End of In-Store Testers and Samples in the Beauty Industry

Article via Allure

"Nothing will go back to normal." At this point in history, that statement could (and should) apply to anything (and everything). But in this particular instance, Cassandra M. Pierre, a physician specializing in infectious diseases and the medical director of public health programs at Boston Medical Center, is referring to the future of beauty product testing. Swatching, swiping, and slathering simply do not exist in a post-COVID-19 world.

Well, perhaps "post-COVID-19 world" is an ambitious turn of phrase. The disease caused by the novel coronavirus — you know, the one that incited a worldwide pandemic at the top of 2020 and has claimed nearly a half a million lives globally at the time of writing — shows no signs of stopping. In spite of this, states are beginning to loosen lockdown restrictions and stores are starting to reopen; including traditionally high-touch, high-risk retail environments like Sephora and Ulta Beauty.

"Even pre-COVID-19, there's always been some risk with [in-store product sampling]," Pierre says. "There are people who have claimed that they had a new herpes infection after they used samples of lipstick, or that they've had other types of bacterial or viral infections from using those shared samples."

Bacteria and viruses (like SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19) can be spread through both person-to-person contact and surface contact, which is what makes it particularly dangerous to practice communal cosmetic sampling while the coronavirus persists. "Primary transmission for COVID-19 is through respiratory droplets, but they are very susceptible to gravity," the expert explains. "You're talking and droplets are emitted and they fall ... on something that you're sampling. That can carry that infection particle to the next person who uses it."

"In general, [beauty testers] tend to hold a lot of bacteria and in this COVID-19 era, where we know this disease can spread through direct contact or airborne exposure, it would be very risky to expose oneself to something other people are using," agrees Nada Elbuluk, a board-certified dermatologist and clinical associate professor of dermatology at the USC Keck School of Medicine. She notes that although data on the virus is still developing and much remains unknown, "we do know that it can live for hours and up to days on certain surfaces."

That longevity translates to increased risk for exposure, contamination, and spread — especially since makeup testers tend to be applied near the eye and mouth areas, which are considered mucosal sites. "Mucosal surfaces can more easily absorb what we’re exposed to," Elbuluk tells Allure. "They can be entry points for different viruses, bacteria, and infections."

Given all of the above, it's not surprising that beauty retailers are saying goodbye to traditional sampling — and hello to extreme sanitization, "no-touch" testing, single-use samples, subscription boxes, and artificial intelligence.

Stores will take additional safety measures

To ensure all employees are healthy, all surfaces are properly sanitized, and all customers are safe, Sephora has announced new "Health & Hygiene Guidelines" and Ulta Beauty has launched its "Shop Safe Standards," incorporating guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (and common sense). Think: mandatory face coverings for sales associates, increased store cleanings, optional contactless payment methods.

"When we reopen, there [will be] a temperature check every morning for employees," Romain Gaillard, the founder of The Detox Market, tells Allure. (Most Detox Market locations currently only offer curbside pickup, with select locations offering one-on-one, by-appointment shopping.) "Everyone will be wearing masks. We will have disposable masks for people entering the stores and hand sanitizers everywhere." He adds that upon reopening, stores will be limiting the amount of people allowed in at any given time in order to encourage social distancing.

In-store sampling will be limited to one-on-one, no-touch interactions

Gaillard notes that cosmetic testers — typically left on display for customers to swatch at their convenience — are effectively canceled. Instead, shoppers will "have to ask someone to try something, and the Detox Market ambassador will help," he says. "If it's a color cosmetic, the ambassador will put it on a palette and hand it to the customer to see if they want to apply it on their hand."

Similarly, Sephora has adopted a no-touch policy. "Customers will no longer be able to pick up and touch testers or apply product to themselves," Annie Lawless, the founder and CEO of Lawless Beauty, tells Allure. (Sephora is the brand's exclusive retailer.) "Sephora Beauty Advisors and our brand field team will also not be touching clients. Instead, they will demo the product shade, texture, and application on their own skin and verbally educate on the product."