Have You Seen Makeup Testers at the Drugstore?

One of the frustrating elements about shopping beauty at the drugstore is, of course, the lack of testers to shade match and swatch. Not being able to ensure a product is going to work for you before you buy it can be scary. Even though drugstores tend to have a great cosmetics return policy, I know this is one of the main factors that throw people off—especially when it comes to products like foundation, concealer and lipsticks.

Apparently this isn’t the case everywhere— some of my blogging friends from overseas were dumbfounded to hear that we didn’t have makeup testers in our drugstores. It doesn’t take much more than buying and bringing home a lipstick, then realizing it’s been opened and swatched by another customer, to agree that it’s something that should be more common.

Luckily, I think we’re on that path! On my latest trip to Walgreens, I was pleasantly surprised to find a good range of testers for a few select brands.

NYX had many testers out on their individual aisle display. They were available for their Sculpt and Highlight Face Duos, as well as a few of their eyeshadow palettes. I noticed that there were slots for each Butter Gloss in the collection, but there were only a few testers actually in their place. It made me wonder if the rest had been stolen… which is probably one argument against testers from a retailer’s standpoint.

No7 also had testers as part of their display on the wall. They had every shade of foundation available, as well as their Moisture Drench Lipticks. In fact, Walgreens offers a shade matching service with technology that looks similar to the Sephora Color IQ skin tone scanner specifically for their foundation. So not only do you get scientifically matched, but you can swatch right there to see it in person.

One thing that was missing was makeup remover wipes for those who wanted to swatch! I hate walking out of a store with an arm full of makeup. But, baby steps.

I’m curious to know how it’s decided which brands get tester space in their displays. It’s definitely a great marketing move, as I’m more inclined to buy from a brand that lets me test drive. It’s a fun part of beauty shopping that gets me more excited to play with new makeup.

At any rate, I’m hoping this is an indicator that more drugstores will be including this type of display and testing opportunity in stores!

Have you seen any other drugstores offering testers? Let us know where!