• by Sara Guaglione , July 24, 2020

Allure is redesigning its magazine for a special November issue.

The aim to help readers sample and shop beauty products.

While retail locations are reopening in the U.S., in-store beauty product testers and sampling will not return for some time while the country battles the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Allure November issue will feature in-book beauty sampling, a single-issue visual redesign to enhance the experience and an issue-wide integration with the YouCam Makeup app. The app lets users take selfies and virtually try on different makeup looks using products from hundreds of beauty brands and retailers.

The integration means readers can use augmented reality to "try on" products featured in the magazine.

“Post-COVID-19, the nature of beauty shopping has changed, with more people staying home and beauty retailers removing product testers to keep shoppers safe. But our audience is still highly engaged with beauty and trusts Allure to recommend the best products,” Allure editor-in-chief Michelle Lee told Publishers Daily. “So we wanted to create an issue that brings the shopping experience home in a fresh, new way.”

The November print issue will consist of four sections, like a department store: Makeup, Skin, Hair and Fragrance. It won’t have a front of book or feature well section, for example.

Each section’s pages will feature product swatches, infographics and on-page trials of a range of beauty products. 

A page in the Makeup section might show how different brands’ eyeliners look on an eyelid, for example, or display swatches of a variety of red lipstick shades.

“We see the issue as a real collector’s item,” Lee said.

Leading up to the November issue, Allure will continue to cover innovations in the beauty industry and beauty shopping experience this year.

The Allure November issue is slated to hit newsstands on October 20.