I am now a frequent purchaser of Asian cosmetics and
skincare so I thought I’d share where I get them from! There are probably more
stores out there but I want to share my experience. Tell me though if you know
of an amazing store that I’ve not shopped at yet!
I’ve reviewed these with examples of when I’ve bought from them. But as I
bought in the holiday season which can be busier I’ve also put an average time
from past experience and talking/reading about others hauls.
TLDR: My 3 favourite online stores are Jolse, RoseRose and Korea Depart. If I’m
purchasing a product I will usually compare the pricing on these three stores
to get the best price.
Some of my hauls and collections
IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS
· There will
always be sales!I always try to save my hauls for when
there’s a sale on and these happen frequently. In the same manner don’t feel an
urge to buy just because there’s a sale, there will always be another one in
the future!
· Custom
charges.For packages marked with a value greater than £36 you’ll be
charged VAT on it, as well as a royal mail handling charge. This can sometimes
wipe out any savings you got by buying online. More details on the government
website.https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty
The Stores
Bio:
Jolse were kind enough to send me the below. “We started this business on June 2012 and was selling item on ebay.com at
first. And we opened Jolse.com 2 years ago. Now we are selling on Amazon.com,
ebay.com and lazada also.”
Shipping: Included
in the price of the products! And they mark it as a gift so you won’t get that
customs charge.
Average Time: 2-3
Weeks
Pricing: Great pricing! If there’s currently not a sale on I’d wait for a week or
two, usually special offers are available frequently. Might seem pricier than
RoseRose but that’s because shipping is included in the price.
Overall Thoughts: There’s
a reason other fellow Asian Beauty fans call this Bae, and it’s not just
because they label their packages that! There’s always plenty of samples in the
orders, even when you just have one or two items. The customer service is also
great, you’ll always receive an answer within 2-3 days. If you want to buy
Cosrx I’d go to Jolse, they always have a sale on. There’s good pricing on all the
products and a wide selection to pick from. Everything is well packed in bubble
wrap and I’ve not had an issue yet with anything arriving broken/leaking.
Pricing: Great
pricing! Mizon in particular has free shipping so if you’re looking to buy
Mizon I’d head to RoseRose. There’s also frequent sales so it’s worth waiting
for them. They’re the place I go to if I want to place a huge haul order!
Overall Thoughts: Huge
variety of items. Out of all the stores I’ve shopped with this store has the
greatest number of items. Everything arrives well packed, bubble wrapped and
separated. Has a decent amount of samples too. I’ve never had to use their
customer services fortunately so can’t comment on that.
Shipping: I’ll
let their summary speak for itself:
Average
Time:
2-3 Weeks
Pricing: Good
prices and regularly discounted too.
Overall
Thoughts: Good
variety of items here and good price on them as well. What I love about Korea
Depart is that I can’t find an item on RoseRose or Jolse I can usually find it
here. I find the website very easy to navigate and the search function works
well. The pricing for shipping is also very clear and they put the weight on
items so you can track how much your true spend will be.
Bio:
This is an U.S based store which specialises in Asian Beauty. They also have a
monthly subscriptions available, Beauteque Bag and Mask Maven. I’ve tried both
of these and reviews are below:
Based on package weight. (Free on orders over $35 in
the US).
Average
Time:
2-3 Weeks
Pricing:
Compared to Jolse and RoseRose the pricing is more dear on Beauteque, and it’s
not my first port of call if I’m buying hauls. However they do have occasional
good deals and if you can’t find anything on the above three websites they’re worth
a shot.
To save 10% use my coupon SOPHIE10
Overall
Thoughts:
I enjoy the subscription services offered by Beauteque and I currently am
subscribed to mask maven. There are good deals to be had if you look for them,
but be careful that the shipping doesn’t wipe out any value you gained. I like
the design of the website and it’s easy to navigate.
Customer service is very good and you can usually expect a reply in 2-3 days if
there’s an issue.
Bits
And Bobs of Beauty
Bio:
They provided the below to me: “We have been established since February 2015, we started off with Ebay,
then not long we formed a website too.
It has been a very fun time exploring more and more what customer like in the
UK.
Our aim is to provide Korean Beauty Products affordable and cutting out all the
international delivery and tax cost which we know it can be alot for
international buyers like us and to be able to buy Korean Beauty quickly and
easy.
We believe being honest to our customers is the main key.”
Shipping: Free
delivery for UK orders! Free for European orders over £50,
Average
Time: 5-10
days
Pricing: Decent
for some products. I wouldn’t buy sheet masks from here, as I prefer to buy in
bulk to get a better price.
Overall
Thoughts: This
is a new launch and there are still a couple of teething issues on the website
design, for some reason it works better for me on Firefox than Chrome. I love
the packaging that their products arrive in. It’s well protected and pink!
What’s not to love. Not as much variety as the other stores, but there are the
popular brands. They have occasional special boxes, such as their fruit boxes
which are nice curations. It wouldn’t be my first choice but I’m keeping an eye
on them to see how they develop and grow.
Pricing: Decent
pricing but a lot of products appear to be sold out. The lucky box is very well
priced though!
Overall
Thoughts:A lot
of the products on here appear to be sold out which is a shame as the price
looks good. I love their sample pouches though! For only £5 ($8.80) you can get
over 50 random samples (reviewed here) I’d recommend them for this pouch!
Bio: The
official website of the Innisfree brand. Has English descriptions and pricing
in the currency of choice.
Shipping:
Weight dependent. They also don’t mark this as a gift so you’ll have the
customs charge applied if it’s over £35.
Average
Time: 2-3
Weeks
Overall
Thoughts: I
do like Innisfree and they do special deals such as 1+1 on mists, free cushion
refills on cushion purchases, 10 + 10 on masks. But the pricing can be more
competitive on the Korean websites so I always compare. Sample wise you get a
couple of Innisfree products, though if you spend a large amount you get to
choose which samples you receive. Be wary of expensive purchases though as
Innisfree marks the price on the outside of the box and you’ll have to pay a
customs charge.
Pricing: Decent
pricing on the samples, probably the best place to go to for sample orders.
Overall
Thoughts: This
is the place that I go to when I want samples of something. It has a great
variety of products in sample size which is perfect when you’ve not yet decided
100% on a product.
Shipping:
Depends on seller, there are a few items available on Amazon prime but not the
majority.
Average
Time:
5-10 days.
Pricing:
Compared to the Asian based stores there’s quite a mark-up on the prices here.
Definitely would not be my first point of call.
Overall
Thoughts:
In an emergency or when I really want a product quickly I will purchase from
Amazon. They do have some nice sheetmask sets and my Mizon Snail Recovery Gel
is only £7 with shipping there which is great. They’re also pretty reliable,
I’ve never had any issues with purchasing from them.
Pricing: Similar
to Amazon there is a markup on the pricing of products here. I wouldn’t buy
anything here not on sale.
Overall
Thoughts: With the long shipping times and the mark up on pricing there are
far better options out there to get that fix for your Asian Beauty addiction.
And those are all the stores that I've shopped with! Have I missed out your favourite? Let me know in the comments.