The future of beauty retail?

[JMAngel1]

So I finally went shopping yesterday to a big Boots branch and it was alk very underwhelming. A lot of the big name counters were stripped - Clinique for example had no makeup, just skincare on self serve, no SAs, no testers ( I was expecting that). Worst of all were no fragrance testers
How is the industry to survive?It made me think that beauty retailers are really going to have to step up their game with virtual try on VDUs, or house scents in fragrance note categories with good descriptions or if you like this, try this.

It was all a bit sad really. Has anyone else been shopping and felt a bit underwhelmed/nostalgic for the BC way of beauty shopping?

I am so interested in this because I love perfume but the ones I like are right, right at the top of what I could afford. No way would I purchase from a description only.

The same with candles. I need to work up to spending £40+ on a candle for myself. I definitely want to sniff the sample first. But that seems so...dangerous....

Oh I felt so sad when I went into boots recently

just isn't the same

god knows what the answer is :/

I was in Boots today for hayfever stuff and the counters were open - I’m in Scotland so a bit behind, previously they have been shut down completely. The sales assistants were wearing visors, I guess so customers can still see their makeup unlike with a mask?

Like PP I love trying perfumes, and happily while away my lunch break swatching lipsticks in John Lewis. (I think our John Lewis might not reopen at all.) I am quite lucky in that I know what I need in terms of skincare, foundation etc (not right now, but I have products that I repeat buy) but probably will be less keen to try new things.

To me a big part of it is the “experience” - chatting to the consultant, trying a lipstick on the back of my hand or having her put it on me, things being nicely packaged up, and walking off with that rope-handled bag.

Don’t they have those little paper strips which they spray with perfume and waft under your nose? John Lewis has been doing that for years.

It's because most of these products come from China. Due to COVID-19, there are problems both with manufacturing and shipping.

Try to buy from companies that manufacture in the UK. There are loads of them.

I think virtual try on is the way forward & more samples of products.

Regarding perfume I think perhaps sales assistants spraying the fragrance on a blotter or piece of cotton wool or tissue & then you wipe it on your arm.

There was a programme I half listened to on the radio about this, it seems to be a real concern for high end beauty. There's just not a decent alternative to actual application and trial, suitable for social distancing.

To be fair, this is probably more of an issue from a retail perspective. From experience, it's fecking hard to sell, let alone up sell, if you can't use products on customers...

SpaceNK day that their own sales staff will demonstrate the product on their own skin. This isn’t helpful if you want to try out the foundation for a colour match.

Beauty companies have to step up their free sachets so that you can try them at home. Or, maybe charge £2 for the small tester foundation bottles (Dior, Estée Lauder and YSL definitely have these available) so that you don’t feel too pissed off about wasting £2 on the wrong colour rather than £26 on a full bottle. The other alternative is to get a lighter shade and a darker shade and blend them together on the back of your hand, the way make up artists do.

I think for me, it's not just about securing the correct product - it's more the experience and browsing tbat I relish. We can al do research online (shade finder and virtual apps) but it doesn't make up for the lack of swatching fir exact shade and texture. Often our skin tone will skew a shade so what looks lije a rose neutral on one skin tone can look like a bright fuscia on another. Beauty retail is really going to have to think about this and categorise shades into skin tone/eye colour categories - I suppose a bit like how Prescriptives used to market shades or maybe Trinny these days.
In terms of fragrance, spraying onto perfume cards (which Boots weren't even offering!) cannot replace the way that a scent changes on induvidual skins. Often the base niete doesn't develop on card/paper in the same way and perfumes can smell very linear when in fact they may be far more complex on actual skin.

We may all have to stick with our tried and tested favourites for now which is a shame - especially for those of us who love the thrill of the chase for the next Holy Grail!

I'll be sticking to what I know, but that might be tricky because the industry keeps pushing new products and old favourites get discontinued. Also, the plastic waste puts me off from going to a shop.

There are some new perfume releases I'd love to try though.

Perfume should be straight forward - the assistant could spray on your skin, no need for you to touch bottle.
Maybe there will be lots of disposable little plastic pots and the like to give samples to customers (not a fan of that idea!)

I hate the extra plastic things, it will put me off buying.

I’ve been online shopping for my beauty products for years. Mostly beauty pie and the ordinary. I’d only very occasionally go in store to buy perfume (but I usually just use Chanel no.5 so not really a huge need, just when I occasionally feel like something different although I plan on trying the beauty pie scents next time I feel the urge). Hand cream I’ve always bought from loccitane in whichever tube was most appealing at the time.

I feel like this could easily be done with a bit of common sense.

You want to try on a foundation?

Testers kept behind counter for assistants use only - they pump a bit onto a plastic palette on the counter. They can use paint palettes to be able to put more than one colour.

You then apply to yourself in the mirror and make a decision.

Palette is put to one side behind the counter - they are washed between uses.

Same can be done with lipsticks as some lipstick can be scraped onto the palette and then applied with lip brushes which are washed at the end of the day and left overnight in disinfectant.

Perfumes are easy. Testers behind the counter - sprayed by assistant onto those paper things they use.

If I was a high end perfume retailer I would be using more sample sizes in the stores.

More free individual free samples and cheap tester size products.

I sometimes buy skincare/make-up from a site called Alyaka. For some brands they do tester kits- you select 5 or 6 items you want a small quantity of from a wider selection. It costs about £20, but that’s redeemable against a future purchase from the brand within the next month or so.

You're right @wheresmymojo
A bit of creative thinking and it can be done!

@wheresmymojo

I don’t think that is realistic - sorry. I rarely want the assistant involved with my browsing. I like to do it alone and in my own way.

When assistants ask if I want help, I almost always just want them to leave me in peace so I don’t feel under pressure and can enjoy the experience.

I'd never buy perfume without trying it on my skin first, I only use the paper strips to narrow down a bit before trying one or two on my arms. They change a lot in half an hour and often the base notes develop give me headaches, so I spray onto me and leave the shop while it develops.

I've been wondering if with so many people WFH make-up use will reduce anyway. I've hardly worn any since lockdown.

Worst of all were no fragrance testers shock

Boots allow customers to sample fragrance, they handle the bottle and spray it on a card for you. It’s still early days for non-essential retail, if your local store doesn’t offer this yet they probably will in the coming weeks (especially if they have a staffed fragrance department as some are still furloughed & haven’t returned to work yet.)

I don’t mind not testing fragrance on my skin tbh. I have a large collection and have figured out what generally works for me?? I‘m not anal about having a signature scent though.

I imagine in the future makeup/perfume testing will return but products will either be single use samples or cleaned after each use. I will be glad to see the back of mascara/lipgloss testers! Even without a highly infectious disease they are unhygienic

If I go browsing fragrance, I may spray up to 15 in one visit - and walk away. There's no way I would feel comfortable asking an SA to do this for me - I would feel embarrassed. It wouldn't be a good experience for me and definitely not for them!

I have been using fewer products, what with working from home, it feels silly to have a face full of slap when wearing nothing but pyjamas.

I'm also trying to use up what I have, and not spending a lot of money.

Add to that the plastic overload in the shops, and I don't think I'll be shopping for beauty products anytime soon. I did do a mail order for a couple of things from SpaceNK, and hair colour, but compared to my usual levels of spending that's not much.

The fun is gone.

Same with fragrance, I need to spray on skin and not just once, so a SA who I have to ask and who has to change gloves between each customer is not my idea of a shopping for perfume.

the fun is gone

This is so true. For now.

I think with clever marketing and better/faster delivery service a lot of online make up brands will thrive as they can engage their customers through social media with ‘how to use’ videos and so on.

However, I cannot see how £££ perfume brands can do this.

Surprisingly, I found that i am enjoying and adjusting well to buying all my beauty items online. It helps that I have a beauty pie subscription and that is totally online anyway. I am also used to buying korean beauty items and that used to be completely online too. Also bought stuff during lockdown from glossier, Makeup forever- brands that were never ubiquitous on the high street to begin with. Its different but not necessarily worse.

I enjoy putting on makeup in my nightgown, it makes me feel normal. I agree that shopping for beauty products in store is quite depressing and maybe i might be buying all my beauty products online in the future post covid, which is quite a big shift for me.