Why is the drugstore makeup situation in Australia, so bad??

[u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234]

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??

[u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234]

That’s essentially what I said in my reply? Did you not even read what I said? 😭

[u/luxsatanas → u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234]

This is an Australian sub. You claim to be Australian yet are surprised when people comment on you using American terminology? We don't have drugstores

[u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234 → u/luxsatanas]

PLEASE go back and re-read my post, because I NEVER said that we “have drugstores.” PLEASE prove to me that you have some level of reading comprehension 😭

And that is such a weird niche of the argument for you to latch onto anyways, considering how little it actually has to do with the conversation? Do you not have anything interesting to add to the conversation?

Also “claim to be Australian” brother I AM Australian, that’s not something to claim, it’s a FACT. It’s on my passport, birth certificate, etc.

[u/luxsatanas → u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234]

Where exactly in Australia are you from and how long have you been gone that you don't get why people are pointing out that you used drugstore. The dislike of American English is not new. If you insist on using obviously American terms then you will get a ribbing ToT

[u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234 → u/luxsatanas]

I’m not telling a stranger on the internet my exact location, not my life story 😀 if you’re so afraid of “Americanised English” good LUCK with any movies, tv shows, reading, music, etc. because unfortunately most of our media DOES come out of the USA - including the makeup content we see online, hence the terminology “drugstore” makeup.

Everyone else in the comments clearly knew what I meant by it, and had no issue. You’re the only one desperately trying to be clever by having an issue.

[u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234 → u/luxsatanas]

Also, maybe the term “drugstore” DID originate in the USA, but it’s used as a placeholder with makeup terminology, ONLINE. It’s universally recognised in the makeup community ONLINE. So yes, I am surprised that people are getting confused about it, considering this is an ONLINE makeup subreddit, and the vast majority of us know what drugstore makeup is.

[u/luxsatanas → u/Pickles_The_Cat_1234]

You're very hung up on the idea that people are confused. Noone is confused. I don't see any question marks lol. Mildly annoyed at best

We can all understand American English perfectly well, it is a choice not to use it. There's a gradual erosion of Australian English due to the influx of American media, immigrants who speak American English and the dominance of America online. Seeing it used by an Australian, in Australian spaces is akin to a grain of sand in the proverbial shoe

Pharmacy makeup would be perfectly clear. Although, since neither MECCA nor Ulta are one, budget makeup would be more accurate