It's true a lot of Texas ladies possess enough natural beauty that make up isn't required. But for the rest of us there are stores like Sephora. The cosmetic, fragrance, trendsetting store that many Texans who want to look and feel better turn to all the time. In the greater Houston, Texas area there are a dozen Sephora stores that you could choose.

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Across the state of Texas Sephora has 145 different locations there are multiple locations in cities such as Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, El Paso, and the other larger metropolitan areas.  The main reason Sephora shoppers say they love the store is the selection. They are also very smitten with the store's approach to customer service.

What is "Swatching" at Sephora?

Swatching is the Sephora method for allowing customers to try before you buy. A customer can come into a store and have a swatch of lipstick, perfume, fragrance, or color added to a small swatch of material. They can then use the swatch to apply the product and see if fits their needs.

Kelsey K via Unsplash.com
Kelsey K via Unsplash.com
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I highly suggest you do this with perfume especially if you are a man purchasing a fragrance for a woman. The reason has to do with body chemistry. The chemical make up of some people will not match well with some fragrances. I found out the hard way when I bought my wife some perfume that smelled amazing in the store. But once applied on her body it lost a lot of its luster. Let's just say we called it "Chanel Number Two" if you know what I mean.

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avemario/ThinkStock
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Can You Really Be Banned From Returning Merchandise to Sephora?

The generous return policy that Sephora offers its customers is the other reason that Sephora fans I spoke with loved the store. Basically the policy is this "customers can return new or gently used products to the store within 30-days of purchase for any reason". Now, that's not the policy verbatim but that's layman's version of it.

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As you might imagine honest customers appreciate the opportunity to make an exchange or get their money back. However, it's the dishonest customers that are about to ruin it for the rest of us.

Sephora Tracks Your Returns

Every time you make a return at a Sephora store it is noted on your account. Over the course of a year you'd think a savvy shopper might have one or maybe two returns, right? But with Sephora it's not about the number of times, it's about the dollar amount,apparently.

A Tik Tok influencer who claims to be a former Sephora manager explained the policy.

By the way, @greeneggsandglam has some great videos on beauty products. She is witty, funny, entertaining, and brutally honest.

$2,500 is a Key Figure in Returns at Sephora

So the "Mendoza Line" appears to be $2,500. For a lot of us that is hard to fathom but Sephora products can be "pricey" but they are also high quality too. Personally, I think the $2,500 amount is more than generous. And I too, would believe without credible evidence that those who return more than $2,500 in merchandise over a calendar year are running a scam.

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You might be wondering what happens to all of those products that are returned? No, they are not donated. The reason would be hygiene concerns. So the products are destroyed so they are of no benefit to anyone anymore. It might also be one of the reasons that prices for some products see to be abnormally high.

What Exactly is the Real Sephora Return Policy?

We thought you'd never ask. Here it is, click here. It's very similar to what we stated above but this time it's in the company's words. As I mentioned, it seems generous to me. But quite often a company's generous policies lead to abuse by customers who want to cheat the system.

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Gallery Credit: Bruce Mikells

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