Store Review - BeautyBay

Hello Princesses!

Today I'm going to be talking about my shopping experience with BeautyBay! Beautybay is an UK based beauty store that stocks almost everything that I can't purchase in New Zealand. I decided to make an order from them during February because they stocked a super pale foundation that I swatched in Taipei, but was almost twice the price to purchase in the mall in comparison to online. Generally I prefer to buy in store rather than online if the price is similar or the sales assistant has been exceptionally helpful, but in this case neither happened, so I felt that purchasing this product online was justified by that.

Website Practicality

I find BeautyBay very practical to navigate and quite aesthetically pleasing. The pure white background is very fresh looking and makes the site look clean and free from cluttered. I love the drop down bars to sort through brands or department/categories, but I don't particularly have any use for the My Beauty drop down bar. It's easy to create an account and check out, although I dislike that there is no Paypal payment option, only credit card payment. I prefer to purchase online through Paypal (especially after the Lime Crime fiasco!) and in all honesty I get a few payments through Paypal, so it's annoying to me that they don't offer that payment option.

 Price Comparison

I could only find this foundation stocked in two stores that would send to New Zealand! I converted both the NZD so it would make a little more sense, and you can see that BeauyBay wins by a long shot, especially due to the free shipping and 10% off currently running!

BeautyBay - $50.25 + Shipping $0.00 = $50.25NZD
ASOS - $66.66 + Shipping $7.00 = $73.66

Shipping and Packaging

My package was shipped the same day as I ordered it, and took  days to 13 business days arrive at my house in New Zealand. I was really surprised that the product itself wasn't bubble wrapped, despite being a solid glass jar, but rather just popped into the box with a bunch of scrunched up brown paper. The foundation was securely housed in it's original box and wasn't damaged during it's journey to NZ.

Products

I purchased the Anna Sui Liquid Foundation in 100 - Alabaster! I swatched this foundation while I was in Taipei in February and decided to purchase it from BeautyBay instead of the store because of the massive price difference due to store expenses and exchange rates. I know it's not the nicest thing to do (although admittedly the store assistant didn't really help me that much) but when the price difference is $22.68GBP ($50.25NZD) and $1950.00TWD ($83.51NZD) I think it's just a little bit justifiable.

Anna Sui Liquid Foundation is a soft focus foundation which creates a flawless complexion.

Boasting SPF20 protection against UV rays, Liquid Foundation moisturises the skin and utilises Soft Focus Powders and Trick of Light Technology to provide exceptional blurring results for a soft, silky and pore-less finish.

The perfect Liquid Foundation for a natural, flawless and radiant complexion, Liquid Foundation glides smoothly onto the skin to deliver a translucent, dewy finish. A fusion of Fruit Extracts, Hydrolysed Silk and Antioxidants help to soften, nourish and protect the skin whilst the fluid consistency blends seamlessly and leaves the skin looking picture perfect and radiant

I haven't included any thoughts or swatches of this product since this is a store review not a product review, but let me know down below if you would like to see this product reviewed soon - it's close in colour to NARS Siberia and It's Skin Green BB Cream!

What I Love

- Free shipping! (At least at the moment)

- Great range of products

- Well priced (plus extra discounts)
- Good site interface and aesthetic

What I Don't Love

- Questionable packaging

Final Thoughts

I quite enjoyed my shopping experience with BeautyBay! The only thing that concerned me is the slightly unsafe packaging, although the scrunched paper did do a fair job of protecting the glass bottle. The packaging was also enormous in comparison to the small product, so I wonder what the packaging would be like if I bought more products! I would definitely recommend them as a good site to shop with, especially for New Zealanders that can't buy most brands in store!

Have you shopped with BeautyBay before? What was your experience like?