Do you test beauty products before you buy them? Do you try them on or just swatch?
.
I only swatch them on my arm or hand! Depending on the brand, I may buy without swatching (either online or in-store) — but that’s when I trust the brand!
We're here to help you make better beauty purchases that you'll enjoy and love! We recommend signing up to take advantage of personalized features like tracking products you own, viewing dupes that you already have, and more!
Here are some useful resources for you:
Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!
Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!
Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).
We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!
We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!
I WISH I could test them before buying… Swatching on my hand doesn’t tell me if the colour fits my lips.
That’s why I’m afraid of buying more expensive brands. I don’t want to get disappointed :-/
I was told once that testing lipsticks on the tip of your fingers gives the closest match to how they would look on your lips, because they’re much pinker than the top of your hand. That might help you. 😉
I’ll swatch it and if it’s foundation or a primer, I’ll take a sample home.
I definitely have to swatch, but sometimes, it doesn’t tell me much. (ie: how lipstick looks on my lips, what foundation shade is right for me when MAs aren’t feeling helpful). It makes me wish Asian boutiques and counters weren’t so sparse with their samples.
I’ll definitely ask the MUA to test the foundation on my face before I buy it! I don’t think it matters so much with eye products but sometimes I wish I could test the lip products (apart from looking at your swatches) to see if it suits me.
I always try to check it out before i get it, but when i can’t i look for swatches online (aka temptalia!) hehes 🙂
Oh definitely! As much as I can anyway! I have sensitive, reactive skin (allergy-wise) and even more sensitive lips so trying is almost always a must. Even when I buy online (rarely and usually only when there’s a better deal or it’s something I just can’t get in-store), I try to swatch or get a sample in-store first. That being said, I do tend to have better luck with blushes so I’m a little more lax about buying them untested.
Depends, most of the time yes. If not, I make sure that wherever I buy from will take the product back if I’m unhappy. (And then, sometimes, I just let you swatch them for me!) =)
Oops…when I try them it’s normally a swatch.
With makeup, I usually do a swatch on my hand/arm. I like seeing what the product looks like pigment wise/consistency wise before buying so I have a great difficulty ordering something online without seeing it in person first. With skincare products, I mostly buy trusting the company. Even with testers out, I really don’t know where it’s been and it is not going anywhere near my face.
Not so much with eye shadow, mascara, liner and blush – but I try my best with foundation and lip stuff.
When it comes to blushes i try them on my face but only at the Nars counter.
I like to do research before buying a product, so I don’t always feel the need to swatch or test first, unless it’s perfume. I also tend to stick w/ the same brands, so I feel pretty comfortable buying stuff w/o testing. If the product really doesn’t work for me, I can usually return it anyway. MAC and Sephora are really good about that.
Definitely! Only on my hand/arm though.
It is not so much to see what is going to suit me, as I generally know what is going to work with my complexion, but more to see the colour payoff and whether the colour of the product is actually accurate when you apply it (heres looking at you, MAC Beauty Marked!)
I like to swatch whenever possible. Some colours can look so different on the skin than in the container. I just wish there was a MAC store or even a MAC counter near me, as I have to buy mine online and find most of the colours are way off how they appear on the MAC website. Thank goodness for people like you posting real swatches so I can see how colours compare to things I already have. MAC is expensive, and I’m not made of money. Here you can’t return cosmetics just because the colour doesn’t suit you or you don’t like the texture
always. the mac website swatches are never great, so i always swatch on my arm first.
I always swatch on my hand, unless it’s drugstore in which case I often don’t bother (the testers can be kind of manky…and if it’s cheap anyway I don’t mind too much). In HE I’ll often ask the MUA to sanitise lipsticks and foundations and try it on properly. Eyeshadow and blush I’m less bothered – I trust my own judgement, pretty much.
I’ve gotten better at asking for samples if it’s something like foundation, primer or skincare. Otherwise I rely on swatching on my hands. I will admit to ordering a lot from QVC, however it’s usually on trusted beauty companies such as Smashbox, Laura Gellar or Mally Beauty. I’ve only had to return one item because I was not happy with it in the many years that I’ve been purchasing make up from QVC.
Products that I know well, I will just swatch on my hand, like Mac Eyeshadow for example.
Foundation though, I have trouble finding ones I like, so after researching one I want I go to the department store with no makeup on and have the associate put it on me to test.
I am terrible at swatching lip products on my hand and being able to tell if I will like it on my lips.
Only on the hands but it doesnt look the same when on the eye. I would never swatch it on my face. TOO SCARED Thank God for Sephora and Mac’s return guarantees.
Whenever possible YES. If its a really cheap item, I may splurge without trying, but the more the item costs, the more insistent I am on seeing how it looks on me/whether i have a reaction to it/etc. before I buy.
swatch. I don’t trust them to be sanitary to try..
i test foundations before i buy them typically
Yes. I sure do!
With your swatches and your reviews who has to swatch
LOL! Thanks, Diana! 😉 Too kind of you to say!
I don’t have a mall real close to me so most of my buying is through the mail so I really appreciate your swatches and reviews.
Thank you, Michele!
I always swatch everything on my hand or arm. I don’t mind trying on eyeshadows or foundations, as I’m bad about knowing what will or won’t work with my skin tone. I generally won’t try on lip products, though occasionally I will at the MAC counter, since I can watch the MUA’s sterilize it. (My lips are very pigmented, so lip colors are never true on me.)
If there’s something I’m interested in, I’ll often try it on, or at least swatch it, then go outside so I can see it in natural light before I purchase.
I always test, even if I buy online, I go to the store first. Unfortunately I do not test lippies on lips or e/s on my lids (I’m afraid of bacteria) just on my hand, but in any case I can judge if it will look good on me or not.
I never ever buy foundation before sampling it at home for say 2 days, (I need to be sure I do not get pimples or an adverse reaction). same for skincare. I never buy HE stuff(it’s way too expensive!) if I cannot try it at home first!
Absolutely. Although I can usually tell just by looking whether a product will NOT look good on me, I have to try anything else. I’m either braver or stupider than most posters here, because I always try to test the product on the appropriate part of my face before I buy. (I do try to sanitize them first.) This is especially true of lipstick. For some reason, most just do not look good on me, so when I find one that does, I usually snap it up.
This is why I wear more high end makeup than drugstore. I’ve always thought it a shame that no smart retailer has ever thought of becoming a Sephora for drugstore brands, with testers and the freedom to browse without being pressured to buy. A couple of years ago a local Ulta had testers for all its Revlon lipsticks, and I wound up buying two (which I still like and wear). I’m certain that if more stores had displays with testers, their business would go through the roof.
always try befoer buy