Friday, 17 January 2014

Special sunscreen for special skin

This Indian man walks up the counter and asked me if the SunSense sunscreen is 'transparent'.

Me: Well the sunscreen is white. When you put on a thin layer and rub into the skin thoroughly then yes it will be transparent.
Him: Ok thank you.

He comes back 5min later and complains. Now you'd think its just sunscreen - what is there to complain about?

He shows me his hairy arm. There's white residue all over. It was the sunscreen he applied.

Him: You said this was transparent. But when I put it on, its white!
Me: That's because you haven't rubbed it in properly. And look at your hands, they're so greasy. You must have put too much on.
Him: No i didn't. Its white. You gave me the wrong advice.
Me: Excuse me? Ok let me try.

So I squeeze some sunscreen and applied it to my arm like normal and guess what - it was transparent. I showed him my arm.

Him: Well I don't know. It doesn't work for me.

Me: Maybe because your skin is dark? Let me get my colleague who has dark skin to try.

So I get my male colleague who's got really dark skin and applied it on. Transparent.

Me: Well as you can see, all of us have applied the same sunscreen on and its all transparent. There is nothing wrong with this sunscreen. You just applied too much and not spreading it out.

Him: No you are wrong. I came here thinking the pharmacist can give me professional advice, but obviously this is not what I want.

Me: Are you saying I lied or gave you wrong advice? Because clearly, it is transparent when everyone else puts it on.
Him: Well I don't want a product that's transparent on other people. I want a product that's transparent on ME.
Me: Well sorry but there's no such thing as a custom made sunscreen for each individual. All these sunscreens are basic and standard. There is no special one for different colored skins. I gave you advice based on what the 99.9% people would get but I think you've put too much on and you are just refusing to accept that.
Him: This is ridiculous.
Me: Its not ridiculous. Can you explain to me why its transparent on me and my colleagues arm then? We applied it in front of you. My colleague is dark skin and his a male, why would it be different?
Him: I don't know why.
Me: You don't know why. Can I just ask you a question? Is this the first time you've used sunscreen before. Because you seem a bit adamant about it.
Him: Yes its my first time.
Me: Errr ok so its your first time. Well I guess you came in with a very high expectation of sunscreens. I'm telling you, sunscreen is something very simple and basic. But you make it sound so complex. There is no sunscreen tailor-made for anyone. You have to understand that.
Him: I came in with an expectation that I would be given professional advice but I guess I was wrong. You've give me the wrong advice.
Me: Fair enough. If that's what you think, fine. Well there's nothing I can do for you then. All I'm going to say is - I'm sorry there is no special sunscreen for your special skin. You will have to try all those different sunscreens on the shelf then, since I can't fulfill your requests just by looking at it, you'll have to try it in order to know.

And I ended it at that.

WTH. Its just sunscreen!!! He clearly put layers and layers on to the point where his whole hand is greasy and wet. How dare he come in and say I gave him wrong advice! What did he expect man? Special custom made sunscreen for his special skin? Come on!


1 comment:

  1. Haha some people are morons. You must have a great sense of humour cos working where you are--- I'd lose my nerve!

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