3 online beauty shops with FREE international shipping!

Beauty Zen or no Beauty Zen any great new beauty site with free shipping has got my attention. We're all familiar with good 'ol Strawberrynet by now (if you're not seriously, check it out. It looks dodgy but has only ever provided me with fast great service). So here are three that I've come across recently for all your beauty junkie needs!

HQHair

A voucher (now expired, sorry) courtesy of Lisa Eldridge turned me on to this UK-based site which specialises in luxury haircare brands but also carries a fair number of makeup brands. I placed an order a week or so ago so it hasn't turned up yet but I was excited to find: 

Seche Vite - the best fast-dry top-coat ever.

Lipstick Queen - Jean Queen, you've got my attention!

The Konjac Sponge Co - Like Syen, I'm sold on it. When I first started using it I wasn't convinced but lately I've noticed my skin's clearer and well... polished. Love it. 

FeelUnique

Admittedly not my favourite site as the layout and brands just aren't that attractive to me. Plus it doesn't ship to Malaysia (sorry!). It does ship to Hong Kong however and when I have a voucher or it's on sale I find myself surfing it for:

theBalm - Time Balm Concealer is a staple product for me and they no longer stock the brand at Sasa Hong Kong. 

Maybelline and L'Oreal - For products such as Maybelline's Colour Tattoo and L'Oreal's Infallible Eye Shadow in shades not available in Asia.

BeautyBay.com

This site is a new discovery for me and an exciting one. It's stocked with brands we can't get here such as:

Cargo! - WOOT WOOT. I pounced on their silicone-free blu-ray Activating Face Primer. Here's hoping it works for me. 

Beauty Blender - Another staple, so good to have a reliable source! 

Holistic Silk - One day, the early sunrise in summer will drive me completely mad and I'll impulse buy this crazy expensive and VERY PRETTY silk mask.

That's it from me! What sites do you shop on and love? Share!

French Pharmacy Mini-Haul

So I was recently sent on a work trip to cover the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and in between the crazy amounts of running, networking, taking down seminars and interviewing people I managed to snatch a bare 30 mins to dash into two French pharmacies and Sephora (not bad aye?) and grab a few items in a frenzy of high-powered shopping.

In a sorta clockwise fashion, starting with the pencil on the far left, I picked up (with mini reviews)...

1. Sephora's Flashy Liner Waterproof Pencil in #14 Flashy Taupe (amazingly smudge proof pencil and dark taupe is such a great eyeliner colour!) for €6.50
2. Topicrem Rounge a Levres Phantom (a really fun lipstick that goes on clear, turns pink) for €9.90
3. John Frieda Frizz Ease (because this summer my hair's gone from sleek to shriek) for €15.90
4. Vichy Derma Blend Ultra Corrective Foundation Cream-Stick (silicone free, here's hoping!) for €20.90
5. Sephora Triple Action Cleansing Water (for the plane, wipes break me out) for €3.90
6. Clarins Rouge Jolie Rouge Brilliant in #7 Raspberry (I blame Lisa Eldridge for this one, but pretty, sheer, shimmery and smells of berries, so far I like) for €20.90

I also picked up...

Fanda Pharmacy - Possibly the best drugstore in Hong Kong

It was while looking for some way of buying dry shampoo in Hong Kong that I came across elusive mentions of Fanda Pharmacy on expat forums. A pharmacy where you could buy not only Batiste dry shampoo, but shampoo of all kinds, makeup, and skincare brands you couldn't find anywhere else. Posts also promised a great pharmacy with well-trained staff who could speak both English and Mandarin.

If you're as familiar with drugstore shopping in Hong Kong as I am by now? You'll think it's valhalla. 

I found out there were (likely) two outlets. One, right near my office in Central and the other in Tsim Tsa Tsui. 

Read on for my mini-haul:

Buying Bourjois in Hong Kong

In a word, don't.

Products here are double what they cost in the UK. I understand some mark-up is necessary but double is unacceptable.

For example, Bourjois' Bio Detox Liquid Foundation retails here for about HKD240 and in the UK for GBP10 (HKD124).

Unless products are on sale for at least 50% off, and even then you're paying full retail, it really isn't worth your money.

Buy instead from asos.co.uk where you pay UK prices and international shipping is free.

If you're looking for Bourjois Counters to try their products, the two best are in Seibu, Langham Place Mongkok and in Times Square. However, Watsons in Melbourne Plaza has a biggish counter. Although it's not updated frequently you're more likely to score 50% off deals here.

Monday's Beauty Bits: Crazy Rumors, Christmas Lip Balms, 11 Great Tips & Burberry Makeup,

Christmas is the time of year lip balm companies go to town. Kiehl's releases their LE flavours at this time, Lip Smackers goes mental, and Silk Naturals amps up the ante. It's taking ALL my self-control not to go nuts and try all seven new flavours. The formula's supposed to be even better than before (it was a little soft for our climate, but I loved the balms) and new flavours include Blueberry Cheesecake, Tiramisu and Maple Amaretto.

And as if that wasn't temptation enough, I find out that the legendary Crazy Rumors lip balm, they of the perfectly formulated vegan balms in COFFEE flavours, is available locally. Online. On Sale. *wibbles*

Lip balms aside, Malaysia is finally attracting the good stuff aye? The absolutely divine Burberry Makeup collection, that chances are I can't afford, is coming to Malaysia in January. So says ParisB of MyWomenStuff. Temptation cometh.

Check out these 11 tips by young punk makeup artist Sam on Makeup & Beauty Blog. It's been awhile since I've learnt something new like pepto bismal for pimples, corn starch for brushes, and the hair-mask trick sounds like something to use after a weekend on the beach and your hair is hay.