News from Adambeauty

My favorite website for ordering Japanese beauty products Adambeauty.com just updated their site. While the design of the website is still somehow simple and a little chaotic I think it looks a bit nicer now.

The cool news is that now there is EMS/Speedpost service available. When you checkout you have the option to check a box, enter your phone number and receive your items via EMS.
It costs only US$12/order and will allow you to receive your order even faster. I think it's worth using EMS if you order a bigger bunch of items and/or are a bit impatient like me lol!

The new Visee Blackish Forming Eyes & new mascara, Elizabeth Pink Bonbon glosses and Kiss' spring items (Chocolate Lip Balm and those eyeshadow duos) have been listed, too!
Adam told me the new Spring stuff should be listed by end of next week!

Also there are some nice items on sale. I just ordered a Maquillage lipliner for US$7.50 (it's a nice rose shade).

I think you can expect the Aube, Lavshuca, MQ, MM and Kate collections listed there soon, too!

My Gooddealer order (M by Maquillage Spring stuff!)

The new collections from Maquillage are usually on my shopping list as I just love that brand. Now with their revamped packaging and quite a bunch of new interesting products it was granted that I needed some of the new stuff.

My only problem was deciding where to order. With the currently strong Yen prices went up to nuts amounts but I wasn't interested to wait another month or so till adambeauty will list this.

So after some browsing and pondering I decided to order from Gooddealer.com. I haven't ordered from them for over a year I believe as their prices were just ok because of the higher shipping and handling fees.


But nowadays it's one of the best sources to order in my opinion especially as they also stock Lunasol, RMK, Jill Stuart and other expensive brands. Just factor in the shipping per item, compare with other sellers and do the math...

I got (the first US$ price is what gooddealer charges before shipping/handling):
2x Eyes Creator (3D) in GY865 and VI376 (US$39.61/each...retail 3990 Yen = US$45)
1x Face Creator (3D) in #44 - you get refill and case by default (US$40.93....retail 4200 Yen = US$47-48)
1x Moisture Rouge (Color) in RS724 (US$30.47...retail 3150 Yen = US$36)

I paid about US$20 for registered airmail and handling. That may sound much but If you just split the shipping (I ordered 4 items) and add US$5 on top of each product you will see that I paid even less than retail and the items arrived in less than a week and well packed. I also received a sampler of Coffret D'or's new lipsticks and a Lunasol foundation/base sampler.

Just go to gooddealer.com, click on "English" (top right of the page) and then click on "shopping mall". You will find the newest products first, otherwise do a search (be sure to always search for one word only, it doesn't find anything if you enter more than 1 word). You can pay by Paypal or CC!

Of course reviews will follow later!

My first order from Jpmon

I checked Jpmon.com out maybe a year or so ago when I read about the site on Musings of a Muse... however it looked so complicated and all was in Chinese and there weren't any items I desperately needed from them so I didn't place an order.

Recently I got interested more in the smaller and harder to find Japanese brands like Privacy, Kiss Me, Bihada Ichizoku etc. Jpmon offers a pretty good variety of stuff so I decided to dive in and order.

I was totally lost as the whole site is in Chinese so I was very grateful for the great Registration Tutorial by Taryn and the Ordering Tutorial posted on The Muse's blog. I think I wouldn't have made it without the tutorials.... many thanks to The Muse and Taryn!


Anyways, it took me about 2 hours to place my first order as I first had to find out where which things are listed and when I first placed my order I got some Chinese error screen after entering my CC info so I had no clue if my order went through or not. As I neither got a confirmation email nor my order history showed an order I decided to place the order again half hour later. Thankfully that time it went through and I was curious how fast my order will arrive.

Jpmon is a web-shop based in Taiwan with good pricings and fair shipping rates.
I ordered 12 items and paid 700 NT$ for EMS shipping (about US$21...these are the actual shipping costs, I checked the parcel!). You can also use normal parcel post which should be cheaper. But I always opt for EMS if the rates are good as I can trace my package online and receive it much quicker than regular airmail.

Judging the items I purchased everything is maybe a $ over or about Japanese retail so it's very worth ordering.


Examples:
-Bihada Ichizoku 3rd Anniversary mask set with free gloss NT$745 (=US$23/ retail 1850 Yen = US$ 20.50)
-Kiss Me Heroine Make Liquid Rouge for NT$313 (about US$9.60/retail 840 Yen = US$9.40)
So you see the prices are really good.

I ordered:
-Bihada Ichizoku 3rd Anniversary mask set with free gloss
-Bihada Ichizoku duo packs of all 4 available Bath Soaks (hot, relax, milky rose and orchid)
-Bihada Ichizoku Gorgeous Gloss in Pearl Rose
-Kiss Me Heroine Make Liquid Rouge in 01 Sugar Rose and 02 Apricot Rose
-Elizabeth Nude Bonbon OL Style Gloss in #2 as it's OOS on adambeauty (now I have them all hehe)
-Kiss Me Sexy Glamorous Lip in 01 Vanilla
-Makemania Curvy Lip Liquid in Red Beige
-Privacy Kokuryudo Clubbin' Lovin' Nude Pink Lip Liner
-free gift: Barbapapa Silk Cleansing Puff (how cute! revives good childhood memories... I love Barbapapa!)

I ordered December 21, the package was dispatched Dec 26 and received the package as of today Dec 30. That's not the fastest package but there were quite a few Xmas holidays so I think it was still pretty swift!

Gmarket: Update on Paypal Express Checkout

I posted about Gmarket's new way to pay through Paypal which is much easier and faster than their old stupid and annoying system.

In their "Why to choose Paypal Express Checkout" Gmarket lists that you can get refunds to your Paypal account.

They do actually refund you- but not your shipping costs. Unfortunately you still get your shipping costs refund to your Gaccount.
Boo =(

Anways, I got a US$11 refund from Gmarket to my Paypal because the exchange rate between Paypal and Gmarket was different. I think that's quite nice as I would have paid US$11 less if I paid through my regular credit card.

However I wish we could get refunds for canceled products/shipping costs to Paypal.
In this point there is no improvement with Paypal Express Checkout.

News from Gmarket (Paypal Express Checkout)

UPDATE:
I just placed an order using the Paypal Express Checkout. It was super easy and the order shows now "Shipping Preparation" right after submitting the order. I also received a confirmation email by Paypal. I will see if they refund me the excess shipping costs if my package weighs less than the estimation =D I'll update to tell you if I got Cash Balance or a Paypal refund.

A reader pointed out to me that there is a new payment method available on Gmarket: Paypal Express Checkout.
That's a huge improvement as it means your order will be confirmed right after sending your payment instead of having a pending payment for 1-2 days.

I have NOT tried this out yet but it seems that the Express Checkout is pretty much the same as other websites like Adambeauty are using.
You place your order and will be directed to Paypal's website right away where you can just go ahead with your payment (order number etc. already filled out) so your payment will be confirmed right with your payment.
Gmarket also says that you can get refunds/partial refunds to Paypal this way so I am hopeful we might be able to get the overpaid shipping costs refunded to our Paypal. That would make Gmarket shopping 100000 times neater!

Here are the steps taken from Gmarket, I think they're pretty much explaining how it works =D

How to use Credit Cards on Gmarket

Just until recently I used to pay only through paypal for my Gmarket orders which meant a general delay of 1 or 2 days till the payment was confirmed.
In my previous post "Tips for ordering from Gmarket" I noted that I had not been able to type in my CC info.
Someone kindly pointed out to me in the comments section that you have to add a Credit Card and get it verified from Gmarket before you can use one.

To add your CC, please do the following:
Make sure you're using Internet Explorer.
Go to "My Gmarket", click on "Personal Info", Click on "Credit Card Registration". A pop-up window will open.

Fill out the form there. Make sure your email address is correct so that you can get the registration confirmation.

Scan your card but cover the last 4 digits of your credit card (or use Paintshop or another program to remove them).
Send the card to fcard@gmarket.co.kr. Please don't forget to write your Gmarket ID in the email so they know for which account you want a card verification.

Usually the next business day you'll get an email confirming that you can use your credit card now.

When you want to pay for your order just check "Foreign Card" button to confirm which type of payment you want to use during the check-out process and click on "Select card". A pop-up window will open showing your card numbers (you can register up to 3 cards). Just click on the number and hit the submit button.

It's easier and faster than paypal and you see the payment confirmation right away.
I think I will only use Paypal from now on when I have funds in my account to use =)

On another note: Sorry for not posting a lot these days. I am very very busy with studying for an exam so I neither have time to test/use makeup nor write about it (BB Cream and lip balm are my friends these days) =) I will be back on track by end of next week (but I will try to publish some posts over the next days)
Thanks for understanding!

Gmarket sellers

I constantly get asked from which sellers I buy from.
Here is a list of sellers I have been happy with. I will not answer emails or comments with seller recs for now for the listed brands because it takes a lot of time and I am a bit busy these days but will try to keep the list updated if I stumble across other exceptionally good sellers. Thanks for your understanding!

Just type or copy & paste the seller's name in the Gmarket search field

wizwid02 - some Banila Co and others (and some Japanese stuff from Canmake etc which is rather cheap due to the Won/US$ exchange rate)

vovcare (VOV 제이딜라제이) - Jadilla J and other VOV stuff, very generous with gifts (though seems the shop is closing down as most items seem to be sold out)

etudegmark - Etude House

miae90322 (스킨천사) - Various VOV and Castledew stuff, also carries Rita Rove W

eloah (THE코스메틱) - Castledew and other stuff

skin797979 (스킨79)- Skin79 stuff...no international shippin anymore

kp7793 (제니e-shop) - Lotree

je7036 (뷰티여우) - Cathy Cat and others

hss06 (쉬즈미) - Various VOV and others

zelstory (라푼젤이야기) - lots of Cathy Cat and others but slow shipping

miincos (미인화장품)- lots of VOV, Cathy Cat, various others. Good service and fast shipping

lioele - Lioele stuff (this is the official Lioele shop on Gmarket). Sometimes they ship only to korea, sometimes worldwide. Just check out and see if they currently do sell internationally (right now as of end of September they do...just ordered some stuff).

hs005491 (페어리퀸) - Banila Co and Cathy Cat (and various others)

nyskinzone (NY스킨존) - other VOV stuff

elishacoy2 - Elisha Coy stuff and others

Belitalala - Belita Lala products

tonymoly11 (tonymoly) - Tony Moly cosmetics. Fast shipping, nice extras added.

Hanskin has stopped international shipping. You can find some BB Creams and other Hanskin stuff on Gmarket though if you do a search.

Tips for ordering from Gmarket

I am getting quite a few emails daily asking me for help ordering or registering on Gmarket as the site is not that easy to use for many people. It took me a while to figure some things out so here are some tips I want to share

-First off be sure to open Gmarket only in your Internet Explorer. If I use Mozilla Firefox or other browsers several things don't work like e.g. color selections etc.

-When you register you will get an email with a confirmation link to click on. For many customers after clicking they still cannot log in to their account. I found this way works to be able to sign in:
Click on Customer Service on the top right corner of the main website. A pop-up will open (so make sure your PC doesn't block pop-ups). On the bottom of the pop-up window you will see a button that says "Confirm registration". Click on that one. Check your email that you got from Gmarket and you'll find a confirmation number. Enter the confirmation number and the email address you registered with in the boxes and click "Submit". After this step you should be able to log in.
Be sure your email provider doesn't block the Gmarket emails. If you didn't get a welcome email it's probably in your spam folder (happened to me)

-If you contact the customer service don't expect an email sent to your inbox. You have to go to "My Gmarket" and you will see a box that says "My Inquiries". It shows the questions you submitted and shows as status "submitted" or "answered". If it shows answered then click on the question and you'll see the answer.

-When you're ordering be sure to watch out that the seller will ship internationally. You can see this on the top right of the auction (if the box "ship to Korea Domestic address only" is ticked you can't order it overseas but it will be added to your cart for domestic shipping)

-When you order you can pay by paypal or credit card.
News as of October:
Gmarket is using their Paypal Express Checkout system. Please click here.
And click here to learn how to add credit cards to your account.

-Some sellers put lots of different items into 1 auction and you have a huge drop-down list to choose your item from. I know it can be very hard to order this way but I always just compare the characters of the item I want and the item in the drop-down menu and so far was able to receive the correct thing

-When you add wishlist items to your cart be careful as it has the tendency to put 2 of each in the cart.

-Your wish list takes only 50 products but you can create several wish lists with 50 entries/each. I am mentioning this because it happened to me that I added things to my wishlist and it was confirmed that they' were saved ("Successfully listed") but then they weren't there anymore and I still couldn't find the items until today.

-When you order you'll be required to pay an estimated shipping fee upfront based on the estimated shipping weight stated by the sellers. This can get quite high sometimes as many sellers have the stupid habit to enter an estimated shipping weight of 1kg/item (even stuff that will probably weigh like 50g or so). Whatever you paid too much will be refunded to your Gmarket account but be aware that withdrawing the money to your bank account will cost about US$35 so you better use the money towards your next Gmarket order (which should be lower than the Cash balance or using it is more difficult)

-If you want to use the money in your Cash Balance to pay for an order you have to sign in to your GAccount (not to be mixed with Gmarket Account). The link to your Gaccount is found in "My Gmarket" in the top row beside "Main" and "Shopping List".
In the first box you have to enter your regular Gmarket Account password and below a different GAccount passwort you chose when you registered first.
Click on Withdraw Cash Balance for the payment of my order and below the box that shows the amount you can use there is a small box that says "Pay". Click on it and a pop-up will open. Choose the order you want to pay for and hit submit.

-Some more information (general stuff):
Gmarket is similar to eBay as many different sellers offer their items for sale, some are even the official websites so you get good GWPs and low prices as many even do Gmarket specials.
The sellers you buy from don't ship to you, instead everything gets sent to the Gmarket headquarters in Seoul by domestic EMS (so it arrives all there pretty fast). Domestic shipping is usually free if you order over a certain amount from a seller, some charge a small fee of 2500 Won (about US$2.50).
The good thing is that all items from different sellers in the same order get combined into 1 shipment which will save you quite a bit of money. If you placed several orders within some days and nothing was dispatched to you yet you can even combine orders (you can do this in the "My Gmarket" Main page) to save on shipping.
All items are sent by EMS so they arrive pretty fast.
You can track your items domestically (when it shows status "being shipped" beside your order) and internationally by the Korea post website. Just click on your order and scroll down. There you'll see your international shipping status (pending, being shipped). If you see the little "tracking" button beside it just click on it and you'll see where your parcel is right now.

-Please note that Gmarket doesn't send you confirmation emails for shipping etc. as you're supposed to look it all up yourself in your Gmarket account.

Fall Collections on Adambeauty

Just wanted to drop a note that the fall collections from Visee, Kate, Lavshuca, Coffret D'or, Majolica Majorca and Maquillage are now available on adambeauty.com.
The collections aren't complete but the main items are available.

You can also find the summer collections from Esprique Precious and Aube online.

As usual his prices are very good, even below Japanese retail prices (and include shipping!)

I just ordered a bunch of Kate and Lavshuca for myself =)

Where to buy?

The most frequently asked question in my comment section is where I purchase my beauty products.
Here I'll give you a small list of shops/seller I rely on. Of course all of them ship worldwide:


Japanese makeup/beauty products:

www.adambeauty.com -
he's always my first choice as he has the most reasonable prices online. His items are most of the time around Japanese retail price or slightly higher. Shipping is free however per package you pay US$2 for registered mail. Ships out very quick, usually within 1 business day.
Accepts paypal payments only.
Based in Hong Kong.

www.ichibankao.com -
I always buy from this site when I don't find the item I want from adambeauty. She's my usual supplier of High-End brands like Lunasol, Jill Stuart etc. There is a mark-up on items but the service is great (very quick dispatch of the packages).
With the current strong Yen the prices are actually quite ok considering the included shipping, paypal fees etc.
Shipping is included in the items' prices but I usually upgrade the shipping to EMS for an extra US$6 (available for order over US$100 I believe) and there is also the option to get registered mail for US$2.
Payment by Paypal only
Based in Japan.

www.gooddealer.com - (click on shopping mall to enter the shop)
Has a lot of stuff but the site is a bit annoying to navigate. They charge shipping fees & on top of that handling fees so I only order here when I am desperate for an item lol
Takes credit cards and I believe paypal, too
Based in Hong Kong

www.x-a-n-a-d-u.com -
I haven't actually ordered here but the prices seem to be just about retail and a reasonable shipping fee on top. I will definitely check this store out soon but right now they only have brands I am quite stocked with already (Lavshuca, Love Clover, Majolica Majorca etc.)
Based in Japan

www.strawberrynet.com -
I think I only ordered some Anna Sui items here before. They have free shipping but I see some quite old products on the site.
The service was good but the selection of items doesn't appeal to me really
Based in Hong Kong

Do a search on ebay to find some good deals, too!


Japanese and Korean makeup:

www.facial-shop.com -
This is the store I probably order most as there are always great deal popping up. You'll also find Western brands like Bobbi Brown, Chanel, Dior and others. She stockes Japanese and some Korean makeup especially Laneige.
From this shop I purchase my CL Sheet masks (listed under Mayblesally).
There is most of the time only 1-2 pieces of a product available so one has to be quick to score a good deal.
Shipping by Registered Airmail is free worldwide and if you buy 3 or more items you'll get 5% off (you'll get a refund after sending payment)
Paypal payments accepted only.
Based in Hong Kong.

www.sasa.com -
Sasa is the best source to order heavier items like shampoos, body care items etc. as their shipping is quite low (and free for order over US$75!) and EMS shipping upgrade is quite cheap, too (I love getting EMS as they're trackable online and arrive here super fast!).
They have an interesting assortments of brands but I'd not order most of the Japanese makeup there as it seems quite more pricey than adambeauty and the other shops listed above.
Sasa does however stock Clio now (they did before but discontinued carrying the line)! It's a Korean brand and not easy to get and the sasa prices are just a bit over the Korean retail price! YAY! I highly recommend picking up a marbled clio blush!
Accept credit cards or paypal
Based in Hong Kong


Korean makeup:
I haven't yet found online shops dedicated to international sales of Korean makeup. Away from Sasa (they also stock dodo club, palgantong and a few other smaller brands) and facial shop (for Laneige and some Etude) I have to order on ebay or do deals with ebay sellers to get a bit discount on larger orders.

Gmarket -
This is a very huge site and offers lots of beauty care and other stuff. Many sellers don't ship overseas but I highly recommend getting your Skin79 stuff from here (seller is skin797979 and I believe this is actually the manufacturer) as there are some really good sets around and all items are retail or discounted.
I had problems with registering at first (it took me like 2 hours to figure out how to be able to sign in as my registration wasn't completed even though I had clicked on the link) and the process of ordering, then sending payment, then waiting for confirmation etc. was a bit exhausting.
You pay an estimated fee for shipping upfront but they deposit whatever you paid too much in your Gmarket account (on the other hand if they under-charged you you'll have to pay the difference before they ship your items).
I really love that you pay retail or even less and actual shipping (by EMS so it's more worthwhile to order more items at once) instead of inflated rates.
You can pay by paypal and combine orders from different sellers that ship international. It seems that all sellers ship their item to the main Gmarket headquarters (most don't charge anything for the local transportation) where the Gmarket staff prepare the packages for international delivery.
It took exactly a week from the moment I ordered until I received it so the service is quite fast.
Be sure to check your Gmarket account to always see the current status of your items (they only email you the order confirmation but not when it's shipped etc.)
Based in Korea/Seoul.

The ebay sellers I like most are:

ipinkorea:
(VERY high mark-ups but always throws in a lot of samples and freebies).

skinfood2you:
Currently my favorite seller as her prices are more moderate than ipinkorea (still inflated though). If you don't see something in the store you can always email for a quote. Also generous with samples.

rumistyle:
She has some nice things listed and you can do the "best offer" feature so you can always save some $ off her listed price.

If you know of any Korean or Japanese sites with reasonable prices and worldwide shipping please let me know in the comments section

I hope this helps someone!