The New Drugstore Experience: CVS Beauty Revamp
Today’s post is sponsored by InfluenceHer Collective and CVS Beauty!
Ever since I started wearing makeup in college, I’ve been a consistent CVS shopper. I would stretch my limited student budget by taking advantage of their various ExtraCare Club and Beauty Club deals and stacking coupon codes and Extrabucks. To this day, I continue to shop for beauty there because it’s only gotten bigger and better since then.
Over the past year, they have totally revamped their beauty section in multiple ways and the new store format can now be found in more than 50 new stores, including select stores in New York, Los Angeles, Miami and Boston! They’ve introduced new brands and services, and have even re-done their marketing approach and beauty floor. The combination is a shopping experience that’s much more welcoming and inclusive.
New Brand Curations
As amazing as the internet is to introducing us to new brands, it’s even *more* amazing when you’re able to access those elusive brands in real life. Over the past year, CVS has worked to bring a whole new range of rising skincare and makeup brands in store— some of my personal favorites include Bliss, Peach Slices (by Peach & Lily), Peripera, and Pixi! Pixi and Peripera, especially, used to be brands I would have to order from overseas retailers. The fact that I can now drive down the road to CVS and not only purchase these products, but actually try them out in store, is a game changer. Which brings us to the next major change…
Testers & Hygiene Stations
Have you ever spent 30 minutes looking up swatches and reviews for a drugstore foundation, only to go home with the totally wrong shade? Cause I have. It’s one of the reasons I seldom purchase base products at the drugstore.But CVS is changing that. They’ve started introducing testers for all their makeup— from blush to foundation to eyeshadow palettes. And not only are there testers, but there are also hygiene stations stocked with micellar water, cotton swabs, and Q-tips so you don’t have to risk accidentally rubbing half a dozen red lipstick swatches from the back of your hand onto your clothes.
GSQ by Glamsquad Beauty Bar
You may have heard of Glamsquad before, they’re start-up that provides on demand beauty services. Well, now they have partnered up with CVS on a product line AND a beauty bar in select CVS stores! If you’re in the NYC area, there are two stores in midtown, one near Penn Station and another near Times Square on 49th and Broadway.
The beauty bars offer a wide variety of services, from haircare to makeup to piercings. Last week I went in for a dry-styling session at their Times Square location, before heading to a holiday party. I had day 3 hair, and things were not looking cute. 15 minutes later I walked out with princess braids and a totally refreshed do! The prices are also very reasonable, and you can book an appointment ahead of time here.
Beauty Unaltered Promise
While all these changes have been great, the most groundbreaking (in my opinion) is their Beauty Unaltered promise. Living in the digital age, we are constantly faced with picture perfect images that create unrealistic expectations of how to look, because we can’t Photoshop real life! In the spirit of transparency and their dedication to the health of their customers, CVS has stopped retouching or altering any of their beauty imagery to help promote healthier beauty standards. And if they do include imagery from a beauty brand that has been digitally altered, it will be disclosed as such. If you walk around CVS, you’ll see images with the “Beauty Unaltered” logo to indicate that they are unedited.
That’s A Wrap!
CVS really raised the bar in 2019 with their entire approach to beauty! Hopefully you’re able to stop by sometime soon and experience the changes for yourself 👌