I’ve never been much of a makeup person. I struggle to put on eyeliner and I don’t really understand the point of primer. To me, makeup seems either way too obvious (as in, people don’t even know what your real face looks like) or too subtle (so it’s hard to tell the person did anything to their face before leaving the house) and therefore just a waste of time and money. During the off times when I’m not running late, or if I have a special occasion, I’ll put on a little, but the vast majority of the time I don’t wear any makeup.
But recently I heard that Glossier was coming to Boston for a few months. I looked at their Instagram a little and was immediately fascinated by their aesthetic— the cloud paint looked almost like oil paint, and the lip gloss was just so glossy— so I decided to visit before the pop-up left.
Source: Glamour Magazine
Honestly, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. It looked pretty cool from social media, but I couldn’t help wondering if the fact that it was so “in” at the moment made it a little overrated or at least overpriced. By the time I made it, it was the last day the Boston store was open, so I had seen plenty of Instagram posts. I figured I knew the layout but was surprised to see that the store was made of multiple one-room buildings, all the same shade of millennial pink. Actually buying products was done nontraditionally: after marking what we wanted on a form, not unlike one that would be at a food court, we paid the staff members (including our senior editor Dana, who I saw there), and the products were brought to us through another windowed building outside, so the other rooms with products in them were only for trying them out.
Despite a few obstacles (including forgetting Boy Brow wasn’t a mascara and putting it on as one), I ended up thinking Glossier was amazing. The nontraditional payment system was a genius idea since everything was a sample that could be tested out instead of being mixed in with the products for sale. The confusion from this was a thing I disliked about makeup stores in the past. Also, the layout— including all of the photo ops— made going to a makeup store a lot more fun. And don’t even get me started on the products. They had just the right balance between too much coverage and too little (perfect for a natural dewy look), they came in cute packaging, and they even smelled amazing. The best part was that my purchase came with a free Glossier sticker and milky jelly cleanser sample. It was so effective and smelled like roses, so I could see how it’d get people to come back and buy the full cleanser (hopefully I won’t cave next time I’m in NYC!).
Source: Poshmark
My only complaint is the prices (I could easily have spent a hundred dollars or more there). I do feel like some of the sizes are slightly small for what they charge, but the quality is so great it’s hard to complain. To be fair, I’m not used to buying makeup and I was slightly annoyed at myself that I was giving in.
Although I don’t see myself becoming a makeup person in the future, I can imagine not being able to resist buying from Glossier again. In my opinion, its popularity is well deserved.
It’s important to try new things that aren’t always our thing because sometimes it’s worth deciding for yourself if they’re worth the hype!
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