CosmoBiz Magazine November 2017 | Page 20

Beauty The Future of Cosmetics in Beauty Supply Stores: Rise of the MUAs W hen purchasing cosmetic brands in beauty supply stores, you’ll find they are mainly low-priced products, which appeals to cosmetics demand of quali- ty inexpensive makeup. With the growing demand for these products like Crown Pro, NYX and KISS, beauty supply store cosmetics are growing competition for de- partment and cosmetic stores, such as Macy’s, which sells MAC and Dior cosmetics and Ulta and Sephora beauty stores, but there are still some differences be- tween the two. The most notable difference between buyers who purchase cosmetics at beauty supply stores and buyers who purchase cosmetics from the non-beauty stores is receiving makeup services and education about appli- cation of the products. All cosmetic brands, including MAC, Bobbi Brown, and Nars, offer makeup ser- vices at their selling locations that were earlier listed. Most of these makeup services are made up of similar systems at all of their different store locations. For example, let’s refer to Sephora, the mega beau- ty house, which carries a plethora of popular beauty brands like Kat Von D, Urban Decay and NARS. 20 C O S M O B I Z M A G A Z I N E Makeup services are provided at 706 Sephora stores na- tionwide and the full cost of a makeover is $50. Where it benefits the customer is not spending the $50 for the application service, but in fact, buying $50 worth of product. Customers purchase a $50 gift card, which gives the customer the opportunity to purchase those items used in the makeover. This is beneficial for event purposes, like prom, where customers can buy products to reapply during their event, like lipstick, blotting pa- pers, or a highlighter. So, Sephora essentially offers this makeup service for free.