A former Sephora employee shares hidden secrets about working for the beauty giant, including how unsanitary makeup testers are.

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“I worked for Sephora for five months. So now I’m spilling all the tea on the Sephora secrets they made us hide from you,” says TikTok user Rocio (@rociorosesglam). The first scoop concerns the infamous shopping bags.

“We were forced to push shopping carts over customers when they ‘looked like they were going to steal,'” she says. “If you’ve ever shopped at Sephora and then randomly offered a shopping cart, it may have looked suspicious to us.”

Rocio is not the only former employee to make this claim. Another former Sephora worker confirmed he was made to do the same to customers who appeared to be stealing makeup. Besides, he had to approach these customers by offering to help them.

Next, Rocio warns customers about Benefit eyebrow products.

“Benefit eyebrow products have made people lose their eyebrows. The number of customer complaints about the Benefit Brow Gel in particular has been crazy,” she says.

In 2017, Benefit memory Fan favorite Gimme Brow eyebrow gel after the product failed quality standards and caused eye irritation for several users. The company has not issued any further recalls since then.

Sephora’s free sample program

The former Sephora employee then reveals a perk about the store’s recycling program.

“If you bring in your empty perfume bottle, we have a recycling program where we’ll give you a discount on your next perfume bottle,” says the content creator.

Last year, the beauty brand Partnerships with Pact in an attempt to reduce waste. Sephora too recycle other containers used for makeup such as lipstick, toothpaste, pumps, applicators and more.

The former employee then details the store’s free sample policy.

“We’ll make you a full-size sample bag and keep them behind the counter if you’ve spent more than $50 in the store,” she claims. “Ask us for one. You can get full size products in these.”

Makeup testers from Sephora

Despite the fact that makeup testers can be found throughout the store, Rocio warns against using them.

“Never use any of the makeup tests. We never sanitize or replace them,” she says.

The ex-employee adds, “I once saw a girl with infected lips after wearing her makeup with Fenty gloss bomb tests.”

Like Rocio, another Sephora shopper also advise against using makeup testers because of bacteria. According to Allure, makeup testers are a breeding ground for bacteria like E.coli. The article urges customers to avoid using them especially on the face.

Finally, Rocio reveals, “When you sign up to be a product reviewer at InsiderGifted.com, we’ll literally give you a $700 gift card to shop the entire website or store.” Insider Gifted’s website confirm this statement.

@rociorosesglam all I can share with you as a Sephora Beauty Advisor #sephora #sephorafavorites #workingatsephora #comeworkwithme #dayinthelife #seforavlog #sephorasecrets #shoppinghacks #beautyadvisor #makeupartist #insidergifted ♬ original sound – Cloned_MF

Viewers had different opinions

The former Sephora employee’s video has received 1.2 million views. But users had mixed opinions, especially when it came to free makeup samples.

“I don’t know what happened, but I spent $82 at Sephora and couldn’t get a full size sample bag,” one user noted.

“I always ask for samples and they don’t give?” he asked for a second.

Others laughed at the store’s policy on shopping bags.

“Not me in my naive world thinking the moment I walked in I was offered a basket because they were friendly,” one commented.

Does Sephora offer makeup samples?

It’s unclear if Sephora offers free, full-size samples in stores, as Rocio claims. However, they seem to be available online. With every purchase, customers receive two free samples.

Per Sephora’s websiteshoppers can claim their free samples by “visiting the Choose Your Free Samples section of the Beauty Deals page or by clicking the link to select your samples from the Cart. Once you’ve selected two samples, your samples will automatically be added to your shopping cart and you’ll see them listed with your merchandise on your order confirmation page.”

The Daily Dot reached out to Rocio via TikTok comments and direct message, as well as Sephora via press email.

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