When I hear "sample sale," I envision semi-feral shoppers playing tug-of-war over single Manolo heels and perfume bottles with torn boxes. Thousands of products at a new beauty sample sale, Beautyfor, could make even the most level-headed shoppers lose their cool in the aforementioned fashion. This wasn't at all what happened.
At Beautyfor's first sale in New York City last weekend—with more installments to come, in New York and outside of it—more than 500 beauty lovers shopped premium beauty finds for 25 percent off or more, with the proceeds from their purchases benefitting three charities: The Jed Foundation, The Trevor Project, and The Humane Society. It was organized like the world's tidiest magazine beauty closet, with products stacked in color-coordinated rows and stations for shoppers to get makeup and nail services between their browsing. Guests politely chatted with editors and dermatologists for product recommendations; if two people reached for the same box at once, they exchanged "no, you take its" until someone conceded.
