Beauty Obsessed

Today while I was skimming through my ‘favorites’ list on my web browser, I landed on one of my bookmarked shopping sites – Nail Polish Canada – and noticed they had finally stocked Zoya’s Smoke and Mirrors Fall 2011 collection.  As I’ve only found two places in Halifax that stock Zoya (Jay Wells Salon on Barrington, and Be Well Spa on Robie), neither of which have these in yet (and from word of mouth, will not have them in anytime soon), I promptly ordered four of the shades I’m coveting from the collection: Anja (a deep, vampy red creme), Cynthia (an almost black teal blue creme), Neeka (an interesting dusty greyed purple shade with gold shimmer) and Yara (an unique army green with gold shimmer).  Happily, the site offers free shipping after spending $29 or more, and the polishes were cheaper on the site than they are to purchase in the city, so I ended up spending less ordering them online than I would have buying them in person.  Win!

Normally, I rarely encounter this kind of situation when browsing online.  I am eternally tempted by online (cosmetics) shopping but rarely buy as shipping costs tend to be prohibitive here in Canada – or worse, the company does not ship to Canada at all.  However, recently I’ve come across a few great sites that are not only Canadian-based – and therefore have reasonable shipping costs – but also stock the newest cosmetics on the scene (which can be tough as we tend to get product launches much later here as well).  Some of the sites even have HTF (hard to find) brands in Canada, which is a real plus.  Of course, I had to share my finds with you today – it’s nice to know we do, in fact, have options – and of course I want to help enable you to indulge in your consumerism so I have other partners in crime (LOL).

Here’s the short list:

Nail Polish Canada – nailpolishcanada.com
- free shipping in Canada on orders over $29
- flat rate shipping charge anywhere in Canada for $8.50
- carries brands like Zoya, Essie, Color Club, China Glaze, LCN (incl. Magnetic Nail Polish!), Orly, Seche Vite, and vegan brand Soulstice Spa.  Also carries nail treatments, base & top coats, removers, decals and other nail tools.

Update: My polishes were shipped the same day I ordered them, and arrived in four business days, well-packed and without incident.  Highly recommend!!

eBeauty.ca – www.eBeauty.ca
- free shipping in Canada on orders over $75
- flat rate shipping charge almost anywhere in Canada for $7.95 (regular mail) or $14.95 (courier)
- carries makeup brands like CARGO Cosmetics, stila, CoverFX, Jemma Kidd, Paul & Joe Beaute, Too Faced Cosmetics, Kevyn Aucoin, Becca Cosmetics, Dermablend, Amazing Cosmetics
- carries skincare brands like Peter Thomas Roth, DDF, Juice Beauty, Kinerase, B.Kamins, 100% Pure, StriVectin, and Caudalie, as well as Cake Beauty, Elemis, and Lancaster
- carries hair care brands like Frederic Fekkai, Phyto Paris, Ted Gibson, Jonathan Productr, Philip B., and John Masters Organics
- carries several fragrance lines like Hampton Sun, tools like the Beauty Blender, and men’s brands like Jack Black, Billy Jealousy, and Anthony Logistics
*A few items I’ve added to my ‘wish list’:
1) Philip B. White Truffle Nourishing & Conditioning Creme $30.80
2) 100% Pure Acai Berry Antioxidant Eye Cream $32
3 100% Pure Coffee Bean Eye Cream $25
4) Becca Cosmetics Palette (right now, Prairie Moon) $71.50
5) Paul & Joe Beaute Eye Gloss N $26.40

Pretty Indulgent – www.prettyindulgent.com
- free shipping on orders over $150
- flat rate shipping according to province: Quebec $7.00, Ontario $8.50, NB $10, NS/PEI $10.50, Manitoba $11, SK/AB/NL/BC $11.50, Yukon/NW $13, Nunavut $16
- shipping to the US is based on weight-class
- does not charge sales tax (yet)
- based out of Montreal, Quebec
- carries nail polish brands China Glaze, Color Club, Nubar, OPI, Orly, and Zoya, as well as a few base/top coats
- carries skincare brands like Arcana, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, and Villainess
- carries the jewelry lines Sihaya Designs, as well as Elements and Artifacts by Alicia Dabney

Honourable Mentions:

All Dolled Up – getalldolledup.ca
- Carries Nubar polish, as well as Cake Beauty
- shipping info not provided

Beautyphica – www.beautyphica.com
- Ships Canada Post Expedite $10, Express $20; will ship internationally (call toll-free: 1-877-497-3745)
- Carries Aesop, L’Artisan Parfumeur, Nuxe
- Has a VIP sampling program

Has anyone had any experience with these sites, or know of any other good online sites with reasonable prices/shipping costs?  Knowing that there are more feasible online shopping options, are you more inclined to buy?  Do you resist online shopping for reasons other than just fees (for example, giving yourself yet another avenue to purchase)?  Do tell!!

I hope everyone is enjoying the last days of August – hopefully we still have a few weeks left of Summer before the cold starts to set in!

Thanks for reading!

*Image credits: nailpolishcanada.ca ; www.ebeauty.ca ; www.prettyindulgent.com ; www.getalldolledup.ca