Estee Lauder Color Edit Holiday 2015 Blockbuster

Estee Lauder Color Edit: Holiday 2015 Blockbuster

While watching TV, my mom notices an Estee Lauder commercial and asks me about the deal. I missed the commercial but I knew it would show again so when the commercials started rolling, I paid close attention. The first thing I notice is Kendall Jenner strutting around. My mother has no idea who she is and what she want interested in was the Color Edit Holiday Blockbuster set that was being advertised for $59.50. She asked me if it really did cost $60 because there were a plethora of items in that commercial. We decided to test out the set the next day at the counters of Macy's.

When we were at Macy's, we saw that the posters say that the set is with the purchase of any perfume. I was disappointed because I don't use much perfume but when I asked the sales associate she told us that it is with any purchase. Long story short, my mother ending up buying this set for $59.50 after picking up the hydrating toner that she normally uses.

If you do the calculations, it was a really good deal. Just one of the lipsticks itself cost $30. So this entire set was like the cost of 2 lipsticks. I was also pretty amazed at the gold firework design on the palettes.

There are 12 items in this set and if you divide it by the number of items, it's like $5 per item which is cheaper than drugstore prices.

I follow lots of beauty blogs and always look out for sales and deals. I hear about UD, Clinique, Mac, Guerlain and many other brands from bloggers but rarely does anyone mention Estee Lauder. I wonder if it's because Estee Lauder has less PR or if the brand is less geared toward the younger generation so beauty bloggers care less about it.

Anyway let's check out what's inside the  Estee Lauder 2015 Color Edit Holiday Blockbuster set:

The whole set is all packaged  and wrapped up in a red textured cardboard slip covering. Inside is a bright red patent travel case. I don't know who would travel with such a bulky case filled with makeup but I love cases like this to store my makeup. I have a black lancome one and every single time I take it out, my makeup feels so luxurious.

The other travel cosmetic bag is wrapped up in tissue paper which you can see on the right image.

The first thing that you notice when you unzip the travel case are the gold palettes. I don't have studio lights in my house, but the gold packaging on these palettes are absolutely dazzling. I couldn't keep my eyes off of them. 

Aside from the travel case and the cosmetic case, you have:

• The Deluxe Pure Color Eye and Cheek Palette

The Deluxe Pure Color Eye and Cheek Palette contains 12 eyeshadows and two blushes. There was a nice mixture of shimmers and matte colors but I didn't like the mostly cool colors in this palette. I did like the color of the two blushes, they weren't too bright or too light.

• A Limited Edition All Over Shimmer 

Upon lifting up the the gold lid, you find the shimmer palette embossed with the same stunning firework design.

My mom hasn't tried the palettes yet but when she does, I will upload the swatches to these palettes. Personally I think that when you finish using up shimmer powder , it will still look nice as a compact mirror.

• 3 Pure Color Longlasting lipsticks

I really liked the brand name embossed in the cap of the lipstick. It makes it look sleek and modern.

• 2 Pure Color Lipgloss

These lip glosses look way too glittery for me. I don't think my mom would like them either.

The one negative about these sets is that they are a good deal but may include items in colors that you don't need or doesn't work for you. These lip glosses are one of the items that just don't work.

• A Sumptuous Extreme Lash Multiplying Volume Mascara
• A Gentle Eye Makeup Remover
• A Deluxe sample of An Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Recovery Complex II
• A Deluxe Sample of Resilience Lift Firming Sculpting Cream
• A Deluxe sample of Modern Muse Eau De Parfum

This deluxe sample of Modern Muse Eau De Parfum is just too cute. 

Here's the list of all the items included in this set:

Overall, aside from the lip glosses, every item in this set was useable and a good value. As a matter of fact my mother actually wanted to purchase another set as a gift for her friend, but since the transaction was already made, she didn't want to go back. Does anyone know if you can buy two of these blockbuster set with the purchase of one item? Or is there a limit to one of these set per transaction?

This set was a really good deal and I will definitely look out for these blockbuster sets in the future.

However, despite such a great deal we got, I am once again frustrated at the customer service we received at the beauty counters. It didn't happen to me much just once but twice. I will elaborate about my unhappy experience at the Shiseido counter a different time. 

After asking an SA about the cost of the set, she kindly told us that it is with any purchase. I said thank you and then walked over to my mother to discuss which item to buy. My mother's toner that she normally use is only half used, so she wanted to look at the cleansers. The SA that helps us out earlier was busy restocking and cleaning the counters and walked away to do her thing. Another SA walked in and we asked if her if we could walk into the beauty counter area, where all the skincare items were stocked and she yes "feel free". She did not bother helping us out with anything. We then looked at the items and then flipped upside down the items to check the prices for a few of the bottles. Now I know that if we had flipped over every items in the store or messed up the counters we deserved the poor service. However me and my mom were being very cautious because we were at the department store and didn't want to look like country pumpkins. After flipping over a couple of the bottle my mom decided on two cleansers and asked the second SA what the difference between the two cleansers were. 

She replied in an annoyed voice asking what we were looking for and what skin type my mom has. After my mom told her the skin type, the SA gave a curt reply and recommended one of the cleansers to my mother. Then the SA asked if my mother was buying the two cleansers that she had in her hand. My mother gave her back the one she didn't want and kept the one she wanted in her hand. While my mother was holding the bottle of cleanser in her hand, the SA kept mentioning that that the testers are outside and her body language was basically telling us to leave. My mother gave her back the cleanser that she had wanted to purchase and just told her she wanted the toner in the pink bottle and the gift edit set. Only after the transaction was completed, did the attitude on the SA change and gave us a smile.

I don't understand the attitudes of these SA at the department store beauty counters. The SA at Sephora are always pleasant to help us out with any questions and give samples even when I don't make a purchase. When I am just swatching, they normally leave me alone and let me try out stuff.

I rarely visit beauty counters and when I do, I usually don't get a good experience. It wasn't busy at that time we were at Macy's but I could feel that the SA just wanted us out. She wasn't helpful and we felt that she was irritated and it got us irritated and we wanted to leave. If my mother didn't have her eye on that set, we would have left.

The whole entire experience at the counter took less than 15 minutes from start till the end of transaction and it totally felt uncomfortable. It felt like we had done something wrong. The SA kept telling us the testers were outside which was her attempt to shoo us out. I don't know if she was afraid we would steal her cleanser or what. I felt very embarrassed for us to be treated like that.

We did not open any of the packages nor did we touch any of the samples while we were at the counters. I have to say the only thing we did was flip over a couple of the skincare packages to see the prices but we did it gingerly knowing that the SA's are watching and tried our best not to be any disturbance. While we leaving Macy's and talked about our bad customer experience, we noticed that the customers at other beauty counters had a full face of makeup on. Me nor my mother had any makeup on that day we visited the counters. I only had lipgloss on my lips to brighten up my face.

And this is the reason why

•  I prefer and will continue to visit Sephora and Ulta over these department store cosmetic counters. 
•  I've consistently visited Sephora on my trips at the mall while I've rarely visited the cosmetics counters.
•  I've made so many purchases at Sephora and Ulta while I've only made 2 department store cosmetic purchases in my entire life.

Anyone else had a bad customer service at the beauty counters?

or is it just me?

Thanks for reading,