More and more I find myself ordering beauty products online. Even color products are easy to buy online. I rely on the incredible color swatching done by Christine over at
Temptalia.com and have never been disappointed. Ordering online saves you time and money. I also find that buying online limits my impulse purchases( I am Queen of the Impulse Purchase).
When I order online I have the following expectations.
- A seamless shopping and check out process
- Editing my shopping cart should be straightforward
- Easy movement between shopping cart and store
- Product reviews from customers
- Fast shipping at a low price (free is even better!)
- Great customer service
It may not be fair, but I DO count weekends into shipping time. I don't stop wanting something just because it's a weekend. Here are the online beauty stores I've used recently and my thoughts on them.
Sephora.com is a great resource for high end beauty products. They have an outstanding collection of makeup, skin/hair care and fragrance. They carry many hard to find brands and often have products/colors within the lines that are exclusive to Sephora. Some products are exclusive online only. I recently made a purchase during their Beauty Insider 15% off promotion.
- Free shipping over $50
- Several items I wanted were out of stock
- Easy site navigation
- Great search engine
- Large number of product reviews
- 3 free foil product samples with order
- Shipping is not fast. Last order took 10 days
BeautyBar.com is another online resource. I became aware of them through a promotion on
HauteLook.com. For $20 you received a $40 gift card, basically 50% of your purchase.
- Free 1-2 day shipping on order over $39. Ordered on Saturday and received on Monday
- Add coupon code BBGIFT15 and get $15 off your first $50 purchase
- Limited product selection
- Several items I wanted were out of stock
- Decent site navigation
- Few to no product reviews
- Awkward search engine
- 3 foil product samples with order
- Package arrived in 2 days, but was missing a product
- Great customer service with missing item delivered in less then 24 hours
Nordstrom.com is my favorite online store. The website is easy to navigate, they are almost never out of an item I've needed and you have the option of either home delivery or in store pick up. Since I HATE shopping at the crowded MAC counter, I usually order my items online and pick up at customer service in my local store. My local Nordstrom doesn't carry some of the higher end lines like Giorgio Armani and YSL so those items I have shipped. .
- $5 shipping on purchases of $50 or more BUT must use offer code BEAUTY, discounted shipping is not automatically applied at checkout.
- Great selection and rarely out of stock
- Option for home delivery or in store pick up. In store pick up is free
- Fair number of customer reviews
- Extremely easy site navigation
- Good search function.
- Quick at home delivery
Birchbox.com is a great online resource. In addition to the monthly boxes they send out, they have a very nice albeit small online store.
- A large number of items ship for free
- Limited selection
- Very quick delivery
- Efficient search engine
- You have to be a member to product access reviews
- Amazing customer service
Beauty.com and it's sister site Drugstore.com are great resources for both high end products and drugstore lines.
- Free shipping for orders $25 and more
- Very speedy delivery
- They have never been out of stock of an item I need
- Top of the line selection on drugstore lines
- Decent selection of high end lines
- Great search engine and easy site to navigate.
- Lots of customer reviews
Dermstore.com is an online company I have recently discovered. Dermstore has it's own online store, but I purchased directly through Amazon.com. I ordered on Friday and the package was in my mailbox on Monday morning. The shipping was $4.99,
but I discovered after the fact if I bought directly from their web site all U.S. shipping is free. Next time I need to place an order I will go through the Dermstore site. I have browsed their site and find it easy to navigate with lots of great lines and articles. It's an online store that focuses on Dermatologist recommended makeup, beauty and skin care products. Many of the products they offer are only available through a doctors office.
Do you shop for beauty products online? What have your experiences been?
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