STOP buying beauty products off of Amazon: here’s why

We have all been sucked down the Amazon wormhole, searching the latest gadget that carries all your grocery bags in one trip (no shame), when we stumble upon a “great” deal on some shampoo and conditioner, or the latest Korean beauty product must-have.

We are here to tell you PLEASE DON’T BUY IT!

And no, this isn’t because we want you to buy all of your hair products from us (okay, we do want that... but that’s not the purpose of this post).

Here are 5 reasons you should NOT be buying your beauty products from Amazon (as well as Winners and the drugstore):

1. There are many fakes floating around. Wondering why that high end salon shampoo is $10 less on Amazon? This is likely the reason; only authorized sellers are able to sell high end brands. If you are purchasing a beauty product that is not authentic, chances are, the ingredients are crap, and the bottle has loads of chemicals that are not listed. Basically, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
2. Many of the products, especially at places like Winners, are nearing their expiry date. Problems like this arise because there is no regulation on how these products are handled by customers. As soon as a product is opened, and bacteria is introduced, the shelf life of the product has started (think of it like pasta sauce: it can sit in your pantry for a long time, but as soon as it is opened, it needs to be used within a certain period of time). If you are not the first person to open the product, there is no way of knowing how long these items are good for.
3. Theft! So many of the beauty products that can be purchased at Amazon or discount retailers are the culprit of theft. The black market for beauty products is becoming more and more prevalent. Recently, brand new makeup by Jeffree Star Cosmetics began popping up at discount retailers after his factory suffered a 2 million dollar burglary! 
4. The products can be returned and resold. Gross. It’s bad enough that customers often touch, smell, and test these products in the stores, but there is pretty much zero guarantee that the product you would be buying hasn’t be returned by another customer.
5. There is zero regulation. When you are buying products off of Amazon, or another online retailer that is likely coming from overseas, these products have not been tested or cleared by the FDA. Big brands selling for less are sold by third party dealers, most likely have been tampered and watered down. Many times these products will not harm you, but come on: saving a few bucks surely isn’t worth the risk.  

There are many places you can buy regulated, safe, and authentic beauty products. Amazon, Winners, and drugstores are not those places!