best experience I've ever had and it was at this location. Kirin stopped me while I was checking out to really clarify what I was shopping for and used her expertise to point me towards products that would give me an even better result and even showed a reference photo of her using the product! It was as thorough a consultation as you would get at a salon. I'm so impressed! That really made my day.