Vogue editors buy their handbags on luxury second-hand sites; Carrie Johnson paid £45 to rent her designer bridal gown. Even Hollywood stars now like to boast that their red carpet outfits are vintage, darling. Forget brand new — the buzzwords are pre-own and pre-loved. But would you buy second-hand make-up?
Apparently many are. They are shopping for it on the re-commerce cosmetics platform Glou Beauty. The US-based website, founded in 2018 by Karen Lee, stocks cut-price cosmetic cast-offs in three categories: new, swatched (opened once) and used.
Lee’s site stocks all the hot make-up brands. A used nude eye-shadow palette from Huda Beauty, £62 new, is on sale for $55 (around £43). Two pre-owned bottles of Charlotte Tilbury’s bestselling foundation have already been snapped up.
Products from Kylie Jenner’s viral beauty label Kylie Cosmetics, the French luxury skincare house La Mer and every millennial’s favourite make-up label Glossier are also available to buy.
Tempted? Most women will have borrowed some lippie from a friend or tried on some communal tester blusher in Boots — but fewer would probably consider paying for a hand-me-down highlighter, lip pencil or pot of concealer.
Despite this, Lee says her customer base is growing.
“We have five times the number of people signing up to buy and sell on Glou on a daily basis than three years ago, and twice as many as this time last year,” she says. “In general our customers are very savvy online shoppers who know how to hunt for a deal, but also have a lot of product knowledge in the beauty realm. They come with a wishlist of products so they make very intentional purchases.”
Second-hand cosmetics and skincare are now stocked on eBay and the popular resale site Vinted. The difference is that beauty products on those websites must be new, unopened and in date. Vinted says that these conditions are strictly moderated.
“Foundations and concealers go off — they start smelling a bit weird, and the formulation changes,” says the celebrity make-up artist Julia Wren.
She advises never to buy used mascara, to sharpen any pencils — lip or eye liner, for example — before use and to check that the pump on the foundation hasn’t been used if it is advertised as unopened.
“You can take the top layer of a lipstick off, but I think second-hand eyeshadow would be really dodgy, because it’s very hard to clean a powder,” she adds.
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If you’re baulking at this trend, you can blame social media for it. Pre-teens look to Instagram and TikTok for beauty ideas to spend their pocket money on, while “get ready with me” videos encourage OTT, multi-step skincare routines that drive sales.
Other savvy young shoppers buy the latest must-have products in bulk and resell them at a premium. A tube of Peptide lip tint from the It-girl Hailey Bieber’s brand Rhode is £18.99 on the brand’s website but listed on eBay for £30.99.
“There are more beauty and make-up product launches than ever before — and with the rise of viral TikTok products comes high demand, often for items with big price-tags,” says the London-based wellness influencer Estée Lalonde. “With sustainability also at the forefront of many people’s minds, it’s not surprising to see people adapt second-hand shopping habits to beauty.”
Alternative beauty outlets exist for those shopping on a budget. At Boop Beauty and thisisbeauty.com you can buy brand new cosmetics at a discount because they come in damaged packaging.
If you have spare to sell at home, you never know who might want that perfume or bubble bath you never opened after Christmas. Is pre-loved make-up the new wonky veg? Maybe. Just remember to wash it as thoroughly before use.
