Have You Shopped These Online Beauty Sites?

Tired of harsh beauty store lighting and aisles populated by pushy salespeople? Are you fed up with the dwindling quality of products at some of the bigger beauty stores? If you’re ready to break out of a beauty buying rut, try these three online shopping sites on for size.

Beauty Encounter

Beauty Encounter is one of my favorite websites! There’s a slideshow right on the homepage that shows their five current deals and steals. Most often, the sales are geared around an event (like the recent 15% off deal they offered during tax time) or a holiday (they offered 15% off all natural and organic products for Earth Day).

Clearance items are also constantly being discounted (even now they’re marked down an extra 20% through May), and, if you take the time to browse through their gigantic lot, it can lead to some impulse buys at scary-low prices. Many products throughout the site are already below MSRP, listed as the “BE Price”, which can be as much, and occasionally more, than 50% off.

Every day, they choose a selection of products for their “daily deal” — products marked down even lower than the already low BE Price. In some cases it amounts to 90% off!

Their fragrance department is especially rife with special offers on everything from mainstream scents to niche colognes and perfumes. I like to just sit and wade through the pages and pages of products, many of them new, but also some discontinued, limited release, and other hard-to-find fare.

With every order comes three “free” samples of your choice, but be careful — you do have to pay shipping for them. The samples range from skincare to fragrances to bath and body items. And if you happen to spend more than $100, well, look at that! They waive the shipping fees (shipping is also prompt).

Sign up to their newsletter for an extra (on top of everything else!) 10% off your entire first order. Rest assured, Beauty Encounter is also an authorized retailer for every product they sell, which means you don’t run the risk of buying a knock-off fragrance or a watered-down skincare product.

Folica

In need of a new flat iron, hair serum, or deep conditioner? Well, look no further than Folica. The site offers a diverse array of hair care, styling, and coloring products to suit almost any need…at deeply discounted prices!

Their inventory leans toward the brands and tools the pros use, and you might not find some of the major drug and department store brands. For pro products, however, from Sedu to Davines to Wella, Folica has it all. And if you subscribe to their semi-weekly email newsletter, so can you. 🙂

You’ll get things like coupon codes (like to receive $25 off your purchase of $75), an extra 20% off the Buyer’s Choice Top 10 Hair Tools and Sets, or a free full-size product with the purchase of any item from a specific brand. If for nothing else, subscribing to Folica’s newsletter is worth it just for the coupon codes.

The site also has a vibrant buyers’ review section, which sets it apart from many of the lesser known beauty shopping sites, and it’s completely unregulated. You can read through hundreds and hundreds of truthful, thorough (and oftentimes harsh) reviews.

Folica also puts together heavily discounted product bundles, and if you need everything in one of them, the discounts are severe. As for shipping, unless you desperately need your order immediately, like for an event, or because that’s just the type of person you are (impatient, like me), don’t spring for the expedited shipping. Even with their regular shipping, Folica usually delivers within a few days, tops.

HairFlix

Why another hair site? Because HairFlix is a different sort. Hairflix stocks a small selection of niche, but amazing haircare and styling brands from Kevin Murphy (who makes my favorite styling products) to Keune to Schwarzkopf Osis (if you haven’t tried their Dust It+ powder yet, it’s like a romp at the beach — a hot, sweat-less night in bed, and a fantastic blowdryer all in one tiny shaker bottle!).

Many of these brands are unavailable outside of certified salons in big cities, giving those of us who live elsewhere access to them. Every few weeks or so, HairFlix holds an unannounced sale on everything from a single line (usually running from 25%-40% off), so impulse buys are often the name of the game. And if that straightening serum you tried on a whim is making your hair oily and limp…simply return it for a full refund, with no questions asked.