A woman in Hangzhou has triggered widespread backlash online after she was allegedly caught applying MUJI nail polish testers directly onto her bare toenails inside a store.
The incident reportedly took place at a MUJI outlet located inside the MixC shopping mall on May 22.
Photos of the incident quickly went viral on Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu after a shocked customer uploaded images online together with a warning for others to avoid using public cosmetic testers casually.
According to the witness, she had just finished testing skincare products when she noticed a woman wearing sandals picking up a nail polish tester and applying it directly onto her exposed toenails in the middle of the cosmetics section.
The witness criticised the act as extremely unhygienic and said she immediately informed store staff about the situation.
“I know some people may not care, but I personally find it unacceptable,” the witness reportedly wrote online.
“Even nail clippers for hands and feet are usually separated. This was a public tester being used directly on someone’s feet.”
Following the viral backlash, staff members from the MUJI outlet confirmed that management had already been informed about the incident.
The store reportedly replaced all affected tester products immediately after receiving the complaint.
Employees also admitted that such situations are often linked to customers’ personal behaviour and awareness levels.
The outlet has since promised to increase staff monitoring around the cosmetics area to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
The incident sparked strong reactions online, with many netizens condemning the customer’s actions as selfish, unhygienic and lacking basic public manners.
Some users compared the behaviour to people secretly eating food inside supermarkets before paying.
Others began sharing their own experiences witnessing shocking misuse of public cosmetic testers in shopping malls.
One user claimed to have seen children twisting entire lipsticks out and putting them directly into their mouths, while another said they had witnessed customers applying body lotion across large areas of their legs using store testers.
The controversy has also reignited wider public concerns in China over hygiene standards involving shared cosmetic products and self-service public items.
Many netizens are now urging shoppers to avoid direct contact with public cosmetic testers whenever possible to reduce the risk of infections or disease transmission.
