Musings From A Beauty Cupboard Move

We’re relocating the Harper’s Bazaar and ELLE beauty cupboard this week at Hearst HQ which has unearthed some hidden gems (hello frisbee with my name on!) and prompted discussions over product samples – such as how they could be more efficaciously distributed and better organised within the limited space we have.

A takeaway which feels relevant to note here is on shade selections of colour cosmetics. Often, we’re sent an entire range of a product – such as a foundation or concealer – which may come in 40-plus variations. It’s very generous, and valuable to see the nuances in formulations available to shoppers, but inevitably we’ll only be able to test one/two of the offering on our own faces, which means many meanwhile gather dust.

One alternative approach we find works well is the sending of much smaller units like consumer samples (as opposed to the full-size samples we’re privileged to see as press). For example, a version of the genius creation by Lisa Eldridge – her Foundation Sample Cards – is ideal for such PR activity. Retailing on the make-up artist’s website for £2, each card comes with four different shades of the Seamless Skin foundation from the total 44 on offer. Via something like this we could identify which one(s) we’d like to call in full-sized – so we could still see the product in all its glory.

Or there’s the even simpler approach of sharing imagery of a shade offering via email and suggesting we pick the best fit to try (as seen in my ‘press release of the day’, below). It’s riskier, but no doubt more sustainable in various ways.

As you’d likely expect, excess samples end up in the much-fabled ‘beauty sales’ held at publishing companies which raise money for charity. I’d guess that the committee overseeing ours would welcome some streamlining of stock… not that the wider employees at Hearst would! Though, when it comes to precious press send-outs, they’re not your target market, are they?