Hey everyone! Valentine kicked off this series with a fantastic beginner's guide to indies, and I'm going to expand on it today. In this post, I'll be sharing my personal considerations for vetting a new-to-me indie company. My routine is based on a mix of general safety and personal preference, so I encourage you to think about your own priorities and create a vetting procedure that meets your needs. Please also note I'm in the US so I am writing this post with my own country's regulations and shops in mind; obviously the rules and considerations change for shops and customers located in other countries.
In no particular order, I consider the following before purchasing from any new-to-me company:
Reviews
I can't adequately describe just how important reviews are to my buying process. Indie makeup blogs have gotten more and more popular of late, so a quick google should get you plenty of swatches and reviews on most established companies (and, shameless plug, our Company List and Flickr Swatch Gallery are good starting points). If the company is on Etsy, check their reviews and star rating. Read back until you've seen at least a handful of ratings that are 4 stars or below, and get a sense of why unhappy customers are unhappy. Stop by Reddit's indie community and its associated Brand Experiences Forum - though any makeup community will likely have its own indie contingent to help you out - and see what people have to say about the brand. If a brand owner responds to any reviews of their products, see what they have to say. Make sure to check the dates on the reviews, too; I can think of a few brands which had difficulties in the past but have resolved the issues and become fantastic, trustworthy places to shop.
A lack of reviews is by no means an instant dealbreaker for me, especially if the shop is brand new, but it means I'm even more careful about checking the rest of my criteria described here before I consider purchasing. If you do purchase from a company with few reviews, consider writing a review of your ordering experience and the products you received so others can benefit from it.
Product photos
Take a look at how the brand is advertising their goods. If they're selling makeup, are there clear photos of the products? Better yet, are there well-lit swatches showing the product in action? Serious brands will often (but certainly not always) provide solid photos to give you a good idea of what you're buying. If a brand is using stock photos or heavily Photoshopped images to sell their products, that makes me wary.
Read through the description and see if the brand gives any information about whether their swatches are shown over a base, how many layers of lipstick are on the model, or any other information they have about how they achieved the performance shown in their product images. Be critical - their goal is to show the product in the absolute best light possible, even it if takes six coats of nail polish, four blotted layers of lipstick, or liberal application of a sticky eyeshadow base to look good.
Ingredients
This is a whole can o'worms that we'll hopefully address in future posts, so I'll try (and possibly fail) to give the 10,000 foot perspective on this. I consider a few different things here.
First, is there an ingredients list? I've browsed the FDA's website on labeling regulations, but they seem silent on whether ingredients lists are required on online listings for products. Regardless, I have a personal rule not to buy from companies that don't list their product ingredients (though do note some brands such as Meow have their ingredients all listed separately on one page). I want to make sure none of the products I'm considering contain my personal allergens, I want to confirm the products contain ingredients which are approved for the features on which they're advertised to be used, I want to make sure they're using preservatives and anti-rancidity ingredients where appropriate, and I just generally want transparency about what I'm putting on my body. Furthermore, I expect brands to more or less follow the FDA's guidelines for ingredients lists, which means putting components in decreasing order by amount and explicitly stating every ingredient - no hiding behind "micas and oxides for color" or similar. Regulations allow perfume makers to protect their fragrance components as trade secrets, but I expect them to at least list what carrier oil(s) they use.
I keep an eye on the ingredient lists as I flip through products. If the ingredient list is identical for every eyeshadow regardless of color or finish, and the list doesn't include a "May Contain..." at the end to account for different shades, I'm suspicious. Here's a good test - if a brand has a blue eyeshadow that doesn't list ultramarines, ferric ferrocyanide, or blue dye among its ingredients, that's a quick way to learn that the ingredient list is probably incomplete.
Finally, I'd encourage you to read up on repackaging (for makeup) and stock fragrances (for perfume) if you want to explore new-to-you indie brands. There are a ton of indie sellers creating gorgeous, unique, handmade labors of love, but there are also a few bad apples who buy bulk micas or stock scents and resell them for a huge markup without disclosure. Some respected brands do sell stock makeup or scents alongside their own handmade goods, but the stock products should be clearly marked as such.
There are also some indie brands which will buy a pre-made product base (such as an unscented lotion base) and mix their own handmade fragrance into it. This is a bit controversial in the indie community, so I encourage you to consider whether you fall into the camp of "I'm buying indie because I want it to be 100% handmade by the person selling it to me" or "I'd prefer the brand owner spend their time making more beautiful perfumes rather than trying to perfect a base recipe". I lean toward the latter view, but it is completely up to you to set your own priorities and purchase accordingly.
Claims
This one's pretty easy. If a brand is claiming their products will make you look pretty and feel happier about your appearance, awesome. If a brand is claiming that OMG YOUR DRUGSTORE FOUNDATION IS GIVING YOU CANCER but thankfully theirs is "chemical-free" or will cure your various medical ailments... I roll my eyes, close the tab, and write them off forever. If a product "treats or prevents disease or otherwise affects the structure or any function of the body" (source) the FDA will likely consider it a drug, which means it needs to be reviewed and approved by the agency (source). Friends don't let friends buy snake oil, and cranky bloggers don't let unethical brands make money selling fear.
Policies
Take a peek at the brand's policies and see if they note any guarantees for bad batches of products or otherwise dissatisfied customers. It's normal for indie brands not to accept returns given the nature of cosmetic and body products, but many reputable brands will offer refunds or replacements if your products aren't working for you. The policies might have other helpful information about product shelf life, shipping costs, turnaround time, and what countries the brand ships to, so they're always worth a read.
Secure checkout
In light of the recent Lime Crime train wreck, it's more important than ever before to be vigilant when buying anything online. Use PayPal or another reputable payment system if that works for you, look for "https" at the front of the URL on any webpage which asks for your password or credit/debit card information, and consider backing away slowly if your browser warns you the website is not secure.
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Are you scared yet? Don't be - problems are generally few and far between, and most are easily avoided. If you're brand new to indies I'd suggest following Valentine's recommendations on what indie companies to buy from, and if you decide you want to explore more, work your way from there. Have tons of fun, and don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it!
What do you look for when you're considering buying from a new-to-you company? Did I miss anything important? Did I get anything wrong? Let me know in the comments!
What do you look for when you're considering buying from a new-to-you company? Did I miss anything important? Did I get anything wrong? Let me know in the comments!
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