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Nothing thrills a beauty enthusiast more than (1) touching one’s face, and (2) free samples. But in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, we must all be vigilant: No touching your face, and no touching things other people have touched to their face before touching your own face, either! Specifically, those free makeup testers hanging out in the open at beauty stores that people are definitely still touching.
An Ulta Beauty employee told Insider she finds it “astonishing” how many people are willing to use product testers in the store she works at, and the New York Times reports that Sephora “has its employees wiping down front door handles with Clorox wipes hourly,” yet “early this week consultants in at least one store were still applying makeup from common testers to customers.” Tweets tell a similar, unsettling tale of the disconnect that the virus can spread through surface contact and that products are indeed, surfaces.
We’re already taking precautions by banning free Costco samples, we might as well follow suit with free makeup. Foundation isn’t going inside our mouths like a free spinach ravioli, but literally every makeup product gets extremely close to either your eye balls, mouth hole, or nostrils; the three areas the CDC and medical experts have flagged because they are the cavities through which respiratory diseases spread. Remember when that woman claimed a lipstick sample gave her herpes? Because now is an excellent time to reread that harrowing tale! It’s really, really hard to stop touching your own face, but now is not the time to dip into public pots or have someone else with more experienced hands to touch it for you.
Besides, there are more than enough gross, bacteria loads living in the makeup brushes and sponges you already paid for. Maybe just stay home and force yourself to finally clean those.