A Wren Says

One of my favorite activities to do with my friends was hanging out at Sephora on the weekends. We would go through all the scents, walking out smelling much better and much richer than we were as students. And then we would try on different shades of lipsticks. It was always a shade that we’d never buy typically. Well, except when we’d return after getting multiple unprompted compliments from strangers as we walked throughout the mall. I look upon that time with fondness. I am so thankful for those memories and even more thankful that none of us ended up with an infection.

Repeat after me: I will not use store testers on my face.

While I am a big proponent of getting into store and trying things for yourself, I recognize that countless other people are too. And they may not have the best hygiene practices. Whether it be using lipstick straight on their lips, the mascara wand directly on their lashes, or just double dipping their disposable applicators back in to the product, they are sharing more germs than memories with their friends. I will spare you the list of all the infections you are risk of picking up, but think of all the different ailments that people have on their lips and eyes and consider whether you’d like those on your own.  I’m assuming not.

But just because I don’t want you trying things on your face doesn’t mean I don’t want you trying them out. Here are some tips that you take in store with you to assess products without risking infection.

1. Sanitizer is your friend

The cleaner your hands are to start, the better. Ideally you would wash your hands first, but most stores don’t have sinks for public use. The second-best option is to use hand sanitizer or use wet wipes to clean your hands before you embark on this testing journey.

• Your hands and arms have a lot of work to do.

Because you won’t be putting product on your face, it’s time to roll up your sleeves, literally. Swatch colors on the back of your hand. Apply lipstick to your finger and then hold next to your face in the mirror. Create a row of eyeshadows all the way up your forearm. This helps you gauge how the colors show up on real skin and against your skin tone, without it being on your race.

• Recognize that complexion matching might be trickier

There are many reasons why your hands may not be the same color of your face. It doesn’t matter why, but it is something to consider. Personally, I know my hands are darker than the skin on my face, but the underside of my wrist is a better color match. I do my initial swabs here to gauge possible color matches. If you can, try and see if there is a part of your arm that is closest to your facial color, and then use that spot for color matching.

• Trust the pump.

If you must test products on your face, err towards those products that have a pump dispenser (i.e that are less likely to have been tampered with). Just make sure to wipe the tip of the nozzle off first.

• Focus on textures

When it comes to lip glosses and balms, put the product on your fingers and assess how they feel. Since you won’t be putting them on lips, rely on the hand feel of the product. Is it sticky? Oily? What happens to it when you rub it between your fingers? This small step can tell you a lot about what you might think about the lip formula for your lips.

• Don’t touch your face

Please, after all these precautions, don’t just go and start touching your face, transferring it all anyway. Seriously.

• Wash your hands

After you’re done testing/playing, be sure to fully clean your hands. Do your best to get it all off using the makeup removal options in store, but then go and wash your hands when you can.

• Ask for manufacture samples

Finally, you could always just ask the store if they have any prepackaged samples that you can take home. And that will probably make it all easier so you don’t need to use all these tips (except you should still be washing your hands).

Those are all the tips I can think of. What are tips would you suggest? How do you safely test products in store?

For people who are much more credentialed to give beauty product testing advice, check out Alexis and Christina on YouTube or TikTok.