This morning’s announcement of Abercrombie’s failed sale process served as a startling reminder of just how toxic mall-based retailers have become to investors in the post-Amazon era. News that not a single suitor was willing to touch the once high-flying, teenage-catering, cologne-infused, mall-based wonderland has wreaked havoc, yet again, today on retail apparel chains, with Abercrombie down over 20% and several others plunging to new all-time lows.

Of course, it’s not just the specialty apparel stores that are getting crushed. As we’ve noted several times in the past, the beloved anchor tenants of mall REITs have been among the hardest hit as a new generation shoppers have shunned over-priced department store products.

As the Wall Street Journal points out today, department stores like Macy’s, Sak’s and Lord & Taylor are even being forced to discount their last bastion of hope in order to lure customers into their dying stores: cosmetics.

Desperate to get shoppers in the door, department stores are discounting the one item they had long been able to sell at full price: cosmetics.

Last month, Lord & Taylor offered 15% off almost all cosmetics and fragrances. Bloomingdale’s gave members of its loyalty program a $25 reward card for every $100 beauty purchase. The moves followed a decision by Macy’s to offer 15% off cosmetics, which it touted in nationally televised advertisements this spring.

“We’ve seen our competitors start to discount items like cosmetics, and I’m sure they’re saying we’re doing it,” said Jerry Storch, the chief executive of Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor parent Hudson’s Bay, on a conference call last month. “Once you get into that kind of a situation, everyone is fighting for every inch.”

A decade ago, shoppers would have been hard-pressed to find any Estée Lauder lipsticks, Bobbi Brown mascara or Shiseido blush on sale. These “prestige” brands are sold mainly at department and specialty stores and tend to be pricier than the so-called mass cosmetics sold at drugstores.