After experiencing racial profiling on multiple occasions in Sephora, I am calling for an international boycott on the brand, online and in stores, until the company takes concrete measures to end its well-documented discriminatory practices.  

On Friday, August 17th, 2018, I was racially profiled as I left the Rue de Rivoli branch of Sephora in Paris. Upon entering the store, I searched for the security guard because I knew that just as each time I had entered one of Sephora’s establishments in the past, I would be followed around the store or that the security guard would keep a close eye on me. This time was no different.

I found something that I wanted to purchase and made my way to the register. I had a very nice exchange with the cashier during which I presented my Sephora White card upon request (the irony is not lost on me). In an effort to be ecologically responsible, I told her that I had no need for the shopping bag as my purse was sufficiently large to carry its contents. I made sure to keep my receipt because I had a feeling that I would be asked for it — a practice I have adopted in all stores because I know from my own experiences, as well as those of so many of my friends and family members of color, that I could be asked for it at any given moment. 

Without fail, as I stood on the long escalator to exit the store, I saw the security guard climb a few steps before stopping. When I reached the top of the escalator, he did exactly what I thought he would: ask me to open my bag. I expressed my extreme irritation and dismay about his request. I was a paying customer who made her purchase at the register. I asked him why he did not ask the white customers just ahead of me to open their bags. He was unresponsive and kept insisting that I open my purse. I did, and I told him to stick his hands and rummage through it, if he so wished. I took out the eye liner I had purchased, the free perfume gift, as well as my store and credit card receipts to present to him. He told me that he did not appreciate my tone and I replied that I did not appreciate being obviously profiled while I was a paying and loyal customer! 

I immediately recorded a series of videos in my Instagram stories recounting the experience, as well as decrying the unacknowledged everyday racism and acts of microagression of which people of color are too often victims. I tagged Sephora in the first video and as I tried to tag the company in the following videos, their handle was no longer available. Following the video in which I accused them of blocking me, their handle mysteriously reappeared. I tagged them and sent a direct message to their corporate page, to which I have still received no response.  

I wish I could say that this was my first experience of profiling and humiliation from the company but that would be false. There are at least 10 instances of such occurrences happening to me in Sephora stores in New York City, Nashville, TN, and Paris over the years to varying degrees of humiliation, but I will only recount one more that I think is revelatory of the insidious nature of the company’s racist culture.

During my senior year at Vanderbilt University, a prestigious university in Nashville, TN, a white friend and I went to the Sephora location at Green Hills Mall, an upscale shopping center in a decidedly wealthy part of the city. As soon as we entered the store and separated, a store employee stalked me around for the duration of the time I spent there. She plainly hid behind shelves peaking around corners to keep an eye on me at all times. 

The humiliation did not stop there despite the fact that I was purchasing nearly $100 worth of products. I gave the cashier my friend’s email, “weepingwave”, so that she could receive rewards points. I spelled it out for her at least three times, W-E-E-P-I-N-G W-A-V-E. She persisted in repeating as many times “W-E-A-V-E, like your hair.” I used every image I could think of, but she persisted in repeating “weave, like your hair”, Eventually, she stopped the charade, completed my purchase and handed me my items. I left feeling debased and demeaned. My white friend who ended up making no purchase was not followed around the store and did not receive similar treatment. This experience was proof positive that no matter one’s socioeconomic status or education level, when you are black, racism’s ever-lurking sting is never far off.

My experiences are just a small sample out of many other acts of racism at Sephora that have been recounted by women of color; a quick Google search directed me to at least 5 different documented cases. The question becomes: Why has nothing been done to address this insidious practice, particularly given that Sephora's increasingly global presence has attracted millions of women of color because of its diverse products and lines?

Please join me in boycotting Sephora, online and in stores, until it puts an end to its blatantly discriminatory practices worldwide. That the same happens to people of color in different cities, on different continents, is certainly no coincidence.