Employees at major beauty retailers described a string of unsanitary, unsafe and entitled customer behaviors that complicate daily store operations and threaten hygiene standards, according to interviews conducted by HuffPost.
Current and former sales associates recounted incidents ranging from customers applying non-tester products directly to their faces to shoppers returning heavily used or substituted merchandise. Three employees who spoke to HuffPost — Sophia Burow, identified by name, and two others who used initials, NJ and BM — described repeated patterns of misuse that stores face during busy shopping periods.
Burow, who worked at a beauty retailer for three years, described shoppers squeezing foundation out of display tubes and smearing it across counters and palettes. She said a family once left a 5-year-old unsupervised in the store for two hours, during which the child damaged eyeshadow pans and sprayed body oil on the floor, requiring hours of clean-up.
Other employees described behavior they said crossed lines of safety and decency. NJ, who has two years' experience at a beauty retailer, said customers have forcibly taken items from staff. BM, who has worked in such stores for four years, said a customer exposed a breast at a makeup counter to swatch a nude lipstick and another person sprayed a fragrance into their mouth to see what it tasted like. BM also recounted customers attempting to use display brushes bolted to counters and tearing them off to complete full makeup applications.
Testers were a central concern across interviews. Employees said testers are frequently misused: customers smear products directly on faces, sneeze on them, let babies teethe on them and, in at least one account, eat them. NJ and BM said certain products are particularly problematic because they are marketed as "skin smoothies" or come with sponge-tip applicators that are difficult to sanitize.
"Despite employees’ best efforts to keep everything clean and up to store standards, testers will always be a risky venture in terms of sanitation," Burow said. BM warned that some used testers could collect mold and advised customers to swatch on tissues or hands rather than directly on the face. Employees recommended using sanitary applicators, asking associates to sanitize testers, or cleaning swatches with alcohol when appropriate.
Returns and attempted fraud were raised as additional pain points. Employees said some customers return partially used items or attempt to swap different-sized products into original packaging. NJ described a returned fragrance that appeared to contain a differently sized bottle than what had been purchased. Burow described a customer who tried to return a lipstick several years past its purchase date and then delayed closing time by insisting on a transaction argument.
Store return policies vary, and many retailers allow returns within time windows such as 30 days, which can leave room for abuse, employees said. Staff members also noted that returned products deemed unsafe are routinely destroyed to prevent reuse or "dumpster diving."
Employees said many incidents end without escalation because customers accept store policies when calmly informed, but they emphasized that hygiene and basic courtesy would prevent most problems. "Treat the employees (and the products) the same way you’d like to be treated," NJ said. BM added that shoppers should remember other customers will handle testers after them and urged people to avoid behaviors they would not tolerate at home, such as digging fingers into makeup or letting children chew on lipsticks.
Retail staff pointed to practical steps customers can take to reduce risk: swatch on tissues, use provided sanitary tools, ask for assistance when testers look unclean and be mindful of return policies. Those steps, employees said, help protect both customer safety and the working conditions of store associates.
The accounts collected by HuffPost reflect the experiences of a small number of employees and are illustrative of broader concerns raised by frontline retail workers about sanitation, consumer entitlement and the operational strain of policing in-store behavior. Retailers set and enforce policies differently, and customers who are unsure how to try a product safely are encouraged to ask store staff for help.