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What will (or would) make you return a beauty product?
For me, I will exchange wrong shades of foundations or broken products. If I bought it to review, I keep it, even if it was bad.
— Christine
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I don’t return/exchange too often. I like to give things a try and make it work. On the rare occasions I return anything, it is usually bc I bought the wrong shade/product or it was broken upon opening. I don’t remember if I actually returned anything. I think I am more likely to exchange lol
I will definitely return or exchange something that applies horribly! Or it is unusable for some reason, like poor quality, weak pigmentation! If it stinks, back it goes! (Hint, hint ?)
Really, though, I almost always get mercifully spared all the above due to reading your blog and watching several favorite YT’rs. Therefore, it would be broken product when I receive it, allergic reactions (rare, but it has happened!), or it just looks like a whole nuther shade once seen in normal lighting, or if I didn’t get to try it on in advance, just didn’t look right on me personally.
I won’t say that I never return products but I only do it very reluctantly. If I have been given a wrong color by the associate either through error in picking up the wrong shade or being incorrectly color matched I will return the product. If the product is significantly different than advertised such as it is supposedly a matte and it is a shimmer or satin, etc. then I may return the product. I never use to return and then someone here on Temptalia made the valid point that if the product is significantly different or incorrectly advertised then the manufacturer would never know that they need to correct the product or change it’s claims. A palette like the Subculture palette would go back in a heartbeat. If it is just a product that I end up not liking or just doesn’t work for me but was as advertised, I usually keep it and give it away.
Poor quality. Irritation or allergic response to the product. If it’s not a good color match and it’s no way I can make it look good on me.
A bad smell, product not meeting the promises from the description, horrible performance, skin reaction.
Easy. In Denmark it’s not possible to return opened products, so one has to be sure before purchase.
I’ve returned items that caused significant irritation or excessive reaction, that went rancid within months of buying, damaged items, items who’s performance was poorer than expected (rare) and if I changed my mind and haven’t used the product.
I rarely return products since I research products thoroughly before I buy. I mostly return foundations that don’t match, but I’ll also return products that fail at their intended purpose. For example, I returned some Charlotte Tilbury cream eye shadows after trying multiple times to make them work (use less product, eyelid primer, set with powder shadow, etc.), but they just creased so badly on my eyelids despite being marketed as a “long wearing” product.
An obviously used or faulty product. Not much else.
I really only return makeup when the quality is just terrible because I want to send a message to the manufacturer–that you shouldn’t make and sell terribly performing products!
I wouldn’t hesitate to return an item if it gave me an allergic type reaction or irritation. And the last thing I returned simply because I didn’t like it/it didn’t deliver the colour and finish I was hoping for was Dangerous Cuvee paint pot from MAC’s ChamPale collection (oddly, it’s now in the permanent line, I think). That was back in 2010!!!! Because I research purchases carefully, thanks to Temptalia, it’s rare that I’m disappointed enough to return things.
if I bought it before you reviewed it and you gave it a bad review! LOL
I live in the Netherlands and here you can’t return a beautyproduct that has been used or opened. So unfortunately I never return something that I have already used. I try to sell it online if I don’t like it.
I don’t like to return products, but I have done it on rare occasions, and it usually involves me not following my gut instinct and taking the advice of the salesperson, like the IT Cosmetics Universal Brow Pencil that was not really universal.
In order to avoid returns, I always research products ahead of time and I often look up a product on my phone while in the store. I put swatches on and go outside to see it in normal light. One time, I returned a setting powder because although it looked great in swatches both in the store and outside in the sun, several hours later I looked like one of Willy Wonka’s Oompa Loompas.
Drugstore: never returns anything
High end: if the quality is just too appalling. Or it doesn’t address my needs at all. For example, the subculture palette is going back. Oh and the tarte brow mousse. That product is for people with bushy brows wanting a little bit of tint and that’s not my case at all. I have barely any brows. For mascaras though I have much higher standards, if it doesn’t hold a curl AND add length or volume it’s going back.
If it didn’t work out for me after some tries, the color is off (foundation/powder/concealer), and especially if I have a reaction to the product.
I very rarely return beauty products, but I just sent back the Tatcha body mist. I bought it even though the price ($50) was well above what I would normally spend on something like a body spray, because I LOVE the “Tatcha scent” and have long wished for a perfume that could make me smell like my evening first cleanse, all day long (or at least for a few hours). I thought this would be that. I also thought it would be a luxurious, continuous spray mist, and thought it would give me a subtle glow. It met not one of my expectations (aside from Tatcha’s always-gorgeous packaging and fast shipping). I tried to love it, but it just made me angry. Scent did not last more than a minute; spray pump was difficult to use; skin benefits were invisible if any. They graciously sent me a free return shipping label. So long story short, I guess that’s it: when something at a premium (to me; I guess that’s always relative) price does not meet my minimum expectations.
Emily, I had to comment on your issues with Tatcha Body Mist. So many friends, beauty gurus and blogs were touting the magnificence of this body mist and as I like several other Tatcha products I splurged and got it. Everyone said it had an amazing scent, kept the makeup on for hours and gave them a wonderful glow. I could barely smell anything and definitely didn’t see a glow. I used the product but since the mister spurted large drops on me it didn’t take long for me to use it up and of course, I would not repurchase. Just goes to show how different we all are in our taste and what works for us. I probably should have just returned mine but I don’t really like returning things, LOL.
Agreed! I’ve exchanged a wrong shade a few times before but it has to be completely unmatching to my skin. If it’s a hair off, I’ll just save myself the trouble and mix it with other things, especially if it’s the lightest shade and it’s still too dark, I just use a lightening mix-in. Same with broken things. I paid every penny for something that should be intact. I would fix a broken product if I’ve already used it and I broke it on my own, but brand new? that’s getting returned!
I usually don’t return anything unless it’s these circumstances. Mostly because sephora is just far enough away from me to be an annoying trip. I’ll just hold onto products in hope it works for me or I reach for it more, and after a year when I’ve barely touched it, I end up giving it away lol
Rare, but it happened last week, yet to be returned. I always Cosdna products/ ingredients before I open a package. In this case, S did not list a chem sunscreen in the ingredients list. Omission or error? I have a serious reaction, not just a rash or flush. Antonym blush is broken. The Antonym foundation…which I did not touch, is way wrong for ‘cool’ or red undertones. They can use it as a tester. In the case of one broken CP shadow, did not even attempt to return, just reordered. Will use the remainder of the broken one. Do expect a replacement for a martingale collar that was made wrong…the other one is fine, and the photos show it all. It’s a surprisingly expensive item, and I want the dogs in matching collars. This one has 3 famous ships on navy, and is perfect for the balance of summer. If it’s a color goof, like Nars calling a pink and a darker pink/fuschia RED in the Mustang set, I own that error. (But thanks for the mislead, Francois) I will regift those. The plum one in that set has a finish that I think is like CP blotted lip. Interesting. but keeping 2 in a set of 4 ‘reds’ does not make it a smart purchase.
I’ve only ever returned 2 beauty items. One was a hair product I picked up at Sephora. I was in a hurry and grabbed one for straight hair instead of curly. I returned it, the box still factory sealed, the next day. Another time I bought some Guerlain Meteorites online and after using them I felt they were way too sparkly for my taste and returned them.
If it was broken, I would definitely return it, but if it were the case of the wrong foundation shade – hmmm not sure whether that would be accepted. Especially if you had opened and used it. Very rare to return ‘used’ beauty items here in Aus.
I really only return foundation if it’s the wrong shade! Everything else I normally keep – unless something goes really wrong with it! For the most part, I keep things just because I don’t love returning them! Haha!
If I purchase a shade of foundation, blush or lipstick and get it home and realize it is not right for me, I usually will return it. If a sales associate has assisted me with a color or insisted that a color I purchased was perfect for me, I ABSOLUTELY make a return. What amazes me are the SAs at all counters who impress upon their customer to return an item if they are not happy, yet when said person indeed does need/want to return a purchase, that very kind SA the product was purchased from, looks at the person with disdain, is disrespectful, best yet…takes your return to their counter manager to privately “discuss” your return. What a bunch of silly, stupid women!
Problematic application (generally foundation, which I would also return for oxidation, or for a totally unsuitable finish — i.e. very unrealistic), or lacking in quality enough that I don’t feel like I can’t work with it (which really doesn’t happen, as with a few rare exceptions, I research products before I buy them). If we’re talking about skincare, anything that causes my skin to react, which is a lot of things, unfortunately.
” … don’t feel like I **can** work with it …” [sigh]
I rarely return products, but if I do it’s because an product:
*Is the wrong color, has a bad formula, doesn’t work as promised, or oxidizes (even over primer).
*Arrives with broken packaging or product, or it breaks soon after purchase (and it’s not my fault, such as I dropped it). Leaking packaging with liquid products.
*Strong or unpleasant scents or tastes. I don’t need perfumy florals on my face, or play-doh tasting lipstick.
*Causes an allergic reaction.