Online Beauty Shopping Guide for Aussies

When it comes to online shopping, I’m a bit of an addict. And the with the Aussie dollar surging ahead, what better time to give out some of my personal recommendation? Today I’ll talk about beauty / makeup related sites I use, and if you find it useful I’ll throw together a post on fashion / shoes 🙂

One important thing to always keep in mind when placing online orders is to search for discount codes, most sites have them floating around somewhere and a quick search on Google will call them up and easily save you 10% off your total order.

Multiple Brand websites

All Cosmetics Wholesale
Key Brands: MAC, Urban Decay, Kryolan, Bobbi brown, OCC, Stila, Too Faced, Smashbox, YSL, Maybelline, L’Oreal etc
Shipping: So-so to expensive shipping, arrives within 2-3 weeks
Thoughts: One of the best discount sites to visit for MAC, even contains older collections that are no longer available. Some of the products may come damaged, but you get what you pay for as the prices are amazing here.

A lot of the collections available are USA exclusive, which is great for Aussies, gives us access to them. One annoying aspect is their inability to state items are out of stock on the product detail page for some items, you find out once you’ve added to cart.

Beauty Choice
Key Brands: BH Cosmetics, GHD, CHI, Bumble and Bumble etc
Shipping: Reasonable shipping, takes about 3-4 weeks to arrive.
Thoughts: So far have only purchased BH Cosmetics goods from here and everything went smoothly, keep in mind that when you purchase electrical goods from America you will need an adaptor.

Brigette’s Boutique
Key Brands: Huge range, almost every department brand.
Shipping: So-so shipping, takes about 2-3 weeks to arrive.
Thoughts: While the brand range is amazing, the product range doesn’t always match up. But I think my worst complaint is the quality of the products. Generally, they are fine, but I’ve had a couple of orders where the product clearly looked damaged, and this is the only reason I generally avoid purchasing from here now.

Cherry Culture
Key Brands: NYX, Beauty Blender, Eyeko, Milani, MOR Cosmetics etc.
Shipping: So-so shipping costs, takes about 2 weeks to arrive.
Thoughts: My go-to shop for all things NYX related, one gripe is when they were sold out of a particular item in my order, they didn’t tell me and shipped my order without it 🙁 But after I contacted them they cleared it up and sent it a few weeks later.

They have a points collection system, which gives you discounts off future purchases.

Crush Cosmetics
Key Brands: Sleek, e.l.f, Barry M, NYX, Wet n Wild, Coastal Scents, Eyeko, China Glaze, Z Palette, Brush Guard, Seche Vite etc
Shipping: Reasonable, free when orders are $60AU or over. Fast shipping, arrives within a few days.
Thoughts: This is an Australian based company, I believe based out in Sydney. Their prices tend to be higher than most overseas sites, but not surprisingly their shipping costs are much better, they host a number of British brands not otherwise available to us. The plus side to them being an Aussie company means contacting them for help is easy (no time zone issues), and so far have found them to be very friendly and helpful. Website very easy to use.

Kiss and Makeup NY
Key Brands: NARS, Laura Mercier, Frederic Fekkai, Smashbox etc
Shipping: $9.95US flat rate, takes about 2-3 weeks to arrive.
Thoughts: Hands down my go to site for anything NARS or Laura Mercier related, they virtually stock the entire product range and charge the same prices being charged in America, and the staff are friendly. Unfortunately sometimes the system allows you to purchase a product that isn’t currently in stock or is no longer available.

Nail etc
Key Brands: OPI, Zoya, Essie, China Glaze, Colour Club, ORLY, Shellac etc
Shipping: So-so shipping, takes about 1-2 weeks to arrive.
Thoughts: Probably my favourite place to purchase nail polish, the prices are great and after your first purchase you get given a 10% discount code for future purchases. My only complaint is the customer service isn’t the best and sometimes can be slightly rude.

Nonpareil Boutique
Key Brands: NYX, e.l.f, Wet n Wild, Red Cherry, TheBalm etc.
Shipping: So-so shipping costs, takes about 2-3 weeks to arrive.
Thoughts: I constantly hit up this place for all my e.l.f needs, and occasionally NYX since for certain products it can be cheaper than Cherry Culture, but the range isn’t as good. Not the easiest site to navigate and use, they do issue out discount coupons with each purchase you make to encourage future purchases.

Rock The Catwalk
Key Brands: MAC, NYX, Urban Decay, NARS etc
Shipping: Reasonable shipping, can take up to 1 month to arrive.
Thoughts: I tend to visit this site if I’m looking for a particular MAC product that I can find from any other online stores I use. Nothing against this site, the owner is lovely, very friendly, but their product range isn’t the best and on occasion they can prove to be more expensive than other sites.

Sasa
Key Brands: Large mixture of Asian and Western brands
Shipping: Good or free if your order total is $75US or over, takes a few weeks to arrive.
Thoughts: One of the two sites I constantly visit for my Asian cosmetic and skin care needs, I wouldn’t bother ordering any western products from here as they tend to be more expensive. Great for BB creams.

Only complaint, they will let my order go through for items that are out of stock, wait a few days before telling me and then give my money back. Slightly annoying 🙁

Skin Store
Key Brands: Clarisonic, Stila, Too Faced, plus many more!
Shipping: Reasonable, takes about 2-3 weeks to arrive
Thoughts: I think most of my Stila and Too Faced cosmetics come from this site, however if you want the latest stuff from these two brands then you’ll have to wait a month or so before it appears as they tend to be a bit slow.

StrawberryNET
Key Brands: Huge range, almost every department brand from makeup, skincare, perfume and hair care.
Shipping: Free
Thoughts: Who hasn’t heard of StrawberryNET? It’s probably one of the biggest, most well known cosmetics sites out there. They give additional discounts the more you purchase and the quality of the products has always been perfect for me, however I have noticed that most of the products do tend to be older, as in when you purchase a product in store, if you check the dates they’ve usually been made 6 months to 1 year ago, but the products from here tend to be made 2-3 years ago. Generally speaking should be fine since they are unopened, but worth mentioning.

Their customer service is amazing, quick and friendly~

Trans Design
Key Brands: OPI, China Glaze, Color Club, Essie, ORLY etc
Shipping: Expensive shipping, takes about 2-3 weeks to arrive.
Thoughts: I’ve only ever used this site to purchase nail polish, but they do offer an large range of various tools and salon related products for sale. This is a great way to purchase collections cheaper and before they hit Aussie shores, but I’d be weary of their OPI as I’ve always found the serial number scratched out.

YesStyle
Key Brands: Clothes, Asian cosmetic brands
Shipping: Reasonable or free if order total is $150AU or over. Thoughts: Generally speaking, the prices they charge are only okay but do not reflect the prices charged in Asia itself, and I suspect YesStyle know this, however given the limited online choices for Asian Cosmetics they can play the monopoly card. The service is fantastic, very friendly customer support and the quality of the products are top notch.

Brand Specific websites

Benefit Cosmetics
Shipping: Reasonable or free if order total is over $115US, takes 2-3 weeks to arrive.
Thoughts: If you are comfortable with shopping online and love Benefit then I’d recommend this. Not only are the prices cheaper than Benefit prices locally, but new products are released here before they are at the counters, and you always get a few samples with every order, including discount codes.

Clinique
Shipping: $10AU or free if order total is over $100AU, takes a few days to arrive.
Thoughts: The products are exactly the same as what you’ll find at their counters. I’d recommend using their website to purchase products if you are planning to spend more than $100AU to qualify for the free shipping since you’ll receive a couple of samples. They also have a number of online only deals.

Estee Lauder
Shipping: $10AU or free if order total is over $100AU, takes a few days to arrive.
Thoughts: The products are exactly the same as what you’ll find at their counters. I’d recommend using their website to purchase products if you are planning to spend more than $100AU to qualify for the free shipping since you’ll also get a sample!

MAC Cosmetics
Shipping: Usually $10AU, sometimes free depending on promotions, takes a few days to arrive.
Thoughts: The products are exactly the same to those you find in the store, the only benefit I find is if you are desperate to purchase a limited edition product that may sell out fast at counters (assuming you can’t get to a counter quickly) this is a great way to secure them.

Sigma Beauty
Shipping: So-so shipping, takes about 2-3 weeks to arrive.
Thoughts: Sigma brushes are amazing, period! And as far as I can tell, this is the only place you can purchase the latest brush collections.

Phew, hope that helps! Apologises if anything was too brief, feel free to quiz me if you have further enquiries.