Sephora + HopShopGo VS Mecca VS Tarazz

Hey Kittens!!

A good friend of mine recently went to America (in fact she's still there, back soon though. Yay). I really threw myself into making a 'little' list of things for her to pick up for me from Sephora. I had created, in my mind, the perfect list!

I was so excited, I was practically drooling over the thought of all the goodies! I had read countless reviews on Sephora and on numerous blogs. I really took this wishlist seriously!

There was one particular item I was most excited for, Too Faced's Workday to Weekends Perfect Eye Set. It is such a great value for money set, and I couldn't wait to get my paws on it! That was, until I saw those two spirit-crushing words... online exclusive. *sigh. Nooooooooooooooooooo!

Online Exclusive! $65 Sephora.com

I removed it from my list with a heavy heart and picked a few other things just to make up the difference.

The Too Faced set haunted me... I needed it. I had wanted the brush set for ages and it alone is nearly $60 at Mecca, so this set from Sephora is a steal for only $65. Basically making all the other things FREE (that's how I justified it to myself anyway!). I had also been eyeing off the 3 way eye tool as well! See , like I said it's such a good value set!!! I had purchased some other brushes from Too Faced when I was in America and ohmigosh, the Teddy Bear Hair is oh so soft! I love everything about Too Faced products! They are fantastic products and the packaging is just perfect!

I started toying with the idea of using a forwarding service to get it to me from Sephora. I was scared. I hadn't done it before and it seemed like it could take forever and a day, not to mention cost an arm and a leg!

I finally decided on HopShopGo and was very happy with the service. I like that they're backed by PayPal.

The scary part is you don't know exactly how much it will cost you until your order is already sent to them and they request the forwarding fee from you. That was what scared me! What if it was a bazillion dollars?!

Another thing that scared me was I didn't want to use their buy for me service. Firstly, it costs a lot, and secondly, I wanted my Sephora points and freebies! I had read that Sephora doesn't accept international cards, so I was adding up all these extra costs and thinking hmmm it might not be worth it!

I put some items in my cart (including the Naked Flushed Palette and a little Laura Mercier Hand Cream) and was just "testing" to see if it would work! It did, it did!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, longest story ever, short... I got the items and the forwarding cost was reasonable!HopShopGo asked if I wanted them to 'cut down' the box for me (Sephora pack with heaps of space in the box and shipping is by volume) the fee was like $7 but it saved me $19 in shipping! Yes please!!! Also, note I chose express shipping! I wanted it ASAP.

Shipping from Sephora to them was FREE but it took forever! I don't know why it took so long. That annoyed me. I was thinking there was an issue with my card or that an item was out of stock! Queue panic attack!

I placed the order on May 23rd, and it was shipped out on May 26th and it didn't reach HopShopGo HQ till the 31st May (that's free shipping for you, but it did say 3 days!)!! I received the package on Tuesday 11th June... It actually should have been the 7th but DHL handed my package to AusPost. Oh Boy was I fuming!!!

So, technically it took 12 business days altogether. Pretty good really!

Here are the comparisons!

Sephora + HopShopGo

This was the forwarding fee from HopShopGo. Quite reasonable considering I chose the most expensive shipping. 

Here is my order from Sephora. See all my freebies!

In Aussie Dollars:
Sephora Order $116.32
HopShopGo $50.10
Total: $166.42 (a bit more than I actually thought! haha. But I did get freebies!)

Tarazz 

$173.55 and that's with an 8-16 day shipping window from when it arrives at their warehouse. Plus, no Sephora points or freebies.

And lastly, Mecca...

Mecca don't stock the pack I wanted or Laura Mercier but still... Check this out.

$145.85 just for what was in the Too Faced set!! Not including the sample mascara or Shadow Insurance. Not to even mention the Naked Flushed Palette or the Laura Mercier Hand cream OR the freebies OR the Sephora Points!!!

So, all in all I didn't save heaps from buying directly from Sephora, but I am still happy with my choice.

Also, I didn't get that Faux Tan freebie... They must have run out, but was substituted a St Tropez gradual tan which I am very happy about. I love St Tropez.

What do you guys think? Have you used HopShopGo or Tarazz? Or any other parcel forwarding companies??

I have used PriceUSA before, but I thought I'd try HopShopGo for this order instead!

♡Missy