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Wednesday, June 13, 2012

The Wednesday Question


What is your biggest pet peeve about drugstore makeup?

Without a doubt, for me it's the lack of safety seals on certain products/lines. ESPECIALLY on products likes lipgloss, liquid liners, mascara, liquid foundations and wand concealers. Unlike lipstick and pressed shadows, it's often impossible to tell if "curious fingers" have touched a gloss, liquid liner, mascara, etc.
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37 comments

  1. What you said! And also that there's usually no testers (which is a big reason why people stick their fingers in the actual products for sale).

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  2. The converse of yours--lack of testers! If Ulta can do it, I think the drugstore could, too, especially for eyeshadow, but also for lippies, and for heaven's sake--FOUNDATION. I understand they don't want theft--they can glue those puppies down for all I care. I just want to be able to swatch on my hand so I get SOME idea of what the color will actually look like! Foundation from the drugstore is just an exercise in frustration.

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  3. Ugh, I won't buy makeup without safety seals (besides nail polish, of course).

    I'd say my biggest pet peeve is when the formulation is lousy. Nail polish that streaks/drags, eyeliner/mascara that clumps, eyeshadow that doesn't stick and gets into my eye in five minutes... It's less of a problem now that I know a few good brands and a few to avoid, but I still like trying out new ones, and while it's always exciting to find a new favorite, it's frustrating to have spent money on something I'll never use again.

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  4. I definitely agree about the lack of seals on some products. Other than that, my biggest pet peeve is that stock is constantly in flux. So many drug store makeup manufacturers are always retiring good products and replacing them, so just when you get used to a good thing and need to buy a new supply, it's gone. It's obviously an industry-wide problem, but more so with the less expensive products, it seems like.

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  5. The fact that I can't test out the product before I buy it is my biggest pet peeve. I know that most drugstores have good return policies for makeup, but I wonder...what do they do with the returned makeup?

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    1. I used to work in customer service at Walmart so I can tell you exactly what happens to makeup that has been returned. Any makeup that is returned for any reason gets defected and sent back to the manufacturer for a refund on what is left of the product. Hope this puts your mind at ease!

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  6. I completely agree with you G about the safety seals. I was thinking about it the other day and realized, I should make that a necessary component of a new purchase. It's unsanitary and unsafe to purchase items without seals and with so many choices, why take a risk?

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  7. G,

    If I could "like" your answer, I would a billion times over. People who "test" drugstore products make my skin crawl, and it takes everything in me not to let this turn me off to drugstore make up completely. Sometimes I'll see women doing it, unabashedly opening products and testing them, and I so badly want to tell them to knock it off. I would so gladly pay extra money if it meant that ALL products were safety-sealed. What I really can't stand is finding a LE product that I've been searching everywhere for, only to find that the only ones that are left have been clearly opened and used. It's SO selfish, most drugstores have a great return policy on open makeup! It has come to the point where I painstakingly inspect EVERY piece of makeup from the drugstore I get, and any nick, smudge, or evidence of use renders it unbuyable. Okay, going to stop the rant now :)

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  8. Ugh. I have to agree with you, G. It drives me insane when a product has no safety seal. Especially if it's the last tube of lipstick or eyeshadow that you've been searching for. Sometimes people actually break the seal. Yesterday, I finally found Revlon Just Bitten Balm Stain in Rendezvous at Target, but it was opened. If you want swatches people, just find it on YouTube or at Nouveau Cheap! Opening a seal is just plain inconsiderate and disgusting.

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  9. My biggest peeve is the lack of testers for foundation. It is impossible to shade match and even see if the coverage is correct when buying drugstore makeup without a ton of trial and error. Would it kill the companies to put out a small display of foundation so we could try them out? One would think it would be much less expensive than having to suck up all the returns.

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  10. Other than the lack of safety seals on some items, I get so frustrated at the lack of really great matte shadows available in most drug store lines.

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  11. Same answer as you, G. I get excited when I spot multiples of a specific product I'm looking for only to be frustrated to discover that all multiples have been swatched or dried out. You're there, you've been looking for, maybe, that particular lipstick, and there's 3 right in front of you. But you don't get it cause you don't know what's been done to it or the texture is off cause so many people have opened and closed it before you.

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  12. I hate the fact that most drugstore face products (especially concealer) don't come in shades for darker skinned folk! I exist AND I WANT TO BUY YOUR PRODUCTS! Is that not enough motivation for you?! :(

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  13. I pretty much agree with you! Also, why can't drugstore makeup have testers so that people don't have to open and put germs on the products. ugh! who would want to buy that!?

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  14. The 3 P's: Packaging, pigmentation and price. Drugstore packaging is either crappy or excessive. I hate how it's a mystery what the pigmentation will be and some drugstore products are priced so high! Mostly Revlon and PF.

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  15. I would say I hate the fact that we can't test out the products before we buy it (like little testers). I am particularly referring to foundation, I always have a hard time finding the perfect shade, and even though you typically can return it even if you've used it, I find myself having to go back and fourth returning foundations that don't match well. I also dislike the fact that a lot of drugstore foundations don't come in a variety of different shades, which makes it even harder to find the perfect shade.

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  16. I hate when I go to the store to buy a specific product they always seem to be out of the shade I want. It almost never fails that the item I want is out of stock, and I really wish they'd do a better job of keeping things on the shelves. Then I have to go on a wild goose chase around town trying to find what I want. So frustrating!

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  17. So true! I agree completely with the fact that sometimes, especially with the cheaper brands, they don't have good seals on them. Which is so unfortunate because that means less people would probably buy it :(

    My biggest pet peeve is the fact that there are no testers for many of the concealers and foundations for many of the brands available in Drugstores. How am I supposed to buy a foundation without testing out the texture and shade first?

    ♥, Christina

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  18. eyeshadows tend to be less pigmented

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  19. I feel the same way about a lack of safety seals. I just bought a L'Oreal lipstick this morning, and it did not have a seal. I ended up opening it just to make sure it hadn't been used; but who's to know how many other people have opened it, maybe even twisted it up? Still it's my favorite shade (620, Mica) so I gambled. :-)

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  20. I wish everything was sealed. I also wish the makeup departments get the product out to the consumers faster. Lot of the displays here come out 3 weeks after Nouveau cheaps spotted them! Come on! Sometimes behind the drugstore counter do have samples of foundation and mascara, so its worth an ask.

    More pigmentation and better formulations.

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  21. I sometimes give up on buying something due to the safety seal ... if there is like 2 or 3 left I am sure they have all been tampered with. What aggravates me about drugstore makeup is they don't restock items quickly so if something is popular like a particular shade or item ... it sells out then it takes forever for you to find it because they never reorder.

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  22. Biggest pet peeve with drugstore brand makeups is not being able to swatch the foundation/powder on. Its really had finding a shade that will match. The ones I've purchased are either to light, to red or makes me look ashy!! It frustrates me so much. The second would be opening up products prior to purchasing them such as lipsticks and seeing smudges etc..Yuck! I have to check before buying.

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  23. I have a few:

    Seals. All drugstore makeup items, from lip gloss to nail polish should have tamper proof seals so that nasty people don't swatch and contaminate the products. And if they do break the seals, you will at least know that it happened and you can bypass them.

    Stock. Some drugstores (especially those in smaller cities and towns) don't stock new items or limited edition items at all or they don't get them in a timely manner. I also get incredibly frustrated when drugstores don't restock items quickly or at all.

    Rapidly increasing prices. Drugstore makeup has been a staple for me because I was able to get lovely stuff at really great prices but lately, I have begun to think that if I am going to pay almost as much for a drugstore product as I would a mid tier (say, MAC or Urban Decay) or even higher end product, why not just pony up a few more dollars for the higher end products, in the first place?

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  24. I won't buy anything unless the safety seal is intact. I also dislike it when a product (usually lipstick) is packaged in such a way so that you can't see the actual color and have to judge it on a swatch. (Revlon ColorBurst Lipstick comes to mind). Of course, this complaint did not stop me from buying some of the Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains, lol.

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  25. Agreed, G. The items you listed are liquids/creams too and bacteria just LOVE the wet environment. But even non-pressed powders: I was wary of the L'Oreal Infallible shadows I got--I had realized that there was NO way to tell whether they have been touched or not. I was a bit afraid bc it was sooo close to the sensitive eye area. So far, no foul but for more colors--I am definitely going to start ordering online for unsealed products.

    I believe Walgreens and Target are both doing in-store return's for their products. This is helpful, but a lot of deals/coupons don't work unless it's for in-store. le sigh....

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    1. I got one from wal mart and when I got it home it was touched. ewww.

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  26. I really don't like that their aren't any testers. That being said, I would hate to know just how many people used that tester before me. (Granted, I know it's kind of the same with Sephora, but I like to think they keep their testers cleaner). Judging by how the packaging gets damaged--which is so disrespectful--I would hate to see what testers would look like in drug stores.

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  27. Lack of testers... if they would give us some no one would have to open the packages. It also annoys the heck out of me when they advertise the daylights out of something, then it doesn't show up in the stores for months. Like the new Milani shadows, they have been giving samples away like candy, reviews everywhere, but who knows when my CVS will get any... if they ever do.

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  28. My biggest pet peeve is when the product promisses to deliver something and then I buy it because I think it might be awesome and then it turns out being crap.

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  29. I was at Walmart last night, and I can say honestly that my biggest pet peeve is women opening brand new products and trying them and then putting them back, I hate it! I wanted to buy a Revlon lip butter, I couldn't find one not touched by somebody else that I wanted. :(

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  30. I pass up so many drug store products because you can't swatch them on your skin.

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  31. My biggest pet peeve is that they don't make GOOD foundation and powder in shades light enough for pale people. Even the lightest shade is usually too dark. There are a few exceptions like Cover Girl products and L'oreal True Match foundation, but they are not good foundations in my opinion because they oxidize to a hideous orangey shade. I look fine right after applying it, but within a couple of hours I look like I have a tan, yuck. It's frustrating to constantly read rave reviews of products like Revlon ColorStay foundation and know that you can't use it without making yourself look like an Oompa-Loompa.

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  32. actually is that sometimes seals are opened, and the item is still there on the shelf....

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  33. My biggest peeve is the lack of cosmetics, and skin care products for women of color in stores even when the majority of the shoppers there are brown. Some cosmetics companies don't make darker shades of foundation or leave out the darker shades in the newer formulations. If they do have darker shades of foundation it's only 2 or 3, and forget about finding the right powder & blush. There are people who test the makeup without buying it. I've seen so many women pop open a lip-stick and try it on. Most of the lip-sticks and eye-shadows are too ashy on black women.

    I see alot of these beauty counters at CVS, and Walgreens but none of them give swatches. Whats the point of that?

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