Cosmetic Junkie Heaven (directcosmetics.com)

Member Name: zusy

Product:	directcosmetics.com
Date:	24/04/04 (344 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: SERIOUSLY amazing bargains, Many designer & ultra trendy brands, Easy to navigate & shop

Disadvantages: Some products don't have pictures, Sometimes sell out of best bargains, Easy to carried away and buy every lipstick you have ever wanted to own, ever!

The word BARGAIN is often bandied about; you see it all over the place and used to describe the most ridiculous, un-bargain-like things you could imagine. The word BARGAIN when put in conjunction with the word PERFUME may conjur up still more horrible visions of fake designer brands languishing on market stalls and smelling something akin to a cocktail of drain cleaner and horse urine. Not nice. BARGAIN COSMETICS sounds quite horrid, too - pictures of Vera Duckworth spring to mind and when shopping for luxury products, this simply wont do.

However...

I have found a place that sells genuine designer & other more obscure imported brands at SERIOUS BARGAIN prices. In fact, I may have to clear my throat and yell the following at you:

THIS IS THE CHEAPEST UK SITE TO BUY DESIGNER PERFUME & COSMETICS I HAVE EVER FOUND! Ahem. Sorry about that. It's true, though, and I have shopped here for years, rubbing my hands in glee at the hundreds of pounds I have saved in the process.

HOW CHEAP?
A good question, so we shall start with their current top-selling product listed on the site, a product that just happens to be one of my favourite perfumes:

~ Boudoir Sparkling Perfume by Vivienne Westwood
RRP: £30
Their Price: £10.99
You Save: £19.01

Good enough start for you? No? Okay, we'll pus
h on with a few more examples to set you slavering...

~ Hard Candy Lipstix Lipgloss
RRP: £12.99
Their Price: £2.99
You Save: £9.01

~ Anna Sui Pure Parfum
RRP: £80
Their Price: £30
You Save: £50

~ L'Occitane Gentle Eye Makeup Remover
RRP: £12
Their Price: £3.99
You Save: £8.01

~ Christian Dior Dolce Vita Parfum (50ml) + Body Lotion + Bag
RRP: £45
Their Price: £29.99
You Save: £15.01

~ Clinique Long Last Soft Shine Lipstick
RRP: £11
Their Price: £3.99
You Save £7.01

~ Elizabeth Arden Dual Perfection Lipstick & Lipliner
RRP: £18
Their Price: £2.99
You Save: £15.01

~ Orlane Purifying Lotion for Mixed/Oily Skin (250ml)
RRP: £30
Their Price: £5.95
You Save: £24.05

~ Urban Decay Lipsticks
RRP: £8.95 (and that's an understatement on thir part - I have paid £12.99 for mine in shops!)
Their Price: £3.84
You Save (at least!): £5.11

~Ultima@ Perfume by Ultima II
RRP: £35
Their Price: £9.95
You Save: £25.05

Have I managed to tickle your interest yet? Even if you don't wear perfume or makeup yourself, it's still well worth taking a look at this site when considering buying presents for friends & family - they'll think you've spent an absolute fortune on them! Bonus points in the Good Books bank, that is.

NAVIGATIN& #71
; THE SITE:
This is easy-peasy pudding & pie - From the front page you can either search using keywords, browse products by category or brand name, or perhaps you might prefer to look at their 'Special Offers' or 'New Arrivals' sections. Also, you can keep an eye on their top-10 selling products and, by simply clicking on the pictures or desciptions, go straight to the page devoted to that item.

SITE LAYOUT:
This has been updated over the past couple of years and is FAR better and cleaner to look at than it used to be - it also manages to contain a large amount of information and number of products without becoming a nightmare jumble of text, pictures and clickety-click links. The overall look of the site in't going to win awards for style or innovation, but it is several hundred times better looking and more professional than all of the other Beauty Discout type shops I have seen (and, as you may have gathered, I have browsed my way through quite a number of them over the years).

HOW TO ORDER:
Pretty much the same as any oher online shop - you can click the 'add to my basket' button until you have finished shopping, at which point you can examine your basket and either change your order or continue on through the checkout process. If you haven't ordered from the site before, you'll be asked to complete a registration process at this stage - this saves you having to re-enter our home address and other details every time you shop. Of course the checkout process is totally secure, so your details will be safe.

POSTAGE & PACKING RATES:
They have a flat rate of £3.95 for all UK orders, regardless of how many products y
ou buy - well worth clubbing together with a few friends and getting all your things sent together so that you can end up paying a few pence each for p&p! All orders are sent by recorded delivery Royal Mail or, for very large/bulky orders, by Parcel Force.

ASK MOLLY:
This is a series of articles by their resident beauty expert, who writes a themed piece each month devoted to products sold on the website - it may be an article bout caring for sensitive skin; suggestions for Christmas presents; bargains of the month or analysing the new ultra-tendy brands.

TOP-TIPS:
***Sign up for their free email newsletter - you'll get the very latest news of new products and special savings without hving to check the website all the time

***If you see a fab bargain GRAB IT THEN, don't wait and hope they'll still have it in a few months time. Because of the nature of their website, sometimes stocks are very low and they often run out of items - especially if they are eye-poppingly amazing bargain prices and well-known designer brands.

***Don't expect them to have the full range of colours or all the latest imported brands. As you can see from my list of example bargins, they stock an impressive array of trendy brands from America (Hard Candy, Urban Decay etc) but if it's only just been launched in this country, they are more unlikely to stock it just yet.

***Some items don't have accompanying pictures, only descriptions or names of colours for example... My advice would be to seek out the lipstick (or whatever) in your local department store, or to look at the company's website to see if colours/styles are shown there.

~ Luckily, most items do have pictures, so you can see what you're getting, but if you&#
39;re unfamiliar with a brand of designer skincare, let's say, you could always pop to Boots or a department store and ask for free trial samples - then grift them by saving loads of money by buying the full-size product here, instead of further lining the pockets of the multi-national chains!

I have always been utterly delighted with the level of service and ease of ordering on this site - you can while away many happy hours browsing through this site and discovering treasured favourites at bargain prices along with fantastic new brands/products you may never even have heard of before.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO NOW:
Make yourself a large cup of coffee, get comfy and prepare to revolutionise your cosmetic & beauty shopping experience forever. You will *never* want to go back to paying RRP prices ever again.

Welcome to the life of being a cosmetic junkie, then.
Welcome to my world.

:)

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