One day, TikToker Riley (@thegingerglow) was working her shift at the cosmetics store Ulta when a man walked in and picked up the first mascara he saw nearest the door.
He held it up, looked over at her, and asked if it was a good mascara. It was one of the Lash Princess mascaras by the brand Essence.
Before Riley could say anything, a random lady told him that it was a good mascara, but it wasn’t the best. She then led him over to the section with Tarte products and showed him a tubing mascara to get.
After the lady left, he went up to Riley and asked her about the Tarte mascara. She inquired if he was shopping for anyone specific, and he revealed that he was shopping for his wife.
He had purchased the Essence mascara for his wife before. Riley suggested getting the Essence mascara if his wife liked it, in addition to buying the travel-sized version of the Tarte mascara so she could try something new.
He seemed to like the idea and asked Riley for help with shopping for the rest of his wife’s Christmas presents.
Apparently, his wife had asked for a $500 Ulta gift card, and he had laughed in her face because he wasn’t going to be doing that. He wanted to pick out the makeup for her because he thought it would be more special coming from him, and she would be happy and surprised.
“I was thinking that sounds like a terrible idea,” said Riley. “I didn’t tell him that, obviously, but I tried to convince him to get the gift card.”
“I’m like, what if you got her the gift card…you could do $100 or whatever works for your budget, and you could turn it into like a date night where you go with her to Ulta, and you guys go together for her to pick out the new makeup.”
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But he refused to budge on the gift card idea. He also said that his wife had asked for a new flatiron. He had even written down the exact flatiron she wanted.
The flatiron was actually on sale, so Riley brought him over to it. When he saw the price, he started complaining that his wife already had a Conair flatiron that worked.
Riley told him that this flatiron would be a huge improvement compared to the Conair one because it was nicer, newer, and had titanium plates.
He didn’t want to get his wife the new flatiron and turned back to focus on makeup. Riley tried to show him some different holiday makeup kits, but he said no to everything. Finally, he asked where the rest of the Essence stuff was.
“I immediately am like, pause, because Essence is a good brand; don’t get me wrong,” said Riley. “It’s also, I think, the cheapest brand that we carry at Ulta.”
“It’s affordable makeup. It’s not the best makeup in the world. They have some good products, but it is cheaper than Elf at this point.”
She led him over to the Essence shelf and started showing him a bunch of lip glosses. He just grabbed random products and ended up getting about $30 worth of makeup.
Now, in her video, Riley is apologizing to his wife because she clearly did not get what she asked for.
“And so, I just want to say, if you asked your husband for an Ulta gift card and a new flatiron, and you got a whole bunch of Essence items instead, it wasn’t my fault. Your husband insisted on getting that for you. And, I’m really sorry. I tried,” Riley concluded.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
