Tweezers For £9? For That Price I Hope They're Magic Tweezers (beautybay.com)

Member Name: DixieChick101

Product:	beautybay.com
Date:	01/05/09 (99 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good Website Layout, Easy To Use

Disadvantages: Extensive Prices, Could Do Free Postage Maybe, This May Bring In A Bigger Market

First things first, I am not your typical girly girl. I'd rather spend my earnings on something to do with a camera, a computer or something electrical of some kind, however I do every now and then have to update the basics I use to slap on my face every day, and one of these days when I needed to update, I ended up on this site.

======How did I end up on BeautyBay.com? ======

I do use a lot of one particular product and that is Dream Matte Mouse, I can get through quite a lot in a year, but the prices for it are quite excessive in shops. A mate of mine gave me the link to this website when we were talking one night over the internet and I ended up on the site, and was slightly disappointed when they do not sell anything like Dream Matte Mouse, but I did find something that caught my eye. This product was Bio Oil. I had heard quite a bit about it over the few months before I brought it, but never really thought about getting it until I went onto this site.

======Who Are BeautyBay.com? ======

BeautyBay.com is one of the trading websites for FragranceBay.com Ltd who have been trading for 10 years now. The site provides the public with premium beauty products, at great prices and on the website they say their prices are considerably lower than a High Street retailer.

======The Website======

When you type in BeautyBay.com into your URL, then it will take you straight to the home page. The home page does have a very girly feel about it, they have managed to use a small amount of colours on the page, but the colours (pinks and purples) all make it stand out that the target audience of the site is really women. The name of the website is in big capital letters on the left hand side of the page in green and purple lettering. I think their branding could have been a bit better; the really dull green, almost grey colouring they have used for the BEAUTY really does clash against the purple letting of Bay.com.

When you get onto the website you will also notice that everything that you really need is at the top of the page. Near the logo is some little purple swirls which I'm sure are there for no other reason than to make the page look pretty, to the left of that you will find the Shopping Bag and then to the left of that you will find important information on a variety of things.

======Home Page Layout======

On the home page you pretty much get all of the information that you could want in the first quarter of the page. The links are pretty much self explanatory and it also allows you to use a search bar to search for a specific product or shop by brand. If you like Armani for example, use this shop by brand tool and you can go to a special page designed just for this brand.

On the page as well you also get a little scroll bar which is telling you about the latest news. Below that at the moment is a picture of Cheryl Tweed or Cole however she's putting her name at the moment. On the left of the picture is a highlighted pink link which says Look Like Cheryl. If you click on this you are taken to a separate page which tells you all of the things Cheryl apparently uses to look like she does in the picture. On the left is a section called Get The Look, and you can also choose to get the look of Scarlett, Eva, Angelina, Posh, Keira and Sienna.

On the same section where you can look like Cheryl on the home page is a rollover link which allows you to choose from the following things: Becca Cosmetics, Step Into Spring and 10 Free Gifts.

Below that is four links, I think by default it's on Weekly Picks, but you can also choose from What's New, Clearance Bay and What's Hot. If you click on any of these links you are taken to a page which shows you some of the items in each section. I myself am put off by the prices shown here, even in the clearance Bay, I believe that the cheapest one on the entire page is £7.99.

======My Account ======

This is one of the easiest sites I have found to login or become a new customer on. If you want to become a new customer then you have to fill out a little bit of information including Name & Billing Address. It'll take you two minutes tops; it does give you a chance to fill out things like Home Telephone, Mobile, DOB and Gender, but in my opinion, a waste of time. You will need to enter your email address and create a password with the site, and then make sure you read the small print at the bottom, they automatically tick the box which allows them to send you stuff, but as always I tick no as I already have enough things filling up my inbox. If you want to login then just enter your email address and password and then you are logged in the site.

The My Account section allows you to look at your details to check that they are correct as well as that; it allows you to take a look at your recent orders. This will help you if an order goes missing and should tell you the date that the item is sent.

======Delivery Information======

The next page tells you everything about their delivery system and how much you have to pay. I would check this out before hand as you may be paying more than you want. The page tells you if you place an order before 4pm then it'll be posted on the same working day.

======Post & Packaging Prices======

Orders From £0-£60
1st Class = £2.50
1st Class Recorded = £3.50
Next Day Delivery = £7.95
2nd Class = £1.95

Orders over £60

1st Class = Not Available
1st Class Recorded = £3.50
Next Day Delivery = £7.95
2nd Class = Free

This may seem extensive to some, but this does include every item that you buy. So if you brought 10 items under £60 then you will only have to pay £2.50 First Class Delivery for all 10 items together.

You are also able to buy if you are abroad, and the prices are pretty reasonable as well. It'll only cost you £2.95 for the first item if you are in the USA and 50p extra for each item. If you are in Europe you will pay £3.50 for the first item and then again 50p extra for each other item. The rest of the world, you will be charged £5.95 for the first item and for each other item that you buy, you will be paying an extra £2. Expect about 3-7 days for your items.

======Free Returns ======

The site allows you to return the item free within 14 days of purchase. All you have to do is contact them by the phone number or email address on the website, they'll send you a pre paid returns address label which must be put on the parcel to send back. Easy.

======Help & Advice ======

This section tells you all about the website, and then gives you comments and feedback of the website. Of course, like you would expect, all of these comments are completely biased, as obviously they wouldn't really put something bad on the website itself. It also gives you information on security, returns, payment methods and discount codes and vouchers. These vouchers and discount codes will be sent to you via email, so you have to sign up to get them.

======Shopping Bag ======

The shopping bag is pretty much the same on every site where you can buy products, this one is a big more girly than say the one you'd get on amazon, but at the same time it's pretty easy to use. When you find a product you like, click buy and it'll be put into the shopping bag. Once you're done, click on view/checkout and it'll take you through everything you'll need to pay for your goods.

======Overall Opinion of the Website Layout======

All in all, not many websites are able to go wrong with the website layout. This is not the best I have seen, or the worst, I think that anyone should be able to navigate themselves around this website brilliantly well and they should be able to get a great amount of information from each page that they are on.

Rating: 9/10

======Products That BeautyBay Sell======

On the home page, well any page that you go on with this website you'll find a static link bar at the top of the page. These links will help you narrow your search down and help you find the product a lot easier.

_Hair Care_

On the Hair Care page you have a variety of things to choose from. The main portion of the page is taken up by pictures, I assume by default the page is kept on Editor's Picks, but like you could on the home page, you can choose between, Clearance Bay, What's New and What's Hot.

From my experience with the site, even back when I first went on the site a few months ago, is that the prices are a bit extensive, I'm sure to some that they will be fine and reasonable, but I myself would prefer to shop somewhere which provides the cheaper end of the market, because 9 times out of 10, I end up leaving half of a certain product because my tastes change. On the left of the hair care page you can choose by brand, if you are looking for GHD products, then you would use this bar to narrow down your search.

Cheapest In Clearance Bay: Wella Lifetex (Shampoo) = £6.75

_Skin Care_

The skin care section is pretty much the same as the hair care section, again you have the editors picks, clearance bay, what's new and what's hot, and of course you can view by brand on the left hand side. Again like you had on the hair care section, the prices can scare away quite a few people, I think with this site you have to remember that you are paying post and packaging, until you go over £60 and the items will easily get you to £60 pretty quickly.

Cheapest In Clearance Bay: Talika- Makeup Removal Disks = £7.99

_Make Up_

This section is laid out the same as the previous two, again it is pretty self explanatory, you are looking at the makeup section and amazingly, this section is all about make up. This includes things from nail stuff, foundation, blusher, lipstick; you name it, everything makeup is here, except the one thing that I wanted, foundation mouse.

Cheapest In Clearance Bay: Anatomicals Fruity Lip Gloss = £3

_Fragrances_

I was prepared to have my eyes bulge out of my head on this section, but amazingly the prices are pretty reasonable. On the home page under editor picks, they actually have two fragrances that we have in our house somewhere way under the price we paid for them.

I myself am looking for some perfume, and as I search for two of the ones I really would like, I notice that the site is not as well stocked as I would like. Both of these perfumes are well known and have been around for a long time (still in shops) but are not on this site anywhere that I can see. I was quite disappointed here.

Cheapest In Clearance Bay: Giorgio Beverly Hills So You = £6.99

_Accessories_

Here they sell things from eye shadow brushes to something like looks like a blusher brush, but I hope I am wrong considering the price tag on it is an amazing £20.99, I hope I am wrong considering for a brush that's ridiculous.
Cheapest In Clearance Bay: Model Co, Foam Brush Applicator: £6.99

_Mens_

This site may look like it's target audience is women, however the men are still able to buy products from this site, you can get things from defining cream, toilette spray and even whitening toothpaste. Like the other sections, you can choose products by brand which is always helpful.
Cheapest In Clearance Bay: Jack Black- Cool Moisturising Body Lotion = £14.99

_Essential Beauty_

The little extra addition to the site is a company called Essential Beauty, Essential Beauty have made an addition to the site with their section which allows you to find out the latest news on things about your favourite celebrities, you can access the essential beauty section either from the static link on the home page, or there is the link with the picture of Cheryl Cole on the home page as well. As well as that the essential beauty section also gives you advice on beauty things and the agony aunt section, we've all seen these in magazines where people are asking about their problems, well you can do the same on this website.

======My Experience with BeautyBay======

I brought the product of Bio Oil for what I consider quite an important reason, especially considering I'm a young girl and because of problems with scars and things on my legs I am a bit hesitant about showing off my legs.

From my thighs down I am covered in multitudes of scars from the combination of being quite an active child wanting to try everything and then at the same time, being probably the biggest klutz in the world. This has meant that I do have quite a few scars, the most prominent one running down the top of my right thigh to knee, caused from an accident on a bike, and I have to say I did use this product and the scar is almost none existent. I am now veering off topic a little bit so back onto the site.

To be honest when I first went on the site about 4/5 months ago, I really did not browse as much as I have done for this review, and I have to say I am shocked. Remember this review is coming from someone who buys 50p shampoo and condition because I can't find any different results with more expensive shampoo. I do splash out every now and then on foundation products, but I am always the one to look for a bargain and I don't think I've ever paid retail price for any make up before as it is in my opinion, a waste of my money even though I'm only saving a few pennys.

The site from the prices that I have shown you, I hope you will agree that they are a bit pricey. On the home page, you will find some Rubis Sweezer Aluminium Tweezers, I am unsure if you get all three in the picture or just one of them but either way, £9 for fricking tweezers is just a waste of time and money. I believe my tweezers which look the same as them, okay they're silver and not blue or green, but they do the same damn job.

I have to say in hindsight I really should have shopped around for my bio oil, after my scar on my thigh disappeared slightly, my mum moved the bio oil (she was cleaning up and now can't remember where she put it), so I really did waste my money on that product until I find it again.

The products they do sell, do seem to be of good quality, but you are not going to find really big names on this site. For example, I was looking for some CK IN 2 U perfume and this site does not have it, as well as that, it doesn't have a lot of the more well known hair products we as a family use or the makeup that I use.

I do believe this site will appeal to quite a lot of people, but for me, the time it takes to walk down to my chemist in the middle of the village it's a lot more worth it to pay their prices instead.

======Ease Of Use/Navigation======

The site is pretty easy to use, there is no doubting that, if you are comfortable on a computer and know how to browse a website, then you should be fine with this website. For example, my nan could probably use this website as she has a computer of her own and does use EBay a lot, however my Great Nan would struggle to read the writing, so this site is not really aimed at her.

The site is always up to date and tells you whether an item is in stock or not in stock, which is always helpful, I have previously used sites where they tell you the products are in stock, but later you get an email saying regrettably that they do not have the items in stock.

It's easy to see how many items you have in your shopping bag and unlike some websites, the overall price of the items, is shown on every page and you do not have to check out before you can find out the overall price. Make sure you know how much postage you will want to pay as well, as depending on when you want the item to arrive it could cost you a arm and a leg.

The site is pretty easy to use and I'm sure most of you reading this review should be fine with it.

======Prices======

All of the reviews I've read, either on this site or on their actual website state that the prices are very competitive. I have to disagree, remember I am writing this review from a skint student perspective, so I really do think £9 for tweezers is just a little bit over the odds. I think if you are buying things like hair gel or shampoo, especially if its specialist stuff, then this site might be good for you and it might be worth checking out.

Please don't think you can come on this site for a bargain, from my browsing I have not seen anything under a fiver on this site, that is usually my limit when it comes to beauty products anyway. Not only do I believe that the prices are a bit excessive you really do have to remember that they do not give you free postage until your order is over £60. I do think this is something they could change and it would make me think twice about buying something on the site, without having to add the extra three quid or so onto it.

======Delivery======

The delivery for my Bio Oil was pretty good in my opinion, however usually with sites like this one, you are expecting to get your items about 2-3 days after purchase. I brought my item on the Monday and got it on the Friday, I remember at the time I thought it was a long time for post, as I had brought some DVD's from amazon the next day, which was free postage by the way and it arrived on the Thursday, I brought this after the item from BeautyBay and then got it before the item from BeautyBay.

They did send me an email on the same day of purchase however to say that they had dispatched the item, so I assume that it was the royal mails fault that it took a bit longer than I would have wanted. It wasn't a problem however, as I did not need the product urgently so it wasn't a huge problem.

======Final Opinion======

I do believe that the site is laid out brilliantly, this is one of the highlights for the website, the reason why I have given this site a lot lower rating than the others on the site, is because in my opinion I do think that the prices on the site are over the odds and not really competitive. I'm sure for some products it is competitive however in my experience I was shocked at the prices on the site, especially in the sections when it was supposed to be cheaper prices. This was not the case however, and I did find myself amazed that in the clearance bin, which you would imagine would be cheaper, they were still selling the items, over the odds.

I do think the post and packaging could be better, I have only brought one item from this site and it took 4/5 days to arrive which is a little bit longer than you would expect considering you really are paying for the postage on this site, unless you spend more than £60 which I'm pretty sure I'll never do on this site.

I have seen reviews on this site which say that the site can save you pennies, well I have to disagree, I'm sure you can with some products but you really are not saving money in my opinion, if you want something special like hair gel etc, then you could save a few pennies but things like Bio Oil you are spending more than you would spend in the shops.

The site is good, and I would recommend that if you do like to buy a lot of beauty products then it might be worth your while to check out this site, however if you are like me and the little make up and products that you do buy, are an alright price for you to buy from places like Boots or Superdrug then this site is a waste of time for you as the prices are not competitive enough to really save you much money.

All in all, I would recommend that you look at this site if you like beauty products however if you do not, then it's a waste of your time.

(C) Kirsty 2009

Hope this helps.

Summary: See Review