We love us a good drugstore beauty product (Maybelline Great Lash, anyone?). But we never thought to buy our makeup at Walmart... until now. Women's Wear Daily has drawn to everyone's attention that Walmart has its very own beauty magazine called BeautyScoop, produced by none other than Conde Nast.
BeautyScoop hasn't been widely promoted around the Internet and, as WWD notes, it's "buried" on Walmart's website. But the publication is worth highlighting: The content is appealing and the aesthetic is bright and upbeat yet totally slick -- if not for the small Walmart logo on the top lefthand side, you could mistake it for another newsstand glossy.
The quality is no fluke. Not only did editors from Conde Nast mags like Allure, Lucky and Glamour contribute beauty advice, but WWD reports that Conde Nast created the entire magazine in a "secret" collaboration. The agreement between Walmart and the elite magazine publisher was for five issues beginning in July 2012; each issue was sold both in-store and by direct mail to Walmart customers.
Getting elite editors from Allure, Glamour and Lucky onboard is an interesting twist for Walmart, which hasn't been too successful in carving out a niche in fashion or beauty. The clothing lines it's attempted, including a Miley Cyrus x Max Azria collaboration and Kathy Lee Gifford's ill-fated collection, each sputtered; the most memorable cosmetic line sold at Walmart have been Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's tween line.
Tellingly, the Wall Street Journal observed in 2010 that while competitor Target does 20 percent of its business in trendy apparel and accessories, Walmart does just 10. But Walmart could carve out a space in beauty with a new luxury-minded magazine and respectable collaborators like Conde Nast and Drew Barrymore, possibly making itself a makeup destination.
Knowledge of the collab between Conde Nast and Walmart isn't widespread, but women's desire for affordable beauty products is. Would you start picking up your favorite drugstore beauty products at Walmart? Click to WWD.com to read more and sound off in the comments.
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