Monday, July 7, 2014

Beauty Globalization: How I buy beauty products from International Stores

Hey there beauties!

     I know how frustrating it can be when you watch your favorite beauty gurus from Youtube or read your favorite beauty blogs and find that the products they recommend are not available in your country. (From my standpoint in the Philippines it's Urban Decay, Tarte, Hourglass...) Not only do I feel this itch to get my hands on said product/s because they come highly recommended, but the thrill of the chase just makes these products more appealing to me. (What does that say about me?) I digress...

     Mind you the process is not easy but once you find your stride and accept that there are just some products out of your reach you will be a happy beauty enthusiast like me...

     Before we begin.. Let me point out that there maybe A LOT of beauty resellers in your country, from which you can purchase some of these products (but that is a story for another post.) But if like me you get paranoid about resellers then read on for some techniques on how to buy from international,but mainly US stores:


First: Check the site if they accept international credit cards or non US based billing address.

I get a monthly subscription of Popsugar Must-Have because they DO accept international credit cards and I just give them my US based address.Voila!

Second: Find a US shipping address or better yet a US shipping & billing address.

I got my US shipping address from my-shoppingbox.com, I am not entirely sure if it is just for Philippines customers, but there are other resources  still like OPAS, and Bordelinx (UK based address) that offers the same service.




Basically these are mail forwarding services. So you sign up with them, most of the time they offer free membership for the first year, they then give a US/UK/Japan based address which you then give to online shopping sites. (Detailed experience on future posts.)

Third: If they only accept US based credit card

Try US Unlocked they give you a US debit card. The process of applying can be tedious and you need to load your debit card with an initial application fee of $25 and load it now and again because it is a DEBIT card, so it's too much work for me but it may get you to buy Sephora products?

Ooooor... This may be bad advice, but sometimes you can get away with using these shipping addresses as your US billing address too. If it doesn't work then nothing's lost. At least you tried?
I have tried this once and it worked, I still haven't tried it with Sephora though.

Fourth: Check Amazon

There are times when amazon.com ships internationally. Their shipping prices are not outrageous  and they say that the additional Duties is refundable if there is any amount left to refund, so you might want to consider it.

Fifth: Check the brand's online shop.

Sometimes we forget that the brands that we want to buy have their own individual online stores that may accept non-US based billing address, or even ship internationally!


     So there you have it beauties! My personal system on how to get your hands on some of the most covetable beauty products that may be unavailable in your country. I am more than happy to be your enabler on your way to becoming a beauty junkie like me...

If you have any other tips, questions and suggestions on how to go about this leave it in the comments section below.


Have fun shopping!

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