These "Worth It" Beauty Products Have a Near-Perfect No-Return Record

When it comes to buying beauty products, I've always been a very tactile kind of shopper. From the age of 5, I've had a thing for sparkling, lacquer-finished stores like Sephora and MAC Cosmetics. They were my favorite pit stops to make at the mall, and as I grew older, sleuthing for new beauty products at other retailers like department stores, Ulta, and even the drugstore became a kind of tranquility-inducing therapy for me. (Unfortunately, my wallet got the short end of the stick with that one!) 

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(Image credit: @emmahoareau)

Not only did I simply enjoy strolling through the aisles filled with tempting vials, jars, and bottles, but I also loved swatching and testing my forearm away to see how shades would (or wouldn't) flatter my skin tone or how the consistency of a serum or oil would lie with my skin. Hygienic? No. Fun? Very much! That said, now that IRL beauty sampling is not what it used to be, we're turning to online beauty buying more than ever before. You might already feel well-versed in shopping for beauty picks via the World Wide Web, but for people who aren't used to the process or prefer to shop in a brick-and-mortar store like I do, it can feel like a daunting and overwhelming process. There's a greater risk of not liking a product, and it's disappointing to have to repack and ship back a formula you had high hopes for. 

So I thought I'd do some Nancy Drew–caliber detective work to significantly slim your chances of returning said purchases. I reached out to my dear friends at Dermstore—one of my all-time favorite online beauty retailers—to see which products it carries have had the fewest returns. (Kind of brilliant, right?) And lucky for us, it happens to be Dermstore's must-anticipated Anniversary Sale event, so several of the brands are temporarily on sale. Below, I'm listing the top seven buys Dermstore shoppers have rarely sent back, plus more best-selling formulas from each of the popular brands. Keep scrolling for seven holy-grail beauty products with a near-perfect no-return rate. 

#7: Neocutis Lumière Illuminating Eye Cream

Other best sellers from the brand:

#6: IS Clinical Cleansing Complex

Other best sellers from the brand:

#5: Sunday Riley Good Genes All-in-One Lactic Acid Treatment

Other best sellers from the brand:

#4: EltaMD UV Clear Broad-Spectrum SPF 46

Other best sellers from the brand:

#3: Éminence Organic Skin Care

Other best sellers from the brand:

#2: SkinMedica TNS Essential Serum

Other best sellers from the brand:

#1: SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic

Other best sellers from the brand:

Beauty Director

Erin has been writing a mix of beauty and wellness content for Who What Wear for over four years. Prior to that, she spent two and half years writing for Byrdie. She now calls Santa Monica home but grew up in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and studied writing, rhetoric, and communication at University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. She studied abroad in Galway, Ireland, and spent a summer in L.A. interning with the Byrdie and Who What Wear family. After graduating from UW, she spent one year in San Francisco, where she worked as a writer for Pottery Barn Kids and PBteen before moving down to L.A. to begin her career as a beauty editor. She considers her day-to-day beauty aesthetic very low-maintenance and relies on staples like clear brow serum (from Kimiko!), Lawless's Lip Plumping Mask in Cherry Vanilla, and an eyelash curler. For special occasions or days when she's taking more meetings or has an event, she'll wear anything and everything from Charlotte Tilbury (the foundations are game-changing), some shimmer on her lids (Stila and Róen do it best), and a few coats of the best mascara-type product on earth, Surratt's Noir Lash Tint.