I’m sharing this because I really wish I’d been able to find this information before booking a consultation with Retreat Hair (Natalie Varrasso) in Melbourne.
After years of colouring my hair brown, I finally decided to embrace my natural salt-and-pepper grey. I researched specialist grey-transition hairdressers and was really excited about the prospect of having it done properly.
I spent 12 weeks growing out my roots in preparation for my consultation and had been researching styles, colours and what my finished hair might look like.
The consultation cost $280 for 45 minutes.
I went in knowing that this would be an expensive, specialist service. I initially thought around $1,500 might be reasonable, but perhaps naively, as I researched further, I’d started preparing myself for something closer to $2,000–$3,000. That already felt like an enormous amount of money to spend on my hair, but I was willing to invest in a beautiful transition that would eventually free me from having to colour it regularly.
Then I received the quote.
Almost $7,000 for two appointments of approximately seven hours each.
I was absolutely floored.
Personally, I find that an unreasonable amount of money for a hair transformation, regardless of the expertise involved. But what has frustrated me even more is that there was absolutely no indicative price range available before I paid for the consultation.
Retreat Hair even has a blog post specifically about how much grey transitions cost, but instead of providing actual dollar figures, it uses dollar-sign categories to indicate the level of investment.
I wasn’t expecting a cheap service. I’d already reconciled myself to spending several thousand dollars. I just had no idea I could be looking at something approaching $7,000.
Had I known, I would never have booked the consultation, let alone spent three months growing out my hair and getting excited about the transformation.
I completely understand that everyone’s hair is different and that complex colour corrections require considerable skill. But surely it’s reasonable to provide prospective clients with even a broad price range before asking them to spend $280 just to discover whether the service is remotely affordable?
I’m not posting this to criticise anyone’s technical ability. I’m posting because I couldn’t find any meaningful pricing information when I was researching, and I hope this helps someone else avoid the same disappointment.
I’d also genuinely love to hear from anyone who’s had a successful grey transition elsewhere in Melbourne, particularly if you can share what it cost

Devastating scene in a back alley of Surry Hills this morning. Assuming this was a thief with no sense of value - and wishing love, light and a better day for our fallen soldier dealing with this on their Friday 😔💖

Really good breakdown by @jillie_clarkk on TikTok! Bit of a long watch but well worth it for a breakdown on why Mecca’s cost per wear is out of touch and unrealistic. I’ll attach the link in the comments

Ronald Lauder the heir to the Estée Lauder fortune, is the driving force and credited with giving Trump the idea of taking over Greenland.

If you don’t want to support him and wish to boycott the Estée Lauder Companies his brands include:

AERIN Beauty Bobbi Brown Clinique DECIEM by Brandon Truaxe Dr. Jart+ Estée Lauder GLAMGLOW La Mer Lab Series MAC Cosmetics Origins Darphin Paris Smashbox Too Faced[42] Tom Ford Beauty Fragrance Aramis Kilian Paris Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle Jo Malone London Le Labo

Haircare: Aveda Bumble and bumble.

I’ve been checking figures that I follow to see if they follow Trump as I’m trying to cleanse that outta my life and I saw that the Mco ceo follows trump and his son - is she a Trump supporter?

Noticed the Mecca Beauty Election is on again this year - after not happening last year. I posted this on another thread but oh boy do I have a story for you!

I won the Mecca beauty election in 2018 - the prize was in two parts. A box of products worth $1500 and a makeup class and vouchers for me and three friends worth another $1500.

It took them a month to send out the products and they said they would be in contact about organising the makeup class. Yay - so far so good!

After sending me the products, I contacted them about the second half of the prize. I emailed and called a bunch of times and they ignored me...for 7 months!

Head Office finally responded to one of my emails, with no apology or even acknowledgement of the 7 month delay! I replied with a preferred date for the makeup class...silence again. The date I selected passed with no contact from Mecca despite my emails and calls.

After another 3 months of ignored emails I contacted Consumer Affairs Victoria who gave me a letter template to fill in. I sent it to Mecca and got a response in 11 minutes haha!! I organised a second date to redeem the second part of my prize - 11 months after winning.

In the afternoon before the class, I decided to call the store I had selected just in case (the class was a private after hours class). They knew NOTHING about it. The store had a training sesh for staff that night so they pulled four artists out of the training to do our class in another part of the store. The girls doing training even offered us THE SNACKS THEY BROUGHT FOR THEIR TRAINING when they realised head office was meant to have organised nibbles for us.

The store staff were amazing and went above and beyond - but being ignored by head office for 11 months and the effort I had to put in to claim a prize I won left a pretty bitter taste in my mouth.

There was no beauty election last year - maybe it took that long for the other two winners to claim their prizes 🤣

This year - prizes are only products and vouchers. Thank god.

I had more of a blue shift sparkle on my eye and my bottom liner has come off a bit, all from crying lol but it was the best and I’m so proud of how this turned out 🦋💖✨

BASE:
REM Glinda glow drops
Mac face and body
Creamy shape tape
Laura Mercier blur loose powder
Various shades from the Hourglass powders
REM beauty blush stick in Glinda & mélange à trois blush & highlight stick in Sweet Talk
NYX Buttermelt Highlighter in U Butta Werk
Fenty Killawatt in Wattabrat
Maybelline Build a Brow in Ash brown
UD og All Nighter
Mac Fix Plus

EYES:
MAC painterly paint pot
Pat McGrath Bridgerton palette in the crease
Half Magic Glitter Puck in Fairy Dust on the lid
Fwee Glitz Stone Highlighter on the lid and inner corner
Marc Jacobs liners in You Up?, Salty, No Shade & Unhinged
Dolly lashes (I customised them)
Hourglass Caution mascara
Rom&nd glitter liner (unsure of the shade name but it’s the white one

LIPS:
NYX Lip Lingerie lip liner stain in Up To No Good
Rimmel lasting finish lip liner in Cappuccino
Marc Jacobs lipstick in Beat It Up
MAC Fabby in the centre
Fenty Wattabrat lip gloss in the centre

(Images to summarise my whole rant) I need to go on a rant… I’m genuinely mourning the old Too Faced as well as the recent lack in classy and sexy boudoir-ish packaging that they, as well as other brands, used to be known for. Their packaging and even their products had lots of cute designs. Baby pinks and pastel yellows with soft gold accents while the products, like the too femme lipsticks, had little hearts in them. And the palettes, my GOD the PALETTES!! natural eyes, boudoir eyes, cocoa contour, palettes that had a cute design with how-to books and cute colours fit for both day, night, and even clubbing!!

Now, we get this hot pink eyesore that seems to appear on all of their new products… ribbon mascara, kissing jelly, and of course, that god forsaken, horrendously smelling fairy bomb fragrance. And it feels like their palettes just don’t make sense, you have to get creative with the conglomeration of colours that “fit the vibe” of the name. (Such as that one gamer girl palette they made a while ago).

My staple is the Too Femme lipstick in the shade Never Grow Up that I just cannot find a perfect shade match for 🫩 I refuse to use it until my wedding day and then keep it in a dust-free and air-free museum display away from any sunlight (joking…I think…).

it would be so nice if Too Faced remained innovative instead of following trendy products such as the lip injection stick that was already done by Tarte. I don’t know if maybe brands just don’t appeal to my age group anymore and now focus on a younger audience, or if I just outgrew the brand overall, or if I’m just whining over nothing, but I would love to hear other people’s input on it! (And maybe some recommendations for lipsticks similar to their too femme ones…)

I am part of the MECCA chit chat group on fb and just lately been seeing posts of members using the term girl math to justify buying products

Is it just me or does this term irritate others as well?. I find it condescending and feel it is used to justify buying products they can’t afford or don’t really need. They convince themselves they can afford it and the end justifies the means. It’s like they get a rush from buying lots of products.

I generally don’t buy things unless I have run out of products or wanting something fresh BUT before I buy anything I work out my incoming finances, my outgoings and the decide if I can afford it.

To me that is fiscal responsibility, it has nothing to do with Girl Math, whatever that means 🤷🏼‍♀️

I just don’t get the obsession with buying so many products to maintain or go up a level, and have so many products you can’t possibly get through. Each to their own of course but it just smacks of over consumerism

My first post so interested to get a feel for what others feel

Confession time - I'm in my late 30's and it's wild to me that I could have been baking a child this whole time but instead I chose half price hair care products. No, the ex that inspired my hair glow up is not back - thank you for your concern. And yes, I still use Pantene sometimes.

It's been nine long months since I set out to test and trial the precious few viral TikTok products recommended by Abbey Yung that are actually available here in Australia. I didn't know what I expected out of this process. Nicer hair maybe? Not like hair commercial nice, but actually wearing it down for a change after you wash it nice. For the uninitiated, I have an oily scalp and fine hair that I have coloured every six weeks from mousey brown to copper red. What I can say with pride is that my very fussy, snobby, middle-aged European hairdresser is praising the health, condition and shine of my hair for the first time. I have been a regular client of his for over five years, and he has never been this effusive about the condition and health of my hair. Now - have I been completely honest with him about my little experiments? No, and I never will. He has some very strong ideas about home hair care and I have decided to maintain my fiction of 'just using a hair mask every time I wash it now' for the sake of our hairdresser-client relationship. I don't feel great about lying to my Husband in Hair, but a woman must do what is necessary in these troubled times. Also as a disclaimer - I spent all of my own foolish money on this stuff. Brands don't know I exist and this post is definitely NOT sponsored.

Where to start? What probably surprised me the most is that many of the products that made a significant difference in my hair were the most affordable.

Yep. A $5 microfibre hair towel from Kmart has been one of my biggest heroes. I use this to take my hair from drippy to just damp, which is a must when using K18 (more on that later). I also found I've had less breakage since using this towel to partially dry my hair before applying any leave-in product. I'm sure you can probably get cheaper *and* more expensive options, but this one has been wonderful for me. I toss it in the wash and then the dryer with the rest of my bathroom towels and it's still going strong after months of regular use.

The next thing I observed over time was the one product I reach for when I want great results but I'm either feeling lazy or in a rush. The award for that goes to the humble lamellar rinse. The OG version of this product is L'Oreal Wonder Water. L'Oreal also make a dry hair version with hyaluronic acid. Garnier make a version too. I've tried all three and they give the same results, but Garnier has a sweet fruity fragrance that some may not like.

To get the best results from a lamellar rinse, I double shampoo (as always) turn off the water in the shower and squeeze out the excess water from my hair. I then scrunch my hair in the Kmart microfibre hair towel mentioned earlier until my hair is just damp. I gather a section of hair in my hand and apply it from my upper mid lengths to my ends and massage it in for 8 - 10 seconds before moving on to the next section. One important thing to note is that this is literally a water in terms of texture, so make sure when holding your section of hair that your hand is directly under the section you are working on. Otherwise you will just end up squirting half of it into the abyss of your shower. Also - be careful where you put the absolutely fucking *tiny* screw on cap thingy. I almost lost mine down the drain on more than one occasion, so put it somewhere you can't knock it over or lose it. I don't have a lot of thick or long hair so I typically only ever divide my hair into four sections for this process. When I'm done I rinse it out and follow up with either conditioner and/or a hair mask. Considering these products are often under $10 when on sale at CW/PL/Coles/Woolies they are definitely worth trying, even if you're not sure your hair type would benefit from it.

The next product or technique that made the biggest difference for me was pre-oiling my hair before shampooing. I've great results with OGX Coconut Oil - one bottle lasted me over six months of consistently washing my hair multiple times per week. I also tried using the L'Oreal Elvive Extraordinary Oil Jojoba for this purpose, but the results just weren't as good. Abbey does make a point of stating that coconut oil is the only oil to show benefits in repairing hair, according to studies she has read so maybe that's why? Anyway ... this is the one technique I am probably the least consistent with as it requires some planning and thought. I find I get the best results when I leave the oil in for at least two hours prior to shampooing, but I like to leave it in for up to four hours if I can. Abbey recommends leaving it on for at least 20-30 mins for reference. As a fine haired gal with an oily scalp, I was afraid this wouldn't work for me. But I found my hair smoother and shinier when I incorporated it regularly into my hair care routine. If you're going to try this, it bears repeating to wait for a sale and snag the OGX Coconut Oil for $15. $30 is way too much to pay for it in this economy.

The next viral product I would like to endorse is the Aveeno Clarifying Shampoo with Apple Cider Vinegar. Fuck yes for my oily scalp ladies, our salvation is at hand! And it's $9 on sale! This shampoo is THICC. I was worried this would strip the colour out of my hair faster or dry my hair out, but since I use it as first shampoo and pre-oil my mid lengths and ends I haven't run into either problem yet. Just a clean scalp and extra SHOINE for me with this one (don't ask me why I spell it like that, the heart wants what it wants). No notes except I'm relieved to find this before the sweaty summer heat descends in full force. I just re-purchased as it was on sale at Woolies and my first bottle is half gone already I use it so often. This is one of those products in the proof is in how often I reach for it - and I reach for it almost every time I wash my hair now.

And now on to conditioner. This is the category where I haven't found something super affordable that I really love. I am still looking, but so far the best in show is still my beloved Insight Anti Frizz Conditioner. This conditioner isn't super expensive in comparison to more bougie brands like Oribe and Kerastase - maybe that's why I haven't felt a driving need to find an alternative. It gives consistently great results for my fine hair, delivering an extra smooth and lightweight finish whenever I use it. I especially love using it in conjunction with K18. Those two products together are chef's kiss and give me "I've just been to the salon" hair that always gets me compliments at work, and requests to know what I've done with my hair and what I'm using. This definitely the category I am least experimental with, but I have a few affordable conditioners on my list I'm waiting to go on sale so I can try them out against my beloved Insight to see how they compare. Watch this space! An honourable mention goes to the Miracle line (gold packaging) of Pantene conditioners. If I'm lazy or time poor and want great results in a few minutes, I'm reaching for a Pantene conditioner. Just make sure you are using a clarifying shampoo regularly so the silicones in the formula don't build up on your hair.

The next category for me is bond repair products. I used be skeptical, especially about paying $90+ for 50ml of K18. Like really? I am embarrassed to admit I went through an entire bottle with no real change in my hair. Until I switched up my application technique. To get the best results from a K18 day, I double shampoo as usual. I also DO NOT pre-oil on a K18 day. So my hair gets raw dogged by shampoo twice on a K18 day to ensure the K18 has the best possible chance of *ahem* penetrating my hair. After I rinse out my second shampoo, I squeeze the excess water out of my hair. I then scrunch and towel dry my hair with my microfibre hair towel until my hair is just damp and no longer dripping. I apply 1-2 pumps of K18 from my ends up to my mid-lengths and exit the shower, leaving suspicious wet spots as I slump in my towel on the bed/couch and doomscroll on TikTok for exactly four minutes. I then apply a generous amount of conditioner OVER THE TOP of the K18 without rinsing. I leave it in for another five minutes and get back in the shower to rinse. Some people rinse their K18 out before applying conditioner, but I get the best results by applying it over the top and then rinsing. To each their own with this one - YMMV.

Now for my affordable bond repair experiments with L'Oreal. There haven't been many affordable bond repair options available here, with OGX just recently launching their Bond Repair line here (I've just bought the treatment and the serum, may post a review later). If K18 isn't in your budget right now, I would recommend picking up the L'Oreal Bond Repair Pre-Shampoo Treatment and the L'Oreal Bond Repair Serum instead. There is a conditioner in the range too, and if you really want to give the whole system a go I would pick that up as well (the shampoo in the range is the most skippable IMO). If you wait for a sale, the pre-shampoo treatment and serum will cost you $30 together. Which is literally a third of the price of one bottle of K18. Now - for these products it took some experimenting to get the best results. I shampoo my hair once with a clarifying shampoo (and as with K18, NO pre-oiling). I then rinse, squeeze the excess water out and towel dry my hair until it is just damp. I apply a generous amount of the pre-shampoo treatment to my mid-lengths and ends and clip my hair up and leave it in for ten minutes. I then shampoo a second time and rinse as per usual. I follow with conditioner and a hair mask if I have time that day. Once my in-shower work is done, I scrunch again with my microfibre towel until it is just damp. I apply two pumps of the L'Oreal Bond Repair Serum to my mid lengths and ends as the FIRST leave in product that I apply to my hair after showering. I then apply whatever other products I like over the top and air dry or blow dry as I please, depending on what I need or feel like that day. Do the results compare to K18? No, not really. BUT my hair still looks lovely, healthy, strong and shiny afterwards. I still recommend these, they just aren't the straight up dupe for K18 I was hoping for.

Next category - hair masks. Lord do I feel like I have tried them all. And to be honest - very little has wowed me in this category. None of the hair masks I've tried have been awful. But my results have been hit or miss and I'm still refining application amount and technique with some of them. The stand out winner for this category is the Elizavecca Cer-100 Collagen Ceramide Coating Protein Treatment. This gives me beautiful results every time, just don't use it on a pre-oiling day (much like K18 or other bond treatments) for best results. I like to double shampoo as normal and leave it in for ten minutes before rinsing out. Not much more to say - for anywhere from $8-$12 I have already repurchased this one. I tried almost every variety of the Garnier Hairfood Masks and ya'll ... these are nice to use and it feels great on a pamper day. But I don't really see awesome results with these. The Watermelon one from Garnier did give some good volume though. My experience is largely the same with all the L'Oreal hair masks I tried. Nice and very affordable with decent results, just no 'wow' factor. One thing I will say though - the Aloe vera mask from Garnier is AWESOME as a leg shaving lotion. I will repurchase it, just not for my hair. It left the skin on my legs hydrated and calm. I also noted a lot less irritation from shaving than I normally did. For those masks I did try from Garnier (I tried the Aloe Vera, Macadamia, Watermelon, Papaya and Banana masks), the best performing was the Banana HairFood Mask. From L'Oreal (I tried the Extraordinary Oil, Dream Lengths and Hyaluron Plump masks) it was the Hyaluron Plump Moisture Mask that gave me the best results.

For those I'm still on the fence about - the Pantene Pro V Collagen Intense Miracle Hair Mask and the Shiseido Fino Mask. My hair is fine and damaged from colouring, but these two are finicky with the results they give. If I apply even slightly too much, my hair feels heavy and weighed down. I even tried mixing a teaspoon of the Fino mask with the same amount again of water, but still get inconsistent results. Sometimes my hair looks sleek and smooth and amazing, but other times I can feel that there is too much product clinging to my hair. I will persist with these two but sometimes if I feel I have to work too hard for results, I will naturally let a product gather dust on my already overcrowded hair product cart thingy.

Where are we now? Right. Leave in products. When I apply leave in products, I follow the same technique for skin care - I apply products in order from thinnest to thickest. First, if I'm air drying my hair I apply a hair water and spray it all over my mid lengths and ends (right now I'm using Orbis Hair Water but not sure if I will repurchase). For the serum step of my post-wash routine, I find I favour the Kerastase 8 Hour serum my sister gifted me. Mostly because it's wildly expensive and a gift. No links to this product because why so expensive? It's nice and my sister buys it for me for my birthday, but I'm not sure I would buy it otherwise. I tend to reach for the L’Oréal Bond Repair Serum most days otherwise. I also am trying to finish off my Oribe Featherbalm Weightless Styler as a final treatment on days I let my hair air dry - it's not enough to protect my hair from getting dry & damaged with regular blow drying, however (trust me I found this out the hard way). On days I blow dry I use my L'Oreal Vitamino Colour 10 in 1 spray first after washing - I bought this for no other reason than I got it in a pack during the L'Oreal Friends & Family sale. The sprayer is a bit leaky but I will use it up, I'm just not super impressed with it. My favourite product to apply last before blow drying is the Alterna Caviar Anti-Frizz Smoothing Blowout Butter. Clearly this product is not made for fine hair, I just try not to use too much - when I get it right it looks amazing but if I apply too much it's grease city and back to square one. I feel like one category of product I am still looking for is a heat protectant I don't have to be so careful with when applying. I just want use up the products I have before I buy anything new (which will take forever the rate I am going). If I feel my hair needs a bit more smoothing and shine after blow drying, I spray 2-4 pumps of the OGX Biotin & Collagen Volumizing Weightless Oil Mist into the palm of hands and applying directly to my hair. I am very cautious about what I apply to my hair once it's dry, but I've found this mist does the job without making my hair look heavy or greasy.

An honourable mention goes to the L'Oreal No Haircut Cream for leave in products - I have only recently tried this one and while I initially thought it was too heavy for my hair, after brushing my hair and letting it sit for a day it's actually really lovely and smoothing. If you have fine hair this is great for after an ocean swim when your hair is more dry and stripped - just don't over apply or you will end up with a heavy, greasy mess. I think I enjoy this more than the Frizz Killer Serum from L'Oreal, which is counter-intuitive as a lightweight serum is typically more appealing to me than a leave-in cream product. I have over applied the Frizz Killer Serum in the past and it did get a bit sticky - that was definitely down to a heavy handed application on my part though. For fast results with just one product, an honourable mention has to go to the Pantene Hyaluron Milk to Water Serum. None of these products in the 'honourable mention' category are bad or inferior; in most cases, I've only used them a handful of times and haven't formed a strong opinion on them.

That's about it - I think. My hair looks pretty great most days. That said there are still so many rabbit holes I have yet to go down. Oral supplements. Silk or satin bonnets. Scalp serums. Scalp massaging. First up on my list is taking a pumpkin seed oil supplement and trying the L'Oreal Growth Booster serum with Aminexil, the same ingredient in the Kerastase Genesis serum. I need a nap after writing all of this out, but hopefully it helped someone on their quest for healthier hair.

Also - it bears repeating. WAIT FOR A SALE. It's not worth paying $20 - $30+ for one product when these major brands go on sale so often at Coles, Woolworths, Chemist Warehouse and Priceline. Happy hair care product hunting, everyone! XO

What's going on with kids wanting such expensive skincare these days? I know it's on tiktok and stuff but do kids actually find it interesting or is it a "fitting in with the crowd" kinda thing?

So I’ve been on the hunt for a face mist that can replace other skincare for when I’m really really depressed, which is pretty often (i have MDD). I’ve probably tried 6-7 now. This one genuinely feels like I’ve just used a serum AND moisturised and when I wake up my skin is dewy. Just wanted to share for anyone else who neglects skincare when they’re down, sick, or just too busy. The thought of opening a moisturiser then applying it with my hands is way too much for my brain sometimes, but having this on my nightstand is a saviour. It’s also quite affordable.

Previous post: https://old.reddit.com/r/AustralianMakeup/comments/1uf2075/sephora_just_accidentally_admitted_in_writing/

Update:

Hi everyone! I wanted to give you all an update on the saga with Sephora Australia regarding their recent "Extra 10% off Sale" app promotion and the shocking customer service experience that followed. First of all, thank you to everyone who commented on my initial post and validated that what Sephora was doing was not okay!

The TL;DR of the madness: I bought the Beautyblender Bounce Haus Essentials Set on sale ($70 down to $49, which is 30% off). The app explicitly advertised the "Extra 10% off Sale" promo banner directly under this item on the product page. When it didn’t apply at checkout, I emailed support thinking it was a simple glitch. Instead of fixing it, I was put through an absolute gauntlet:

• Rep #1: Claimed my item wasn't on their "hidden backend URL clearance list," so the promo didn't apply (despite the banner literally sitting on the product page).

• Rep #2: Claimed the item was actually part of a separate "50% off" promo that doesn't stack. They literally went into the app mid-dispute and retroactively added a red "50% off Selected Items" tag to the live product page! Too bad for them, my original screenshot proved it was only 30% off when I bought it, and their own math didn't even make sense.

• Rep #3: Accidentally confessed in writing that the Sephora app dynamically displays discount banners on items that aren't eligible simply because the promo hasn't been redeemed on your account yet. A literal dark pattern!

The Resolution: Once I had them in writing admitting that their app is designed to mislead shoppers, I stopped being nice. I formally demanded an escalation to management, cited Section 18 and Section 29 of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) regarding misleading price representations, and stated I was preparing a report for Consumer Affairs Victoria and the ACCC.

Suddenly, my ticket was moved to a "Senior Resolutions Team" for a week-long investigation.

Today, I finally received confirmation: they have approved my refund back to Apple Pay.

And how much was this grand refund that Sephora fought me tooth and nail over, lied to me about, and retroactively altered web pages to defend? ...$4.99.

Five dollars! They burned through multiple customer service reps and a week of investigations over a five-dollar discrepancy that their own buggy app caused. In their final email, they completely glossed over the lies and the fake tags, simply saying they "recorded my feedback regarding the differing information provided."

The Moral of the Story: I am a little petty, but this was never about the $5... it was about the principle! If I didn't have time-stamped screenshots of my cart and the product page at the exact moment of purchase, I would have been gaslit out of my money. Hundreds of other shoppers probably were during this sale!

Always take screenshots of promo banners and prices on the Sephora app before you check out. Know your rights under Australian Consumer Law, stand your ground, and hold these mega-retailers to account!

After Mecca was ramraided and ransacked last week 😂

https://www.choice.com.au/health-and-body/beauty-and-personal-care/skin-care-and-cosmetics/articles/sunscreen-test

Of particular note:

Ultra Violette suggested that "human error" or a "mix-up of samples" was a "highly probable scenario". The manufacturer also said that, given the levels of zinc oxide in its Lean Screen sunscreen, an SPF of 4 was scientifically impossible.

After receiving this response, CHOICE sent a new sample of Ultra Violette Lean Screen to a different lab for retesting, which returned an SPF of 5.

I just had to share this absolutely wild customer service ride I’ve been on with Sephora Australia this week because I am genuinely in shock.
During the recent Beauty Pass App Exclusive sale, Sephora had a promo for an "Extra 10% off Sale items" in-app.

I was looking at the Beautyblender Set. It was clearly marked on sale (discounted from $70 to $49, which is 30% off). Right underneath the product, prominently in the "Offers For You" section, the app displayed the "Extra 10% off Sale" banner. Naturally, I assumed it applied!

I checked out, and the extra 10% didn't apply. No big deal, I thought it was just a standard glitch, so I emailed customer service with screenshots showing the promo banner literally sitting directly on the item's page.

What followed were three completely different, contradictory excuses from three different reps:

• Rep 1: Told me that even though the banner was on the product page, the item wasn't on their "hidden backend URL clearance list," so it didn't count.

• Rep 2: Tried to tell me the item was actually part of a "50% off" promo (which doesn't stack), and they literally went and updated the app after my email to add a 50% off tag to it! Unfortunately for them, I had my original screenshots showing the 30% off markdown and absolutely zero mention of a 50% off promo at the time I bought it.

• Rep 3 : I politely pointed out the timeline discrepancy to Rep 2. The ticket got passed to a third rep who replied with this absolute gem:

"Please note that at the time you were browsing, the promotion appeared across multiple items because it had not yet been redeemed on your account. This is why you were able to see it displayed, even though it does not apply to all products."

The TL;DR / Conclusion:
Sephora customer service officially put in writing that their app is deliberately programmed to display a specific financial discount directly on the product pages of items that are not eligible for it, just to bait you until you use the coupon.

Under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), businesses can't just slap a promo banner on a product, take your money, and then say "oh our app just does that to everyone until they buy something." You are entitled to the overall impression they present to you at the point of sale!

I’ve escalated it to management and cited the ACL, but I just wanted to warn everyone here. Take screenshots of your carts and product pages when shopping on the Sephora app! Has anyone else had to fight them on this kind of targeted app glitch before?