A Day in the Life of a Store

The first customer inside Sephora’s Century City location in Los Angeles, at the open-air Westfield mall, is Joe. The middle-aged man walks in just as doors open, 10 a.m. on the dot.

“I’m looking for Blu Atlas,” he says.

Sephora doesn’t carry the brand, he’s told by Alex, a beauty adviser who leads him to Sulwhasoo after asking about his concerns and learning Joe is looking for an anti-aging moisturizer.

“It’ll really help with lines,” Alex tells him, pointing to the Concentrated Ginseng Renewing Cream. “It comes in two sizes.”

It’s $260 for a 2.02 fl. oz. jar and $52 for the mini 0.33 fl. oz.

“I’m doing work next door,” Joe says. “What time are you guys open until?”

The store closes at 9 p.m., he’s told. “I’ll be back.”

Before he jets off, Joe emphasizes that he’s simply “looking for good skin care.”

“I always ask them what they want to tackle,” Alex explains, asked about the recommendation. For a younger generation, those in their 20s and 30s, he suggests skin care brands like Tatcha and Drunk Elephant.

“He wanted something for day and night,” he continues of Joe. “He said the Kiehl’s one was too thick. This one would be easier for him. And it doesn’t have a girly smell, too.”

He was going to propose Clarins as well, but the floral scent puts off some men, he adds.

“Hi! How are you guys?” he turns to ask a couple.

They’re browsing.

“Holler if you need anything,” Alex says, flashing a grin.

The duo was standing in front of Murad Skincare, studying the goods.

Staffers all around are in their place. There are seven team members working when doors open, four of them in leader positions. A total of 36 will clock in at some point in the day.

At 10:14 a.m., they’re welcoming and assisting a handful of shoppers while continuously stocking shelves.

“This came out today,” says Cecilia, known as Ceci, the operations leader who oversees merchandising. She points to the Ilia “micro-tip” brow pencils rack. It’s empty and needs to be filled with the products. “It’s one of our most popular brands.”

Customers are roaming, and the first person to get in line has a return, an eye shadow stick that’s tossed into a “returned damages” box. But then comes the first purchase of the day; the browsing couple who are buying up a $49 Murad Skincare AHA/BHA exfoliating cleanser and $69 Youth To The People Vitamin C + Caffeine Energy Serum. They’re for the husband.

“I’ve radicalized him into skin care,” says the wife with a laugh. “We’re going home Monday.”

The two are visiting from Bristol, England, where there isn’t a Sephora. The beauty giant only just reopened in the U.K. in March, at the Westfield London mall after an about 17-year absence.

Heading out, the couple pass Egamaria who’s been getting her makeup done for an hour. The 25-year-old teaching assistant has an award ceremony at UCLA at 3:30 p.m.

“I wanted to match my heels,” she says of her rosy eye look that perfectly complements her pink sandals.

Her makeup artist, Sephora staffer Mariella, is using shadows from Natasha Denona’s Love Face Palette and Fenty Beauty’s number four Snap Shadows.

When it’s time to ring her up, Egamaria takes home the Sephora branded Weightless False Lashes — which were applied to her eyes — Giorgio Armani’s $45 Lip Power Longwear Satin Lipstick in Selfless and Huda Beauty’s $21 matte Lip Contour 2.0 in Muted Pink.

“I really wasn’t looking to buy any products,” she says. “I just wanted someone to do my makeup so that I didn’t have to. She did such an amazing job.”

The reason she made the purchases is so she can reapply the lip — a heavily lined pout with a glossy finish — before the event.

“I’m like, it’s probably going to come off,” she says.

Not far away, 20-year-old Dani was trying out Saie’s $40 Glowy Super Skin Lightweight Hydrobounce Serum Foundation. With the help of beauty advisor Sienna, he found his match.

“I’m going for the nine,” he says, after testing out two lighter shades. “I’m going to get the darker,” he decided, noting he’s heading to Europe that evening, first France then Monaco and Switzerland, and plans to return home with a tan. (His copper Speedo is packed.)

While Sephora offers a Color IQ shade matching technology, using a phone to take photographs of your skin, most shoppers were testing out foundations and concealers on their own. They predominantly tried Nars Cosmetics complexion products — showcased front and center in the store — as well as Dior, Makeup By Mario and Haus Labs.

Walking in with a purpose, they know what they want. But not everyone is shopping independently.

“Sometimes they’ll ask us for our help since it’s such a big store,” Jasmine, Sephora’s client experience leader, said of the Instacart visitors who are picking up orders for subscribers of the delivery company. “They show us what they need and then scan the barcodes for their app.”

At 11:30 a.m. comes a buzzy, lunch-hour rush. The shop is livelier now, and among the bunch — standing out in a bright orange jacket from The Frankie Shop — is Ami Colé founder Diarrha Ndiaye.

“I literally came to say hi because I happen to be in L.A.,” Ndiaye says. The New Yorker flew down from San Francisco where she was visiting Sephora’s corporate U.S. team.

“I leave tomorrow back to New York City,” she goes on. “Whenever I’m in the neighborhood, I’m like, ‘Heyyyyy.’”

She launched into 277 Sephora stores as well as online in December of 2022. Named after her mother, Ami Colé’s products are created with melanin-rich skin in mind, with ingredients sourced from Senegal.

“This is still so surreal, because I used to work at Sephora,” Ndiaye says. “For two years, upstate in Syracuse, a super quiet location. I was doing all the trainings and everything. I’ve geeked out about Sephora for forever. And my older sister worked at the 34th Street location for 10 years. So, it’s still so surreal.”

She was also popping in to check out the scene: “The floor is always changing, so it’s good to see how things are mapping out, how people are shopping. I’m on the Next Big Thing wall.”

Her products — including her hero, the $20 Lip Treatment Oil in five shades — are featured on one of four “Makeup’s Next Big Thing” displays (each category has one). Ami Colé tops the section, which also features Simihaze Beauty, Glamnetic and Melt Cosmetics.

“We live for the concealer,” beauty advisor Alex tells her, walking by.

“The concealer?” she responds.

“I have it on right now,” he says.

“Because the concealer is an underrated situation,” she adds with a smile.

The two chat away before she disappears into the aisles. “I’m gonna shop right now.”

By the registers, eyes are on Spencer, who works on the Sephora Collection. He’s setting something up. “EVENT TODAY,” reads a poster he pulls out. “JOIN US TO FIND YOUR EVERYDAY EXTRAORDINARY.”

It’s a game.

“Buy any two Sephora Collection products, you get a free gift at the register,” he says. “Any three, you get to play Plinko here!”

He was also promoting the new Sephora Collection brow gels, priced at $12. Posters he sets promise “long-lasting formulas for a feathered or sculped look.”

“I’m wearing auburn today,” he says, raising his brows.

It’s now 12:05 p.m., and the store is busier than ever. Some have one or two products in hand, others are filling baskets. Gabriella has all travel-sized goods in hers. There are seven: Supergoop!’s Unseen Sunscreen SPF 40; Fenty Beauty’s Pro Filt’r Instant Retouch Concealer; Nars Cosmetics’ Radiant Creamy Concealer and Laguna Bronzing Powder; Anastasia Beverly Hills’ Clear Brow Gel; Rare Beauty’s Perfect Strokes Universal Volumizing Mascara, and Milk Makeup’s Lip + Cheek Cream Blush Stick.

“It’s to keep in a bag for work,” says the 29-year-old, an employee at a children’s hospital. “I’m stocking up.”

An hour later, the check-out line is the longest it’s been, with about a dozen shoppers waiting. Saba, a 21-year-old political science student, is heading that way to exchange a Dior foundation for a darker shade. She’s also snagged a Supergoop! sunscreen and, with the help of Alex, some other sunscreen samples. She’s leaving for Hawaii in the morning and wants to try a new formula.

“They’re the only ones that give samples,” she says of Sephora. “I go to UCLA, and there’s an Ulta in our town. I was like, ‘Can I get a sunscreen sample?’ And they’re like, ‘Oh, we don’t do that here.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, OK.’ I’m so used to coming into Sephora.”

This particular location — at 5,840 square feet — was unveiled in 2017. It’s a reopening; Sephora first came to the Century City mall a few doors down in 2003. The unveiling was perfectly timed with the shopping center’s $1 billion expansion and upgrade project. A two-level, 1.3 million-square-foot outdoor space, designed by Westfield’s in-house studio in collaboration with Kelly Wearstler, includes an Eataly, a Gelson’s supermarket and AMC multiplex. It dates back to 1964, when it was known as the Century Square Shopping Center.

In the afternoon, the store is suddenly swarmed with pre-teens. School is out for summer.

“They usually come in showing me their phone, like ‘I wanna try this,’” says Gigi, who works for Kosas. She’s one of a few in-store workers representing brands. A young girl had just asked her for a Sol de Janeiro tanning product, showing her an image on Pinterest.

“It’s following TikTok trends,” she continues, of their interests. “They love lip oils. That’s the ‘in’ thing right now.” They also pick up glosses and mascaras — turning predominately to brands like Kosas, Glossier and Rare Beauty, she reports — as well as complexion products. Nars and Dior are apparent favorites among tweens today.

“These kids know concealers, foundations,” continues Gigi.

They ask for skin care, browsing the colorful rows of Glow Recipe and Drunk Elephant. Tantrums are common, with children as young as 9 years old begging their parents for products made for adults.

“Today was the first day of almost every school officially being on vacation,” says beauty advisor McCall, who’s become familiar with many of the younger kids coming into the store. They’re regulars. “What we noticed during these times is that those are the clients that we need to start preparing for. And gearing up for how we will be selling towards them, it does seem like a lot of these children have perceptions that we cannot change about who they are that has impacted their self-esteem greatly. What we would love to see change is that these brands broadcast, they are welcome to feel beautiful but that these products are meant for an age demographic that does not fit them…All we want to see is women feel confident in themselves.”

Pausing, she adds, “I get to be Forrest Gump every single day. I don’t know who I’m going to meet, whether it’s a Nobel Prize winner, a pop star, a porn star, a politician. I never know.”

As it gets later, an older crowd strolls in. Inside, many meander, seemingly with time to spare. The high schoolers are shopping for Rare Beauty, but also Too Faced, Benefit, Hourglass Cosmetics and Charlotte Tilbury. The adults are in fragrance, some are in hair for Olaplex.

Cosmetics and skin care have seen the most action today.

It’s 7:50 p.m. when the store starts to clear, and an hour later, the music begins to fade. While the doors officially shut at 9 p.m., there are still shoppers inside. Two minutes later, handymen arrive to set up an installation.

“We’re going to do a Dior takeover,” one explains.

Moments later, the last customer of the day is finally ready to call it a night. It’s a young woman named Margarita, on holiday from the Philippines.

She’s leaving with Laura Mercier’s Translucent Loose Setting Powder, Rare Beauty’s Soft Pinch Liquid Blush in Encourage, Glossier’s Boy Brow in brown, InnBeauty Project’s Retinol Remix 1% Treatment and two of Mario Badescu’s Drying Lotion.

Why two?

“It’s cheaper here in the U.S.,” she says. “I can get it in the Philippines but it will be much more expensive.”

Her total is $180.70.

“You want to pick out your birthday gift cause it’s coming up?” she’s asked at the register.

“Really?”

“Yep!”

She goes for Glow Recipe’s mini Watermelon BHA + PHA Pore-Tight Toner and Niacinamide Dew Drops. The other options were hair care by Ouai and makeup by Ilia.

“Is this my closing team?” assistant store manager Vidi asks a lineup of six employees, when all shoppers are out. A security guard is stationed at the door.

Tasks are divided, and they get to work immediately counting the cash, cleaning up, organizing products, emptying the trash.

“Once I put the alarm, and we leave around 10, 10:15 p.m., the lights do dim,” she says.

SIDEBAR: Meet the Manager

Los Angeles-native Sandra Gonzalez, 41, is an 18-year veteran of Sephora who is currently the store manager of the Century City location. During her time, she’s risen from beauty advisor to assistant store manager to her current role today.

How would you describe your responsibilities? I’m responsible to engage and inspire my team, as well as oversee hiring and development. I deliver an elevated client experience by leading a team of inspired and committed individuals.  

What does a day in your life look like? 
You can find me starting my day by connecting with my team and asking them how their day is going. I review how we did the day before to help me prioritize what I am going to focus on for the day.  I spend time training, developing my team, meeting with my leadership team to strategize and plan to achieve our goals.  And mainly [I’m] on the floor working with the team.      

What are your must-have beauty products? 

What’s your best beauty hack? 
I am obsessed with using Tatcha Essence before makeup. It makes my skin so smooth and plump!

What’s a product you’d love to invent?  
I am not giving you my idea!

What do you enjoy most about working at Sephora? 
Being part of a company that takes action on their values and strives on creating a culture of belonging.

What is a highlight of your day?  
Seeing others achieve their goals.

How have you seen Sephora evolve through the years? 
Sephora continues to elevate our technology to help us enhance the client experience. 

What has been the biggest learning experience working at Sephora? 
To be optimistic and ready for any challenges.

What is something customers would be surprised or excited to know about what it’s like working at Sephora? 
Sephora is very focused on people’s development and how you can grow and have a career with Sephora!