A Sephora shopper was praised for her well-time usage of a specific tester product in a viral TikTok that’s accrued over 4.2 million views as of Sunday.
Sarah (@sarahhjane) explained that she strategically visits Sephora the day before she plans on washing her hair so that she can douse it in pre-wash oil/treatment for free courtesy of the store’s testing units. But could there be any drawbacks to regularly relying on a public tub of a beauty product as part of your routine, even if the price of “free” seems tempting?
“Girl math is going to Sephora before hair wash day to drench your damaged hair in their expensive masks and oils,” Sarah writes in a text overlay of her video, which shows her in a Sephora store and applying several drops of a treatment product into her hair.
In the comments section, there didn’t seem to be too many people who disagreed with her approach.
“But really why not.. it’s a good way to test if something works on your hair before buying something super expensive,” one person wrote.
Another commenter went so far as to call anyone who didn’t think that this hack worked “deluded,” writing, “This is so valid and anyone who disagrees for any reason other than sanitary fear is deluded.”
@_sarahhjane Girlies on a tight budget #sephora #girlmath #damagedhair #bleachedhair #hairmask #blonde ♬ nightcrawler instrumental – audios
There didn’t seem to be any pushback from a Sephora worker in the comments section of the video, who penned, “I support this message -a sephora employee.”
One viewer thought that Sarah’s decision to use hair samplers in this manner was a much more astute use of Sephora resources than other products.
“Using hair testers like this makes so much more sense than using makeup testers or skincare ones,” they said.
Several others called Sarah’s hair treatment hack a smart move with one person commenting, “As an employee i do that lmaooo and if i’m closing after i’m done closing i do my nighttime skincare before going home.”
The topic of getting the most mileage possible out of Sephora’s free “testers” has been discussed at length in many an online forum, and there are outlets that will delineate a few do’s and don’ts folks may want to keep in mind while trying out these communal cosmetics.
However, if you’re abiding by the advice in this 2023 Daily Mail article, then there are a heck of a lot more “don’ts” than there are “dos.” Namely, don’t ever use tester makeup at the chain as they are “teeming with bacteria.”
Putting that on your face is probably not the best idea, but hair oil inside of a jar with a little dropper is probably fine…unless someone with lice goes and digs it into the scalp.
Sarah isn’t the first person to go viral recently while documenting her usage of in-store testers are part of her self-beautification process—fashion editor Sierra Mayhew recorded herself heading inside a Walgreens to touch up an insecurity she has about her physical appearance before going to dinner, and she sparked a viral debate.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Sephora via email and Sarah via TikTok comment.
