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

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!


I still haven't decided if I will attend my family Christmas party yet. I'm anticipating some serious awkwardness... And that makes me want to avoid it but at the same time, I don't want to not be there just because of one family member, I think I will regret it *sigh decisions, decisions

I am going to Yarraglen to have Christmas brunch with my brother and his baby mama (and good friend, great actually) and my niece... So at least I am doing "something". I was planning on pretending it was any old day.

I would go to my family dinner if I could persuade my bro and co to come too. The level of awkwardness would be considerably lowered if I went with them.

Have a great day everyone!

Oh and meanwhile, on a whim, I decided to try a faux tan for the first time ever (meaning I have never self tanned)! The night before Christmas?! Crazy talk! I used St Tropez tanning mousse... I only did it about 2 hours ago... It actually looks pretty good so far, but I haven't washed the "guide tan" off yet, I will do that on Christmas morning... Makes me feel thinner too, which is always a good thing :D review pending.


♡Missy

Thoughts on Benefit Brow Bar...

Alrighty... So, I totally didn't update in a timely fashion at all... But considering I confessed to being the Queen of Procrastination, it isn't all that surprising! Hehe.

Anyhoo, without any further ado, I shall share my thoughts...

This is what I had to say on the Vogue forum a few days after my appointment... 

I got my eyebrows done at the Benefit  Brow Bar at Myer Melbourne on Friday (15th July, 2011).

I was a  little shirty that I had to wait quite a while (seeing as I had  made an  appointment), and it wasn't until I said I was leaving that they  said I  was next. There were heaps of walk-ins, so it looked like tonnes  of  people were waiting- I had no idea where I was in the queue.

Aside  from that, I really enjoyed it... I barely felt the waxing part  and  the SA who taught me how to fill in my brows was very patient with   me... and amazingly enough I was able to re-create the look at home!   *gasp*

I’m going to put my before and after pics up on my blog.

P.S-  trimming of the eyebrow hair was weird- I have never had that done  before, and now if I touch my brows they feel funny.

Picture time!

Word of warning... Prior to my appointment, I had been "growing" out my brows for Donkey's Years, so I got my mum to capture the state they were in while we were waiting! You have been warned!

Ouch! Damn you Myer and your super harsh lighting!

The unruliness that was!

Ahhhh much better!

Loving the shape!

Check out that fullness!

 Seeing as my before pic is an example of crazy lady brows at their craziest, it's hard for me to convey the fact that the "tail" of my brow is never a nice line like it is in my after pics, even if I get them professionally done.. They tend to just taper off in to a bit of nothing.

Aside from the waiting issue, I really loved the results! I would be more than happy to get my brows done at Benefit again, and again and again.

I actually haven't touched my brows since that appointment waaay back on July 15th- mostly because I didn't want to stuff up the shape with wayward tweezing and also the fact that I had all intentions of getting them done again. Well, let's just say, 11 weeks later (c'mon, WTF?! Queen of Procrastination strikes again!),  I am, yet again, in desperate need and my brows are officially in crazy lady territory again! My closest shopping Centre is Southland, and I don't believe there is a Brow Bar there. No fair! *stamps feet*

I either have to move my tush and get to the Myer Melbourne Brow Bar or go elsewhere... eep.

♡Missy