Blush logo

I Refuse to Buy Drugstore Makeup After Working in Beauty

Hint: my refusal has nothing to do with money

By Jade M.Published about a year ago 4 min read
1

If someone loves drugstore makeup, they’ll fight me tooth and nail if I dare to suggest something I think is better. If I rave about a product I love, they’ll tell me about a dupe they found for it. Some of them will even judge me for spending so much on makeup when there are cheaper alternatives to the products I love.

I’m sure many of those products they brag about are great, but I refuse to buy them. It’s not because I have a ton of disposable income to throw around, or even because I think high-end products are better. I used to purchase drugstore products when I was a teenager and a young adult. Some products performed well enough that I repurchased them.

The reason I won’t buy drugstore makeup has nothing to do with the products themselves. The main reason that I don’t buy drugstore makeup is that I see people casually open and swatch new products before putting them back on the shelves. Some people even open a new product, swatch it, and put it back, only to grab an unopened one to purchase. The number of used products on the shelf is disgusting enough to keep me from purchasing a drugstore product.

I’ve witnessed teenage girls making TikTok videos where they apply a full face of makeup or swatch an entire lipstick line. What do they do with these products when they’re done? You guessed it, discard it on the shelves among the new products.

There have been many times I’ve found evidence of people using multiple products. I’ve walked down the nail polish aisle countless times to see a used cotton ball sitting next to an opened container of polish remover. They have no problem leaving their trash behind for me to pick up, or even making a mess intentionally by wiping the nail polish and lipstick on the shelving units or walls.

Nail polish is the product I catch guests swatching the most, but no product is truly safe. I’ve even seen someone open beauty vitamins and help themselves to a few.

I understand that many of us, myself included, don’t have a big budget to put towards beauty, but that’s no reason to test out a product and put it back. When I was younger, I rarely had money to put towards makeup, so I’d research products before buying them. Most stores also have a return policy, where the guests can return items that don’t work for them.

f someone is paying full price for a product, they deserve to have a new product. Not only that, but there are skin conditions and illnesses that can be passed along by using makeup worn by someone else. It’s also difficult to know if some products, like a liquid lipstick, have been used.

So why do the customers do this? Is it because the products don’t have testers, or is it because they don’t care about ruining a product for someone else? I’ve always thought using a product while in-store without the intention of buying it was stealing, but most people don’t feel that way.

Whenever I see someone swatching something, I try to stop them. I usually get a negative attitude in return, and sometimes I’ll even get cursed out. One lady even took it upon herself to tell my manager that I asked her to stop using nail polish while in the store. I’m not sure how that turned out for her because no one ever told me anything.

Other customers will make excuses like they wanted to see what the product looked like, or that they don’t want to drive back to the store to return an item. Sometimes they’ll claim they didn’t know they could return a product. Once a girl even told me it didn’t matter that she’d ruined a product because the product was only 3.99.

Every day, I find countless products that have been used and left behind. It’s so bad that I take at least thirty minutes per day to damage used products. It affects my job in other ways, because I can’t recommend products I haven’t used, and I can’t use products that the customers have damaged.

There are a handful of drugstore products that I purchase. They are from companies that seal their products, like Nyx and Colourpop. I wish more companies sealed their products because there have been so many products, I’ve wanted to try but couldn’t because I’d watched someone swatching the product I wanted to buy.

If you’re shopping for drugstore makeup and you have the urge to swatch something, please reconsider. Using makeup with no intention of buying means there is less product for people who want to buy it. You may think that you’re clean, but I doubt many people would want your germs on the products they purchase.

I hope that in the future more companies will make their products tamper-resistant. Until they do, I refuse to buy products that can easily be opened and used.

artbodyfacemakeupnailsproduct review
1

About the Creator

Jade M.

Jade is an indie author from Louisiana. While her first book failed, she has plans to edit and republish it and try again. She has a senior min pin that she calls her little editor, and a passion for video games and makeup.

Reader insights

Nice work

Very well written. Keep up the good work!

Top insight

  1. Heartfelt and relatable

    The story invoked strong personal emotions

Add your insights

Comments (1)

Sign in to comment
  • Carol Townendabout a year ago

    I'm the same. If I buy a product in a drugstore, it has to be sealed. Most of the time, I buy online because I have skin conditions and I have seen the things people do with the products in store.

Find us on social media

Miscellaneous links

  • Explore
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Support

© 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.