Origins

My boyfriend’s mother used to sell Origins skin care, so unlike most men, he’s quite well versed in the effect proper skin care can have on one’s appearance (which is not to say that he necessarily follows the rules), but he’s aware of them, at least. And he’s aware that Origins is a good quality line of skin care products.
Anyway, for his birthday he received a post card in the mail offering him $ 10 off a purchase at an Origins store, so we headed to the store location at the Collection at Forsyth (the nearest one) to redeem it.
The Origins store there is similar to any other Origins store you’ve seen: clean, white interior within, muted green accents and rows and rows of cosmetics, skin care moisturizers, scrubs, toners, cleansers, acne treatments, age preventers, etc. And of course: testers of all their products.
He already knew which moisturizer he wanted, but as we were checking out, one of the sales associates was a little pushy for my liking. She was asking if we were using the cleanser, the overnight cream, the face mask, the toner («Twice a week?»), and just generally trying to upsell us products we weren’t interested in purchasing. I hate that.
True to form, we answered in the affirmative to every query to avoid her trying to sell us more, and left with the moisturizer and nothing else, but still… it was just irritating; it always is.
Other than that, this Origins transaction was fine.

Having recently come back from a visit with my aunt who I noticed was using an Origins scrub, I told my mom about it and since she required a new soap, we swung by the store. Origins smells delicious and clean, and I love how their products feel. It’s all natural (without parabens and the other sketchy, mystery ingredients) and you feel incredibly clean after using it. The woman who was working there was extremely friendly and helpful without overdoing it or being uncomfortably pushy to make a sale. In fact, while we were browsing, she was going out of her way to help another customer to give directions to another store since Origins did not carry the product. Anyway, she even did a demo of the scrub on my mom’s hand in the store’s sink! I know that was probably all part of the sales tactic, but you know, it worked and my mom happily picked up two — a daily facial wash and an exfoliator. Yes, Origins is on the pricier side (even more so than Lancome, my mom reveals), but maybe it’s worth it. We shall see!

I only go shopping when I know exactly what I’m looking for. Such was the case when I entered Origins this day. I was looking for a product that I’d used years ago.
I was approached by the manager who was the only staff person I saw. She was very friendly and helpful in showing me the location of the product. We got to talking about the product and she asked questions to further dive into my reasoning behind my choice. This was all during a conversation and definitely didn’t feel like one of those high-​pressure up-​sells. She showed me a partnering product to the one I selected and demonstrated the product on the back of my hand.
Based on our conversation and the product demonstration, I bought the product she recommended. And I love it. I like feeling like the salesperson actually cares that they’re selling me the right product and aren’t just trying to jack up their AUS.
She offered to show me some other products, but I declined as I was running short on time. She understood and got me on my way quickly.
The store is clean and crisp with good product displays. Some of the signage on the shelves could be better, but I think this is a corporate problem and not the fault of this store.