What makes you return a product (or donate/giveaway if you can't return)?
It’s very rare that I return a product, but if I bought it personally, and it arrived broken/damaged or was exceptionally bad quality, then I would return it.
— Christine
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18 Comments
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I’ll return a product if it’s damaged or bad quality. I’ll give away a product if it’s something I will never use and I can’t return it. This happens a lot with the mini eyeshadow palettes and full size lipsticks that come as part of gift-with-purchase from Estée Lauder and Clinique. My friends/coworkers are always happy to accept them.
If I don’t love it immediately or find it easy to use. My collection is big enough that I don’t have put up with mediocrity. I find if I’m considering being rid of it, then I didn’t truly love it.
I rarely return beauty products. The only example I can think of is when I got color matched at the store for a foundation, and when I tried it on at home, it wasn’t right. Or if I get a skin reaction from a product.
I always return a product if it’s bad quality. There’s no reason for me to keep it, and I’m not going to give it to someone else so they can experience the bad quality.
If something has a minor defect, like a lip product has a little bit gone out of the side of the bullet because of inaccurate pouring, I’ll keep it. Not thrilled about losing product, but it’s very rare that I’ll use an entire item anyway.
I’ll return a product if it’s damaged, poor quality, or I don’t like the colors on me. Cosmetics cost too much money to keep if I’m not going to use them.
Having said that, I purchase from the same brands pretty consistently and have a good feel as to whether their products for me. If I’m on the fence about a product, I’ll check it out in store if I can.
Given that so many products can only be purchased online or that a lot of customers don’t have easy access to the brick and mortar location where they are sold, returns are a cost of doing business.
I do a lot of research before buying so I generally can avoid returns. The last return I made was Hourglass Mineral Veil primer because it just looked horrible on my skin. I donate or give away products if I decide they don’t look right any longer (happens when you age) or if I have dupes that I know I will not get to. These days I get more joy from a clean and clean space than from a large makeup collection.
If it is damaged or off, I’ll return it, but otherwise, I won’t return. If something ends up not suiting my coloring or I’m not a fan of the finish, I’ll try to pass it to someone who would use the item. I try not to return for those reasons, however, even if a store will take it back, as it seems to drive up costs and waste.
I never return products; it’s waste already created (they’re going to throw it away anyway) and I can usually find it another purpose (or gift it).
I choose to give away (or repurpose a product) after I try to make it work for several days. Maybe I’ll try to use a foundation with another primer or application technique, for example. But if a foundation is the wrong color, I won’t even try… I’m not a foundation mixer.
Usually I put in the pile of gifting anything I receive as a gift with purchase that I know I’ll never use. I hate setting sprays, I dislike fragrance in my cosmetics, I don’t use lip glosses or false lashes… there are items I don’t even have to try to know I won’t like them.
I’ll return a product if it’s severely damaged. Although, I will also say that if I’m ordering concealer/foundation online, and the color is too dark for my skintone and I paid quite a bit, I’ll also return.
I rarely return a product unless it arrives broken. The last thing I returned was a PMGL eye shadow palette, which I can’t remember the name of and that was at least 4 years ago. I use to donate my unwanted makeup to my daughter’s college friends but with the advent of COVID, I haven’t done that for quite a while.
Anything that requires too much effort in order to make it work goes back. Sometimes, something works beautifully for a reviewer or two, but not so much for me, or vice versa, it works great for me, but one of the main reviewers I follow may have a very different experience.
Also, I will absolutely return broken/damaged products promptly!
I’ve got a lot of anxiety about going places so usually only if it’s damaged or otherwise unusable do I consider returning it. It’s kind of a cost-benefit thing, so something like a bad choice in lipstick color isn’t worth it but a shattered palette would be.
If it arrived broken, ingredient information was misleading (or incorrect), or it was just a horrifyingly bad product. Yes, makeup wereturn is destroyed, but I think it’s important for our feedback on a company’s products to be noted. They speak in numbers, and if they released something atrocious that was returned in a large enough quantity, they’ll want to avoid making that same financial loss mistake again.
I will return a product if I have a reaction to it , or the quality.
Sadly now so many reviews are incentivized ..
That’s why I always check in here….
I have returned a product because it has arrived damaged (an eyeshadow palette) and I was promptly sent another one by the online website (Adore Beauty I think). And that is the only reason you can return products here in Aus.
That’s why I generally research a product fairly carefully before I buy and ALWAYS consult this website. I have never purchased a dud product after looking at the reviews here.
If it is damaged or if it absolutely will not work any way that I try to make it work. I fully research everything that I purchase so I very rarely return anything.
I give things away if I know I don’t like them and will never use them. The last time I returned anything was last fall-the PMG Celestial Odyssey palette I ordered from Sephora had a severely broken Citrine Envy pan and green shimmer eyeshadow ended up all over the palette, all over my hands and clothes, and even under my clothes somehow! After scrubbing myself down, I took it to my local Sephora for a return. The SA couldn’t have been lovelier-she loaded the cost of the palette onto a gift card and used it to buy a replacement palette, which luckily arrived intact!
Here we aren’t allowed to return makeup (that we buy in stores).
If something arrives broken from an online retailer I contact them and usually there’s no problem getting a new whatever it may be, sometime I’ve had to send photos.
Returning things bought online from any other country would be expensive, postage cost a lot so if it’s a product that’s not as good as I had thought, or I find the colours not what I had expected I just keep it and try to find use for it. Since finding Temptalia neither of these reasons have been an issue though.
I sometime give stuff away, but I don’t really know anyone that interested in makeup, or interested at all.