Buying Beauty Online (3 Reminders and Tips)

Online shopping is one of the most enjoyable inventions to have come out of this century. Who among us does not like the thought of shopping in the comfort of PJs sipping our morning coffee as opposed having to fighting traffic and crowds and waiting in exceedingly long checkout lines? Not only that, the Internet opens up the entire world of any and every possible product available to us with a simple push of a button. For me, this vastness of possibility is appreciated the most when I am shopping for beauty products, especially this time of year when I am hunting for fun, unique items to give to friends and family. Understandably, for many people, buying makeup or any other beauty product sight physically unseen is something that they might never do. But in all my experiences of purchasing beauty products, both for myself and for other people, and doing about 90% of it via the Internet, I have discovered some key things to keep in mind to make the process less intimidating.

Be Fully Aware of the Return Policy, and Save All Receipts and Packaging: Just in case your online purchase doesn't work out, be sure to give yourself the extra insurance policy of knowing how you can return an item if necessary. Every company has different stipulations on if, how, on what, and until when they will accept returns, so there is no hard and fast rules. Personally, while I have taken advantage of return policies before, I do still prefer to pass on items that don’t end up working for me, rather than returning them where they likely will be thrown away. But sometimes,especially on a pricey item, it does soften the blow of a product being disappointing to get one’s money back or at least earn some store credit.

Get Familiar With How Your Screens Read Color: One of the most common complaints about shopping for makeup on the Internet is that colors do not read true-to-life on a screen. and indeed, even with the highest of high definition screens, every device does translate color slightly differently. But to get a feel for how colors look on your computer monitor or phone screen versus real life, take a picture on tour phone of several different-colored objects in your home under various types of lighting. Look at the images and the physical objects and note any differences, Then, upload those images to your computer and see how they all compare. This can be lengthy process and may not always be foolproof, but over time,you will start to get a sense of how your devices interpret color in relation to how those same colors appear in person, making finding your perfect shades-- and making sure what you'll get matches up more with what you see-- much easier.

Search for MIB and Be Cautious With Unauthorized Sellers: The letters MIB stand for "mint in box", and these letters are the best thing to look for if you are wanting to buy beauty products (especially hard-to-find ones) on secondhand sites such as Ebay. Typing MIB into your search bar after the product you are looking will help you find listings for that product that are in their boxes and have never been touched. If there are no results that are labeled as MIB, it is still a good idea to only purchase beauty items that have not been opened and still have their original packaging to ensure that they are in the best and freshest condition possible when they will arrive to you. Once they do, if they are not in the promised condition or if you have any doubts about the quality, refrain from using them and contact the seller immediately. Another tip for when you are shopping for beauty products from unauthorized sellers, is if a price for an item, even if it is discontinued or was limited edition, is more expensive than the original retail price of the item, this could be an indicator that the listing or the product inside could be fake and not worth the risk of purchasing.

While there may never truly be a replacement for seeing, touching, and swatching a new color or cream on the skin for trying to gauge how this new thing might perform. keeping these things in mind, will help you traverse the world of online beauty buying with confidence. Happy shopping, everyone!