What products do you prefer to purchase in person?
There’s nothing that comes to mind; even if I don’t ship to my house, I very often buy online and pickup in store.
— Christine
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Maybe perfume! I actually tend to go visit an ulta or Sephora in person to cure my desire for items- seeing gross, messy samplers of products takes away the desire to buy
I purchase all of my makeup in person as well as my skin care except for Paula’s Choice which i do on line.
When I wore foundation, I liked to buy that in person.
If it’s a brand I’m familiar with I’m O.K. with purchasing eyeshadows etc on line. If it’s foundation I prefer to see and test in person so I can see the coverage and how it dries down in person. As far as skin care products such as moisturizers if possible I would like to try them to see if they really sink in and leave a good finish as I have been burned before by claims and get them home and my foundation doesnt play well with them….this being said, I still probably buy online the majority of the time……
Oh! You just reminded me of the fact that I always used to go in-store to test out my foundation to not only get as good of a shade match as possible, but also to see whether it oxidized on me or not.
Any foundation/concealer that I haven’t already swatched.
Nothing really. I’ve been buying online for years to escape the hustle and bustle and ambitious salespersons, but perhaps that has been tempered in recent years. The few times recently that I decided to brave a bustling beauty counter or a Sephora, the testers were atrocious and it’s very off-putting. Back online I go!
Well……everything!! For a first purchase of a product, I prefer to try the tester on my hand in the store. Moisturizers, eyeshadows, blush, lipstick, foundations….the whole gamut. But I will order items online that I use regularly so I already know what I’m getting.
Everything! I just really enjoy the shopping-in-person experience.
Hair dye, so I can see color swatches and ask the staff questions.
DEFINITELY perfume/fragrance! I literally need to know how it interacts with my body chemistry before buying it.
I prefer to buy in person if at all possible bc ordering online usually involves buying MORE items I don’t need to make the free shipping threshold. It’s so EASY to just click and add things to the cart without regard. However, in person, the sensation of trying to hold all the same items in-hand, makes me realize how unnecessarily EXTRA those items are. I’m not a minimalist but spending money on things that have a limited shelf life that I won’t use in the very near future tends to mean I would lose track of it–until it is past its best-by-date. For these reasons, I’m very much a believer in not having more than one backup of most items with a shelf life. The only exceptions would be things I use lots of daily–like sunscreen or body lotion.
If I could buy everything online, I would. 😅 I sometimes enjoy browsing stores, but I prefer making final purchases from home, just making sure I got everything. Also, to be honest I get better deals online, I can get Cashback and there’s almost always a coupon.
At some point I would have said clothing, especially shoes… but I’m the past 3-4 years I’ve been buying from the same brands and repurchasing the same stuff… I don’t even have to try on things.
My preference is to purchase everything in person but I suppose the items where it really matters are foundation, concealer and, as Laurie reminded me, also fragrance. If I’m repurchasing something, it’s not as big a deal but I prefer shopping in person for EVERYTHING and I really enjoy it so ordering online actually takes away some of the enjoyment for me.
I’m very fair so if I’ve never purchased base products from a brand before, I prefer buying foundation in store, if possible. I also try to avoid blind buying perfume.
I prefer to buy my foundations, blushes and perfumes in person, except if I am buying a repeat of what I have and like.
Foundation so it is a good match. Otherwise I do most of my shopping on line.
Probably just fragrance, but lately it’s pretty easy to get a sample of anything I am interested in so usually I can try those out at home too!
Foundation. I need to see the color/undertone/finish in person. I also need to buy fragrance in person because I like to spritz and let the notes develop before making a decision. The other perk to buying fragrance in person is that sales associates often gives samples.
Foundation and concealer. I’m so pale, so I have great difficulty matching up properly online. I have to test them at least in-store before I buy.
Perfumes for sure. Not if it’s a repurchase, though sometimes it seems brands tweak their perfumes so all of a sudden the new one smells differently, so I really prefer being able to to test before buying. Usually I go back a day or so later so I have had the opportunity to smell the scent throughout it’s life on my skin.
Foundations and concealers, I know that Lisa Eldridge has testers for her foundations, Charlotte Tilbury used to send three testers when you bought foundations online, though I don’t think that’s true anymore.
Foundations can be so hard, I like to get samples so I can try it for more than one day, gives the opportunity to use the foundation with some different primers and/or SPFs. That way I can also see if it oxidizes, something that’s rarely happening but is very annoying when it does.
Products with pigment (foundation/concealers, eyeshadows, lipsticks, etc) – anything I need to swatch first.
Foundation, trying to judge if the shade is correct, and I like to feel the texture before deciding to buy.
Anything I’ve never bought before, I like to see the colors in person, or try out the texture. But I will often go see the product in store then put it on my wishlist and eventually buy it online when it next goes on sale. I typically don’t purchase any beauty products at retail price, but I never want to shop in store when there’s a sale because of the lines, so I end up buying almost everything online.
Foundation! The stores in my country do not allow returning opened products so I go to counters and ask for testers before making a decision. In addition to my online research, usually have to test a few before finding a good one, so I’m thankful for how much money the testers have saved me. The least I can do is go back to the counter that gave me the sample and buy the foundation from them, once I’ve made my choice. Perfume is another one that I like to try first but sometimes I don’t remember where or how I had gotten the sample, or I’ve been just spraying the perfume here and there over a longer period of time before deciding to purchase, so the isn’t the same loyalty and the final purchase could be in store or online.