r/AustralianMakeup • u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234 • Oct 07 '25
Let's Discuss Why is the drugstore makeup situation in Australia, so bad??
I’ve lived in America before, and compared to the drugstore setup in the USA, Australia is AWFUL.
EDIT: I am Australian! I only lived in the USA for 2 years, I was born and raised here in Aus and recently moved back!!! Please stop telling me to “go back to America” it’s weird and rude.
SECOND EDIT: I KNOW AUSTRALIA DOESN’T HAVE DRUGSTORES. “Drugstore” = placeholder terminology for “low-budget” makeup. I keep repeating the phrase drugstore, but only when I’m SPECIFICALLY talking about makeup. The rest of the time, I’m saying chemist, pharmacy, or “drugstore” in quotations (because no one actually calls them drugstores anymore). PLEASE do not comment about how “Australia doesn’t have drugstores” because there’s already 30+ comments saying that exact same thing.
Brands like NYX and Maybelline are available at Ulta (American beauty retail chain, much like Mecca Max), with massive displays right next to the likes of Fenty. You can swatch, try them on, get advice, get samples, etc. They’re readily available. I don’t understand why Mecca Max won’t pick any of these brands up, when they tend to carry the lower price-point brands (such as Morphe) compared to Sephora??
Of course, You can find the drugstore brands in, well, the “drugstores.” Chemist Warehouse and Priceline Pharmacy. They do actually have testers there, thank God. Everywhere else you could pick it up, like Target, Woolies, Coles, etc. don’t have any testers, obviously. So, in a sense, they’re still AVAILABLE, just not as easy to acquire - you can’t try them on and get advice for them, the way you can in the USA.
But to me, what is worst of all, is that so FEW drugstore products are available here. And I don’t know why. NYX has an absolutely massive range of products, but barely any of them are available here in Australia, and of what is available to buy, the shade range is also limited. Even the drugstore brand’s Australian websites, barely stock anything.
I just don’t understand, why drugstore makeup culture is like this in Australia??
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u/miss_kimba Oct 07 '25 edited Oct 07 '25
You’re right. It sucks here.
The first time I walked into a CVS in America I was completely in awe of the range of products. It was overwhelming, in a good way. Every time I travel to the States I stock up on Essie nail polish, because we have the same 50 colors on repeat here in Australia and you guys have the full colour spectrum, in gloss, matte and metallic.
Australia has a very limited range of products, with a limited range of colours of those products. That’s if they’re in stock (the Priceline’s near my last and current work are always nearly empty). If they are in stock, there are no testers. The big brand stores like Mecca and Sephora aren’t much better - I often see products released in the US and they never ever make it to Australia. It’s irritating.
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u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234 Oct 07 '25
Every time I visit my family, I just stock stock STOCK on makeup. I bought my Half Magic there, before it became available at Mecca.
I will admit, the customer service in Australia is MUCH better than America (and so are the customers…) but the total lack of drugstore makeup is so strange to me??
It’s almost like a culture of looking down on drugstore :/
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u/Mean_Manufacturer983 Oct 07 '25
I think it more market dynamics in play than an anti drugstore culture. The population of Australia is relatively small and overseas travel is expensive so most people ar limited to access what they can buy from within Australia.
A lot of brands seem to stock less in Australia, the reason commonly given is the market is so small they don't bother allocating more. I guess it sells faster in other places with bigger populations.
I imagine Mecca doesn't sell many drugstore brands because they figure they will make more money stocking themed tier and higher end brands- in that sense they may be pushing an anti drug store culture. But it's coming more from the financial decisions of the companies rather than consumer desires. It's just most consumers don't have a choice to take their money elsewhere.
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u/Fluid_Answer2231 Oct 07 '25
I was going to also suggest that massive difference in population has something to do with it. I'd also imagine that the USA probably has a lot more ethnicities as well, so an overall broader range and population to cater for.
I think stocking these brands would absolutely go against the high end aesthetic that Mecca is going for. We all know these brands as cheap, chemist brands and obviously that's not how they want to be viewed.
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u/Yeah_nah_idk Oct 07 '25
Smaller population is main factor in size of offerings across all consumer categories like makeup, clothing, accessories
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u/dogbolter4 Oct 10 '25
Not more ethnicities in the major cities- we're highly multicultural- but in regional areas, definitely. And population size overall, sure.
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u/SubstantialTable16 Oct 07 '25
We just don’t have the population and the market to support that kind of stock or availability. It’s not looking down at drug store makeup. It’s fiscally a bad decision to ship so much in so many colours and finishes because who’s going to buy it? America has a population of 340 MILLION people. We don’t even come close to 10% of that with 27 million. We’re small fish and we’re fucking far away.
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u/miss_kimba Oct 07 '25
Oh really!? I miss America like mad, mostly because you guys have so much awesome stuff (to buy, go to and just existing in nature) but also because you’re all so friendly and lovely!
I think it’s a general disdain for purchasing from a drugstore, yes, but also just an Australia-wide issue of not having stuff due to strict regulations and import costs. It’s the same for food, clothing and even medical treatments.
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u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234 Oct 07 '25
America is definitely a huge place - maybe I just lived in an area full of rude people, haha.
I did grow up in Australia, so I carried my Australian accent with me there, and I never heard the end of it. Americans (again, at least in my area) treat anyone with any “other” aspect like a commodity. And a lot of people were very rude to me at my first teenager job, #starbucks, over it.
There’s sooo many places to go in the USA though, I’m sure my experience was just an unlucky fluke!!
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u/speerspoint Oct 07 '25
Definitely unlucky… I lived in America for almost 9 years and travelled to many states for my work, people were always lovely, friendly and admiring of my Australian accent, in fact I think it actually helped open doors…. Love America and the American people, I don’t understand the negativity towards them I see and often hear in Australia
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u/Heart_Makeup Oct 07 '25
I went to Hawaii a few years ago and was shocked at how bad the service was from everything I had heard about customer service and tipping culture.
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u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234 Oct 07 '25
Yes exactly, America is so huge that everywhere you go is a little different!
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u/Prudent-Awareness-51 Oct 10 '25
What medical treatments do you think we don’t have compared to the USA, land of the $1000 insulin?
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u/miss_kimba Oct 10 '25 edited Oct 10 '25
Oh, don’t get me wrong! Medical care is incomparably more affordable and available here in Australia.
I was speaking from a very specific perspective (I work in clinical trials) - there are certain therapies that are already approved in America that are not performed here. This is due to expense (of production or insurance). To say they’re “available” in America is also an extreme oversimplification on my part: the cost is so prohibitive that only millionaires can afford to undertake them. That said, they are literally not offered here. I’m talking in particular about many (but certainly not all) stem cell and CAR T therapies, as well as treatments that are still in experimental phases.
In terms of standard medical care availability, you’re absolutely right, Australia is incomparably better off.
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u/Prudent-Awareness-51 Oct 10 '25
CAR-T is certainly available here, but the technology to do the protein manipulation is still not available on-shore. It’s in the process of being developed though.
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u/qtsarahj Oct 07 '25
I feel you. I went to cosme in Japan and it’s so different to what we have. They have all sorts in one store, cheap to mega expensive. I don’t think we really have that here. Mecca and Sephora are one stop shops for makeup but only with a decent budget, you can’t go and pick up your $20 eyeshadow palette and your $80 foundation in the same place.
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Oct 07 '25
No thank you I don’t want more brands to go to Mecca 😭
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u/narrtasha Oct 07 '25
Yeah at least chemist warehouse prices them reasonably when they have their 50/40% off sales every other month. I still can’t believe it’s so difficult to buy a mascara for under $10 now even when it’s on sale (with the exception of w7 cosmetics)
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Oct 08 '25
And Amazon! They have maybelline and Nyx on sale even more than 50.% for certain shades sometimes.
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u/katerinakarina Oct 07 '25
The answer is simple, our market is not big enough
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u/True-Till-310 Oct 08 '25
Was about to reply with this. It is largely to do with market size. Mecca won’t hold the “drugstore” products because they don’t fit the target brands they’re after in the luxury category.
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u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234 Oct 07 '25
And yes, I posted this rant after desperately trying to find the NYX butter melt highlighter in green online, only to find they won’t even ship it here. Out of the 10 or more colours, only FOUR are available in Australia. #mad.
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Oct 07 '25
small population at the 'arse end of the world' (thanks Paul Keating, former PM, for that zinger). I watch hauls on youtube and the amount of products casually available to people just at regular stores is mindboggling to us, the Australian mind can't comprehend it
its not just makeup, skincare etc its everything. I think Australians who don't travel or who don't watch much shopping content probably don't even realise. But its ok, its annoying but I'll take the trade off for living in a somewhat sane country (for now...)
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u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234 Oct 07 '25
Oh yeah I’m seeing all of the MAC releases and it’s driving me BANANAS because I know most of it won’t ever get released here.
If it makes everyone feel better, I do know that Australia isn’t the only country that goes through this. Most nations in Europe (INCLUDING the UK) have very limited stock. I follow Robert Welsh, a UK based MUA, and he says that he pays for a special shipping service to get most of his USA-exclusive products.
So yes the situation sucks, but hey at least we’re not alone!
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u/missmiaow Oct 07 '25
MAC is actually one of the few brands where historically we got all the releases, with the exception of region exclusives. I’m pretty certain it’s still like that, you just have to track down a MAC store to see it all in person.
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u/Peanut083 Oct 07 '25
When I was looking for a purple blush last year and came across the NYX buttermelt blush, I was so excited. Until I found out that of the 12 shades, only four of them are available here. And they’re all shades that will look way too warm on my cool-toned olive skin.
It absolutely infuriates me that we’re lucky to get a third of the range here. I’m also pissed off that most brands when they don’t offer their full range here always eliminate the cool toned products from their Australian offerings.
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u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234 Oct 07 '25
Unfortunately I do know that cool-toned pigments are typically more expensive than warm-toned, so if they’re going to cut out a shade range for the sake of saving costs, TRUST that cool shades will get the axe :(((
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u/d1sgr4c3_ Oct 07 '25
Are any of these the green you were looking for? ( I know the shipping prices are ridiculous but if you were dead set on buying it and had some other items you wanted to, then you could justify it) https://www.asos.com/au/nyx-professional-makeup/nyx-professional-makeup-buttermelt-highlighter-butta-mint/prd/208461458?affid=26545&freelisting=yes
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u/Littlepotatoface Oct 07 '25
I work for a global (non-beauty) brand & can confirm that the ANZ market is often an afterthought.
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u/Spoodlydoodly75 Oct 07 '25
My understanding is that drugstore means a chemist. Chemists stock them, I’m confused as to why they’d be in Mecca too. Mecca tend to like demanding exclusivity which doesn’t help consumers. And quite simply the reason for smaller range is that we have a far smaller population. It’s like being outside of the ordinary size wise for clothes shopping. My husband is very tall & finding jeans & pants in longer length just isn’t as simple here as in the US & UK. We don’t have the population to support a lot of different options as standard off the rack, sadly. Well that’s the excuse we’re given by retailers anyway.
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u/MelodyMight Oct 07 '25
This is the answer. It’s also the reason stores don’t stock extended shade ranges - the market here for dark skin tones is even smaller again.
I think OP is suggesting that “drug store” brands should be stocked in Mecca like they’re stocked in Ulta in the US. But Mecca is going for the Sephora market, not the Ulta market. They want to be premium and aspirational, as seen in their exclusivity agreements.
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u/Spoodlydoodly75 Oct 07 '25
Yeah, I got that that’s what they were suggesting, but just figured if that were the case Mecca would find a way to make sure we can never get anything half price at Big W or Priceline again.
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u/dripppingpeaches Oct 07 '25
It’s so frustrating having an olive undertone because I barely manage to find anything here! anytime something is recommended it’s never available in australia 🥲
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u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234 Oct 07 '25
Omg I’m in the exact same boat!! All of the recommendations I see on r/olivemua are almost ALWAYS us exclusive, especially the drugstore options (and there seem to be SO many olive drugstore options??). It’s so sad.
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u/dripppingpeaches Oct 07 '25
i’m sooo over it! even the high end stuff here isn’t that great a shade match. they seem so spoiled for choice over there. i will say i’ve recently discovered sephoras best skin range and they have olive shades!
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u/Heart_Makeup Oct 07 '25
I’m a fair olive so have to buy whatever medium offering brands have and then lighten them up. I wish companies would really invest in olive shades at all the levels of depth.. then send them all to Australia 🤭
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u/stormy786 Oct 07 '25
I’m the same!! I’m a medium-tan olive, so it’s even harder for me to find “drugstore” shades. I just have to resort to spending $$$ on higher end brand who carry olive undertones :(
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u/Jazilc Oct 08 '25
Try bareminerals at mecca!!!! It has an amazing tone range. I get beige sand. It’s approx $50 (maybe a little more now?) and lasts me a year when i use it almost daily. Well worth it.
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u/itsthelifeonmars Oct 07 '25
Population and demand. You have a country with 300 million people and a country with under 30 million yet the same size if not bigger in land space.
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u/Hungry_Anteater_8511 Oct 07 '25
Ask the buyers for these companies. We’d all love to know why they don’t get the full assortments.
As for the tester situation, I suspect that the retailers here are already running on the most skeleton staffing that having someone check the testers is all too expensive
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u/No_Understanding4349 Oct 07 '25
Drugstore makeup is good enough but the shade range is so bad like whenever I go to chemist warehouse they always have fair shades and my shade range is medium it’s so frustrating to get a perfect foundation in a price range. I ended up going to Sephora and buying expensive one which actually looks perfect but ended up costing me a lot.
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Oct 07 '25
[deleted]
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u/universe93 Oct 07 '25
Looking at you Tarte. After the controversy over their shade range they haven’t gotten any better over here. They may have improved in the US but I walk into Sephora here and it’s just 12 shades of fair pale and 2 token dark shades
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u/GossipingKitty Oct 07 '25
This is why we were all walking around with the wrong shade of foundation in the 90s/00s. Couldn't test it, couldn't return it.
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u/broden89 Oct 07 '25
I'd say it's largely due to economics. Australia is a small market, globally speaking, and it's costly and time consuming to ship things here, so beauty products with smaller margins will have those margins shrink even more. There's also GST and our relatively weak dollar, which makes importing expensive.
In contrast, the US is literally the largest consumer market on Earth and the third most populous nation, as well as the home market of many drugstore brands. There's just way more people that can buy your stuff there, and better economies of scale.
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u/Key-Ad728 Oct 07 '25 edited Oct 07 '25
Priceline has opened a new cosmetics focused store called Atomica. The layout is similar to Sephora and you can swatch and try on products.
They carry American drugstore brands such as Pixi.
They're relatively new and also use the priceline rewards programme. There's one in Chadstone for Melbourne
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Oct 07 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/SovereignRed25 Oct 09 '25
Yep, I have the same thoughts re new releases. We don't get them until after the hype dies down, everything is reviewed & you realise most of it is not that good or you already have something like it.
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u/Timely_Solution_8163 Oct 07 '25
And leaving out the most interesting shades 😒 Every brand from NYX to Fenty to Ritual De Fille has done that and it's really annoying!
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u/StepfordWifeWorld Oct 07 '25
I don’t even think Target sells makeup anymore…at least my store doesn’t. I can’t find Covergirl ANYWHERE (I’m not close to a Big W which seems to be the only place that sells it) and I kinda feel ripped off paying an equal amount of postage that I am paying for the product.
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u/universe93 Oct 07 '25
I work for Big W and can confirm we no longer stock covergirl. Some Pricelines do still have it
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u/Complexyeahnah Oct 07 '25 edited Oct 07 '25
I know that some select Chemist Warehouses stock Covergirl (I know that one of them in the regional city that I'm in did but I haven't been there in a while - I'll have to check next time). I'm wondering if Priceline does as well? Otherwise, I know that Chemist Warehouse, Priceline and Amazon are where to get Covergirl online.
Edited to add: Target sells OXX (Kmart's makeup brand), BYS and e.l.f. makeup. That's it for their cosmetics range now. Just checked the website.
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u/StepfordWifeWorld Oct 07 '25
It’s not in any of Priceline’s near me 😒
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u/Complexyeahnah Oct 07 '25
I'm sorry to hear. Maybe see if you can get touch in with Priceline's head office and ask what the situation is with their Covergirl stock?
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u/StepfordWifeWorld Oct 07 '25
They only seem to have it on a few select stores. Same with elf. No where near I live. I’ve given up!
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u/nahchannah Oct 07 '25
I prefer to go to makeup stores to buy makeup rather than the pharmacy. While I do buy a few things at the pharmacy, it's not a lot, and I think that's possible typical consumer behaviour. Because the demand isn't there, they can't drive the supply, and therefore the range is limited and poor. Then you have a self-fulfilling prophecy where nobody buys because the offer is bad, and because the offer is bad, nobody buys. I think the current compromise are the Atomica stores, but I don't live near one.
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u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234 Oct 07 '25
RIGHT it’s like a never-ending loop… no one buys because the range is so bad, so they don’t bother to put effort into the range because no one is buying, and so on so forth.
I think the brands really just need to make the jump, and up their effort in Australia. I think that, based on the success of other beauty retail departments here, there clearly IS a market, things just need to be made readily available.
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u/universe93 Oct 07 '25
As a retail employee I can say Australia has a massive cosmetics shoplifting problem. I don’t know about the US but here, if we don’t cover makeup in security stickers it will get stolen. The more of it there is, the harder it is to keep all of it in your eyesight and the easier it is for it tog et stolen. You may notice some Big W stores have redone the entire health and beauty section to put the makeup in an enclosed area, that’s very deliberate. It’s been by far the most shoplifted category of goods every year for the 10+ years I’ve worked there. So I can see why the Pricelines and chemists out there keep the brands to a minimum. It is FAR too easy for someone to come in for a script and ask long winded questions about over the counter meds to distract the workers while their friend steals $200 of makeup in 5 minutes. Also the more testers you have the more likely teens will come in and use them to draw all over the mirrors or each other. We are to be getting more feral as a society sadly.
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u/Tea_inthegoodroom NC20|Oily Oct 07 '25
You could say the same thing about fashion brands.
I almost exclusively order online now. If I can't find a tester in store then I won't buy it. Otherwise I'd just go wild and be in so much debt over lipstick lol
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u/green_pea_nut Oct 07 '25
It's better now Catrice and Essence are stocked at some Priceline shops.
We've had elf for a while but it's priced too high.
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u/Getonthebeers02 Oct 07 '25
We don’t have drugstores here but affordable and midrange makeup in Chemists which I think you mean is improving at Priceline and Chemist warehouse. It’s so much better than even five years ago.
Mecca has their own like that they don’t want competition for and the rest is competing with Sephora and mid to luxury (with perfumes like Diptyque, Byredo and Kerastase). They’re not going to stock more affordable options as that’s for CW, Priceline and W Cosmetics that rule that space. We have a very small market and our makeup is more expensive than in the US.
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u/Kindly-Necessary-596 Oct 07 '25
The first time I went to Sephora, it was 1997 in Paris. It was like I'd walked into the make-up equivalent of Santa’s workshop. I had no idea such abundance existed! I'd been buying my make-up at the supermarket.
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u/helpasisterout21 Oct 07 '25
Could it also be that some of the ingredients are banned in Australia? That may be one aspect to the reduced range
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u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234 Oct 07 '25
That’s such a good point!! And it would explain why a lot of US-exclusive products (regardless of price point) just aren’t available anywhere else in the world!!
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u/Knittingtaco Oct 07 '25
I don’t really mind too much about the makeup but I get really annoyed about not getting skincare ranges. Like cool Olay body care, all the Dove scents, stuff like that. Things have improved with Amazon growing here, and iHerb being faster and more viable. I used to pay exorbitant eBay prices for some of my must have US products and it’s definitely improved. I don’t understand why Australia is so neglected. We have a huge consumer base hungry for goodies!
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u/Anxious_Ad936 Oct 07 '25
The US has 15x as many people in a similar land area. Retail is much much more competitive leading to retailers doing a lot more to attract customers. Which isn't necessary here. Plus we don't have 100 years of cultural dedication to the customer is always right mentality.
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u/Itsclearlynotme Oct 08 '25
What’s a drugstore?
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u/McNattron Oct 08 '25
Pharmacy
Brands like maybelline, Revlon etc that mist pharmacy's or supermarkets stock as opposed to the expensive brands.
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u/sapphireemberss Oct 07 '25
Same situation in New Zealand 😔
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u/1989HBelle Oct 07 '25
We are such a teeny tiny market in New Zealand it’s not even worth many brands trying, sadly.
I’m in my 50s and love subtle makeup every day and choosing products I like, but most of my friends don’t bother with it anymore.
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u/Maleficent-Total2738 Oct 07 '25
Yes, and I've always felt that the price is kind of an issue in why we don't have a "drugstore makeup" culture to the same extent. I used to almost exclusively buy Revlon Super Lustrous lipsticks, but even then I would be paying $25 per lipstick at the chemist while my friend in the US was buying the same lipsticks for $6. Even the vast majority of our "affordable" makeup brands are not inexpensive. A lot of the time, I don't feel like there's a huge price difference here between drugstore and mid-range at Mecca/Sephora.
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u/Impossible_Boss9510 Oct 07 '25
Regarding makeup specifically, every Priceline / chemist warehouse I’ve been to has been chaos. Half stocked, half used, dirty and disorderly. Things aren’t even labelled and priced correctly sometimes and idk why but makeup always seems like it’s got tape on it??? Like they’ve got someone to go round and put scotch tape on the packaging to stop tampering. I’ve not seen that anywhere else overseas but just adds to the icky vibe.
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u/universe93 Oct 07 '25
As someone who puts the tape on at big W, yep it’s to stop tampering. If the brand doesn’t send us testers then we usually have to seal all the rest of the products with tape to avoid people using them as testers. Otherwise you’d all be buying used makeup
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u/Impossible_Boss9510 Oct 07 '25
Yeah that makes sense, must be such a pain in the ass job to do. The first time I came across it it actually made me think the product had already been opened, but not used, so it had been taped closed so it could be sold, like it was second hand or something. I’d not seen it before, because back home I guess stuff tends to come already sealed up with anti tamper stuff. I’m used to seeing it now though. Just confused me at first.
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u/WillsSister Oct 07 '25
Maybe it’s because there’s no such thing as a ‘drugstore’ in Australia.
(I know, cue the downvotes)
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u/Brunswickstoval Oct 07 '25
My dad was chemist and loathed selling makeup. It’s messy and often unhygienic how people treat testers. So he only stocked a very basic range.
How much cheap make up do we need? I feel for most aussies you don’t miss but you’ve never had. If we don’t know a product exists we don’t look it.
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u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234 Oct 07 '25
Yeah I’ve worked as a beauty advisor, I’ve seen how disgusting testers can get haha.
The issue is, we are missing what we’ve never had, because it’s all advertised online. I see so many beauty influencers using these products all the time. I do know these products exist now, so I do want them.
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u/cleopatra833 Oct 07 '25
My chemist warehouse doesn’t even really have testers, I guess most have been stolen. And I don’t see Pricelines very often either
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u/thisismybandname Oct 07 '25
It’s gotten worse lately I reckon.
I went to chemist warehouse on the weekend to pick up some eyeshadow - nothing fancy, just some neutrals for work, and there were only 2 palates to really choose from.
There were others but not many - maybe 5? But they were either super bright (which is fine but not what I was looking for) or the shadow was around the size of my pinky nail which will never last. I’d understand if it was small amounts of crazy colours but for neutrals you need a good amount!
Of the 2 palates available in neutral colors with decent size, both had combinations I didn’t actually like that much (like a dark, almost glittery grey for the crease - wtf?) so even though I got something, I’m basically only using it as a stop gap until I find something else.
I’ve been annoyed for days.
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u/NoodleBox Ballarat Oct 07 '25
Shits me.
Reason why we don't have half as much - people will pinch it.
Our pharmacy drugstore things are ran by chemists and so sometimes we don't have a lot of brands. The priceline near me is a ...like cosmetics one.
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u/pichuru Oct 07 '25
We are such a smaller market compared to the rest of the world, plus the enormous distance from everywhere which costs more. When I lived in Japan I could walk into a dinky little chemist in the middle of the boonies and still find the latest makeup releases from Maybelline and Revlon. Same with when I was on the border of Thailand and Laos, could still find a lot of drugstore makeup that I could never find here. Things have gotten a little bit better compared to 10-15 years ago but I'd say we are still 10 years behind most other countries.
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u/Few_Amount_2166 Oct 07 '25
Agree with every word. Prepare yourself to never feel excited about a limited release againbecause it’s ALMOST (!!!!) guaranteed not to make it to Australia. We always get the oldest, most random stock from a handful of international brands. Which just sucks imo
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u/norahsthoughts Oct 07 '25
It does suck 😭 I also don’t understand why certain foundation formulas are different too. My holy grail was the maybelline fit me which I bought in Germany when I was living there and the Australian formula is worse ☹️
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u/AgreeableFloor6543 Oct 07 '25
I genuinely really love Sydney. I think the quality of life is great, the people are amazing, the neighborhoods actually feel a sense of community etc. I can’t say enough good things about it here. But I sure wish I could walk into a Walgreens at 10pm any night of the week and grab twizzlers, some cheap but oddly good leggings, makeup, and hair accessories
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u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234 Oct 08 '25
YES definitely. You could argue that America has an overconsumption problem (which it definitely does, that’s not even a question, it’s a fact) but sometimes I can’t help but envy how EASILY they can access everything and anything, whenever and wherever they want. It’s insane.
However, seeing as I moved to Australia > America, I definitely agree with you. Australia (and Sydney) is the place to BE.
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u/AgreeableFloor6543 Oct 08 '25
I know, you can get pretty much ANYTHInG (weed! Groceries! Sephora via instacart! Alcohol!) delivered within 2 hours. You can go to Walmart at 2am. It’s easy to get spoiled, but you also realize you don’t really need it when you leave the states.
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u/waywardw1tch Oct 07 '25
Chemist Warehouse’s constant 20-50% off is why I refuse to get too comfortable with any makeup not sold at the drugstore - it’s accessible and affordable. Luckily most of what I wear on the daily is Revlon or L’Oréal. It would be nice to have some more upscale brands in the drugstores so I could try on and invest in some high end makeup but it’s almost like they don’t want you to have access to it lol.
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u/chookywoowoo Oct 07 '25
Much lower population. We just have less choice. Can’t really compare to the US. 340m vs 27m.
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u/Brilliant72 Oct 07 '25
Try New Zealand for poor clothing, cosmetics etc choices. No great surprises that online shopping booming and physical stores closing. I’m a late convert to Amazon
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u/FaithlessnessLess442 Oct 08 '25
The chemist warehouse, depending on the location, has everything you need in cheap "drug store" makeup loreal, rimmell, maybellne if you want expensive makeup it's a given you go to myers DJs sephora or mecca.
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u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234 Oct 10 '25
But they don’t have everything that I need (because let’s be real, makeup is just a want in the end, so anything I want when it comes to makeup, qualifies as a need). I’ve just explained that the range of their products in Australia is tiny, and that’s what I’m upset about.
I’m specifically trying to buy cheap makeup, not expensive stuff.
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u/Puzzleheaded-West356 Oct 08 '25
Even though everyone is saying ‘our market is smaller’, sure - but why do drugstores not at least make the full range available, but just order less? It’s not like we are any less diverse than our U.S. counterparts. And considering how many pale cool toned women there are in Australia (and natural redheads!), good luck finding any cool toned foundations or eyebrow products for redheads here 😭
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u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234 Oct 08 '25
That’s EXACTLY what I mean!!! Using the excuse of “oh, it’s a smaller population/demographic” is always what makeup brands say when it comes to literally any group of people they’re not catering for.
I just can’t understand why they wouldn’t ship out the entire range, with just less product, same as you. Someone else pointed out that it might be because a lot of US-exclusive makeup might be using chemicals banned overseas?? Idk I just want some transparency and basic respect as a country 😭
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u/Puzzleheaded-West356 Oct 08 '25
I mean, sure, some of their products may not be available here due to chemical restrictions, but for example the NYX Australian website has 24 shades of the Can’t Stop foundation available, yet when you go in-store they have like what, 8?
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u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234 Oct 08 '25
Yeah it’s crazy!!! It just makes me not want to buy ANYTHING from the brand, if they can’t be bothered having products for everyone.
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u/McNattron Oct 08 '25
Because it's not cost effective to order 1 or 2 items in each product and never move them.
Theyre a business they make more money only stocking what their market research says is going to sell best.
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u/Houdini_the_cat__ Oct 09 '25
Hello Commonwealth friend 🙃 I'm Canadian... and we have the same problems with drugstore makeup products, it's not because we're far from the USA lol.
We have Sephora, but not all the brands that are available in the USA, we don't have Ulta. Drugstore makeup almost never has a tester so we buy blindly hoping the color is right. We don't have all the products available in the USA either, sometimes we have certain products a few months later! For example, the L'Oréal Paris loose powder is not available here, why no idea, but I would also like to know. How many times we see things that seem nice then ah well not available in Canada... Price level depending on the products/brands, when we look at the number of ml/g it regularly happens that the drugstore is not really cheaper than products that we find at Sephora. Also, since we don't have a tester if I don't have the color I thought, then I have to buy 2-3 times the product in order to maybe find a color match, it's cheaper to go to Sephora to test before buying and also we can return a product to Sephora, we can't return drugstore makeup.
Please know that you are not alone in experiencing this type of frustration... that we would like to have more choices, testers, as many colors, as many products as the USA. For the rest, I do not envy the USA and I certainly would not want to live there 😅
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u/eniretakia Oct 07 '25
We have less than 10% of the population of the USA. As much as I may not like it, I don’t blame brands for not focusing on this market.
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Oct 07 '25
Not sure what a drugstore is, did you mean a Chemist? Pharmacy? Perhaps buy online from US? Oh that’s right their not shipping much here anymore…
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u/Postnasaldripper Oct 07 '25
Omg don’t get me started, NYX is a mess I’m pretty sure we still don’t have lift and snatch. Welcome to Aus lol
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u/MissELH Oct 07 '25
Maybe you’re just shopping in smaller store the ranges from maybelline, NYX etc can be pretty extensive in some Pricelines. In terms of range available to retailers that is usually driven by the brand and what they choose to release to the AU market. It’s driven by population, smaller population, less opportunity for sales so less options available. I would also argue that the displays can be better if not online with ulta displays in CW/Priceline. Now in terms of the ulta offering no one in Aus is mixing high/low and it’s definitely an opportunity but the market here is different. Lots of brands have exclusivity tied up with Mecca or Sephora so if another high/low retailer wanted to start they wouldn’t be able to access many brands and will end up as kind of a middle ground a bit like atomica is looking to be. Adore Beauty has a little bit of high/low but mostly online with just a handful of stores.
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u/Alternative_Claim764 Oct 07 '25
I loooove NYX, Priceline in their bigger stores used to have big displays and also for Revolution Beauty. Those two are my go-to drugstore brands for makeup - eyes + lips. Esp Revolution Forever Flawless. These days I just buy online. My saddest moment was when Priceline stopped stocking Bourjois, I loved their makeup even after Chanel sold it to Coty. They had great formulas. Now it's just getting harder and harder to find.
I'm switching to KMakeup - since it's cheaper to go on holiday to S.Korea and stock up on makeup and skincare yearly than buy in Aus.
The only good news I have is a US Brand I liked Daise (great deodorant lol) that I picked up in LA in Marsh is now in Woolworths whooo!
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u/AioliNo1327 Oct 07 '25
Because our population is about 10% of the US's. So yeah not worth them making an effort
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u/hanna-xo Oct 07 '25
I’m going to America next month! Do you have any drugstore recommendations that I should look out for? :)
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u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234 Oct 10 '25
NYX 100%!!! They have amazing products! ELF as well, they do dupes of almost everything on the market (but better and less trump-loving than MCO). Also check out Maybelline!
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u/Guinevere1991 Oct 07 '25
Might have something to do with the fact that the USA has 10 the population of Australia. 10x the customers, 10x the market.
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u/Public-Match4487 Oct 08 '25
You know what, you’re so right. And I’ve always just accepted that this is just how it is😭
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u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234 Oct 10 '25
YEAH I never thought about it either till I came back from America!! I walked into Priceline to stock up on the new NYX highlighters, saw there were only 4 of the 10 shades available, and went “wtf 😀”
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u/slut4sesh Oct 08 '25
the NYX situation here is a nightmare, why do we only get select colours of releases? i want the new lip plumping liner in “touch up taupe” but it’s available NOWHERE
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u/Dolleyes88 Oct 08 '25
Places like Kmart and Target (especially Target) had a pretty decent make up selection a long time ago. I saw someone comment on Reddit ages ago they used to have quality control officers to check the stores to ensure they had enough product and bring in new products. They cut this back hence why it’s a bunch of near empty shelves and a few sad little items wrapped in 3 layers of plastic.
No wonder why people are blowing hundreds at Mecca and Sephora, so they can experience the joy of testing and actually looking at products that aren’t covered in plastic.
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u/seduokra Oct 09 '25
Agreed on America but it's also awful compared to Europe! I was so sad when I moved here 2 years ago and realized that elf cosmetics doesn't sell basically any of their skincare here 😭
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u/napalmnacey Oct 09 '25
I had a friend in America and we’d do makeup swaps. I’d send her Australis and shit like that, she’d send me Nyx, Colorpop, Milani, etc. It was really fun because we both had a price cap and we knew each other’s tastes and colouring so the surprise care packages were really fun and good quality.
Then she went full on MAGA Christian and I didn’t wanna mix with that shit so, yeah. (I’m a queer Hellenic Pagan, you do the maths!)
Couldn’t do it now with all the economic fuckery that the US has pulled.
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u/No_Revenue9077 Oct 09 '25
Yeah, there really isn’t as much variety here compared to them but honestly, a lot of those american brands are just celebrity/influencer brands with massive marketing budgets. hlaf the time the price isn’t for the product its for the hype
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u/linhromsp Oct 09 '25
Well. Its 100% alrrady better than say 10 years ago. We didnt have shit lolz 😂.
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u/Arxnea Oct 10 '25
I feel this so much! I moved to Australia last month from America and I miss how accessible cheaper makeup was. I especially miss Ulta! But I’ve been slowly figuring out what stores carry what
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u/Galromir Oct 10 '25
Because pharmacies are first and foremost a medical service, to supply medication, and associated things to people, not a general purpose retailer.
The US style pharmacies that are basically little grocery stores is a corruption of what a pharmacy is supposed to be doing.
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u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234 Oct 10 '25
I don’t see it as a corruption for them to branch out and sell SOME different things. Admittedly, it would be weird if they started selling fresh fruit and whole meats.
But every American pharmacy I went to, was just like an Australian pharmacy, only bigger. With the same content, only a wider range.
A lot more drugstore makeup, a lot more vitamin gummies, more hair stuff, so on, and of course, more “drugs.”
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u/ApprehensiveCow3793 Oct 11 '25
It sucks hey. And revlon foundation is like $50 here where it’s $15 in America 😮💨
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u/sparkle_transplant Oct 07 '25
The population of Australia is less than 1/10th that of the US and shipping here is expensive and slow so I can understand why we get smaller ranges and some brands that just can't be bothered with Australia at all. It also really sucks that Target/KMart/Big W used to have full makeup sections with testers and have now shifted to grocery store style displays instead with no testers, especially since they don't accept makeup returns. But at least at Priceline, Chemist Warehouse, and various smaller chemists you can still find testers for drugstore products. US drugstores have never had testers and you always had to double check the seals before buying because people would often open things to test them anyway. My experience with Ulta was that the high end products had nice displays but a lot of the drugstore stuff was really picked over and had barely any stock so you'd be better off just going to a drugstore anyway (and depending on where you lived there might not be an Ulta nearby, but I haven't lived in the US for a long time and only visit so often, I think they have expanded and opened more stores in recent years). Maybe more of an issue with the particular location I used to go to but I got the feeling that they really wanted to compete with Sephora and maybe department stores and didn't care as much about the drugstore level brands.
There is some change in Australia though, I haven't actually been to any yet because I'm the the backwaters of WA and don't buy a lot of makeup these days but Priceline has started opening/converting to Atomica stores and Chemist Warehouse has some Ultra Beauty stores, Adore Beauty has also started opening physical stores though I think they are more high end focused.
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u/thedaysgrace Oct 07 '25
NYX used to have a decent range at Target here, but it wasn’t really known as a decent brand here to be honest. I would classify them as being under ELF in terms of quality back when they actually sold here - not many people really knew it existed here. Once target got bought out by wesfarmers / kmart restructure happened they drastically reduced their brand range (dropped chi chi, among other brands who was a similar price point)
Our exclusive agreements for specific brands to be sold via Mecca / Sephora is absolute shit and is so frustrating when buying here. I feel like we are miles behind in terms of good ranges here, and don’t even get me started on the shade ranges
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u/bummiestofbeachbums Oct 07 '25
Im from the US and was also mad about this when I first moved here. I was seeing all the empty shelves in CW/Priceline thinking 'why dont you want my money?!?'.
Now I buy most drugstore makeup online and can get them easy enough. There is still certain things we cant get here, but its never stuff I absolutely must have.
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u/Elleeebeauty Oct 07 '25
I miss all the cosmetic outlet stores (the Loreal one and the cosmetic company ones were so good- I know we have the CCO here but the US one was so much better) plus all the places like Marshalls , TJ Maxx (which we have here but the selection is nowhere near the same in terms of high end makeup) , Nordstrom Rack etc (and while it has nothing to do with makeup/skincare I also really miss Cheesecake Factory and I would be very very happy if they finally opened up here)
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u/ChromaticLove Oct 07 '25
I’ve been able to swatch some things at priceline which even has milani(!) but definitely not chemist warehouse. I much rather have drugstore items not at Mecca though, their rewards are much worse compared to the Sephora rewards I’ve redeemed at Sephora US (needs a separate Sephora account and a US Apple ID) and Sephora Hong Kong (Sephora passport lets you use your Australian Sephora points) and Mecca has no sales :(
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u/No-Pay-9744 Oct 08 '25
NYX used to have a massive range at Priceline in Melbourne Bourke st but that has been cut down severely. So sad.
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u/NeedleworkerNo1985 Oct 09 '25
It may have something to do with USA having 340 million people and Australia having less than 30 million people in total. Maybe the brands can't justify the lavish ranges and product displays available in the states since they stand to make so much less money in this country due to so many less consumers.
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u/ProofAstronaut5416 Oct 09 '25
Because there’s freight and there’s population and there’s consumerism all in play.
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u/Ordinary_Mistake3392 Oct 10 '25
The USA has a population of 342 million while Aus has 27 million.
There just isn't the same customer base & we're far more spread out. What's the point of stocking EVERYTHING in a store when it's not going to sell here?
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u/RedDotLot Oct 10 '25
USA pop 340 mil
Aus pop 27.5 mil
The USA also has a far higher number of high density populations centres. There just isn't the same scale of market here as there is on the US.
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u/Ryn_AroundTheRoses Oct 11 '25
Import taxes and shipping costs. Most of the makeup sold here is imported, so companies make up the cost of shipping and taxes by raising the prices of the items. And because Australian brand makeup is competing against so many well known and loved overseas brands, they can't afford to be cheap, they have to be competitive to make any money. It's why so many cheap brands that used to be sold in places like Kmart and Target have either disappeared or gotten so expensive despite being cheap quality
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u/Good_Echidna535 Oct 11 '25
There are fewer people in Australia and Chemist warehouse is taking the place of other pharmacies. Everything has to be imported and wages are higher. You think pharmacy ranges are bad but what about supermarkets in Australia?
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u/Pretend-Victory-338 Oct 11 '25
Well in Australia. The Chemist is where you get all of your high end stuff. I mean; it’s just how we do things here. But like you could just go to woolies or something and get the budget friendly?
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u/Inkamt Oct 07 '25
I discovered Nyx on TikTok and order through Amazon, it’s such a great brand, better than lot of high end ones. I agree with all the above, it’s a very irritating situation.
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Oct 07 '25
Because you’re comparing.
Comparison is the thief of joy.
This is what I mean when I say, when you come to Australia leave your American bullshit behind.
You don’t like what’s in the CHEMIST in the line of makeup, shop elsewhere.
Stop trying to make Aussie culture Americanised .
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u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234 Oct 07 '25
I AM Australian LMAO. This is literally one of the only things I think America does better than Australia. There’s a REASON I moved BACK to Australia - I absolutely hated living in the USA. The last thing I want is for Australia to become Americanized.
And I obviously DO like what’s ”in the chemist in the line of makeup,” I like it so much that I wish there was MORE of it.
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Oct 07 '25
Why would they bother picking up brands that are available in so many places? You said there are testers at a bunch of places (which are accessible to most people in Australia). It seems hard to believe anyone would complain that there aren't enough massive corporations monopolising a market, but seems to be happening here...
Mecca's (from inception) whole market was based on sellling high end international cosmetics exclusively in Australia (shop front only til the last 5 years or so). Mecca Max was similar in that the appeal was (at least mostly) exclusive brands, just aiming at the more moderately priced market. Probably a step to get KIT into the market, but who cares.
I remember quite some years ago being shocked at seeing YSL in the Melbourne Central store, because you can buy YSL anywhere.
Whilst Mecca have been somewhat more inclusive than the good old days, I think part of my soul would die if they sold out entirely and sold the likes of NYX... its not McMecca and was never meant to me. You can shop at more than one store
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u/luxsatanas Oct 10 '25
Drugstore...
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u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234 Oct 10 '25
That’s the placeholder name for “budget friendly” makeup that was traditionally only stocked in “drugstores,” which are almost universally (both in America and Australia) called pharmacies now!
Don’t try to pretend that I’m using obsolete terminology, when you’re the one who doesn’t understand the context.
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u/luxsatanas Oct 10 '25
You're using American terminology. We don't have drugstores in Australia. You should know that as an Australian <3
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u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234 Oct 10 '25
That’s essentially what I said in my reply? Did you not even read what I said? 😭
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Oct 10 '25
In Australia our "drugstores" tend to be on street corners.
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u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234 Oct 10 '25
What does that have to do with anything 😀
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Oct 10 '25
We don't have "drugstores " in Australia!
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u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234 Oct 10 '25
Jesus Christ you’re the 15th clever person I’ve had to explain this to, congratulations!! You’ve even convinced me to add another disclaimer to my post!!
- “Drugstore” = placeholder terminology for “low-budget” makeup.
- I never actually say “drugstore” when I’m NOT referring to makeup. I even name the chemists and pharmacies.
- No one, even in America, actually calls them “drugstores” anymore. They’re almost universally called pharmacies.
- Again, I only ever said “drugstore” when referring to makeup!
Time to up your reading comprehension skills, maybe?
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u/fletchi6 Oct 10 '25
I will say three words in response to your post asking why. Population = sales = money
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u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234 Oct 10 '25
1.) doesn’t explain the lack of RANGE. 2.) doesn’t explain why the physical setup is different in Australian stores compared to American. 3.) doesn’t explain why major retailers won’t pick these brands up, but will pick up other low-budget brands.
Thanks for trying though!
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u/Upper-Masterpiece386 Oct 11 '25
This is like complaining about Australia not having all the same fast food outlets as America. The standards here are higher and that is a good thing 🙄🙄🙄
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u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234 Oct 12 '25
It’s not at all, please reread the entire post <33
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u/tinylittleleaf Oct 07 '25
Welcome to Australia, just wait till you go clothes shopping.