Saturday, January 31, 2015

A New Day in K-Beauty (or One Last Meme-Disappointment)

Alright, so those of you who have been following me (are there any of you out there? hello?) have seen my many (mostly) enthusiastic reviews about Memebox.  My introduction to k-beauty has been fun and I have seen a drastic improvement in my skin since incorporating some of their products into a skincare routine.  Before this, my "routine" involved finding better makeup to cover up a multitude of sins.  For that, I am grateful.

That said, you may also have noticed a little snark in my description of the way Memebox does things - do they do bundles? sometimes. do they offer reasonable shipping? rarely. do they sell items for a reasonable price? hardly. are there boxes available? depends on how they're feeling.

And I guess how they're feeling today is really really fond of Korea, China and the USA. . . since that's where they will be doing business from now on.  Yes, Memebox has decided to end all international shipping effective February 10th.  Those of us who do not live in one of the above-mentioned countries are not welcome to spend our money with their company any longer. . . well, after February 10.  Because, you see, Memebox would love for us to fall all over each other picking at scraps before they get rid of us.

I say, purchase if you like.  I won't be.  Any company who has made it clear that my hard-earned dollars, which have been helping them build themselves up, are not welcome will not be gaining any of my business.  I could order a few more items.  I could reasonably set up an American PO box and continue to purchase from Memebox (and other companies that don't like to ship to Canada. . . or like to charge us astronomical fees above and beyond shipping) - I do live under an hour from the border after all.  But I won't.  Because I think that would be supporting a company which I no longer feel I can support.

Having said that, here are a few online locations to find KBeauty products.  Most do not offer theme boxes like Memebox did (Beauteque does bags as well as a monthly sub) but they do sell products for reasonable prices and some have excellent sales and / or free shipping.  Instead of posting reviews of the Memeboxes I will no longer be purchasing, I will be posting about and reviewing these services and the products I find there.  I hope that will be satisfactory to all of you :)

Here is my list.  I will update it as I discover new and exciting places to shop:

RoseRoseShop - I just made my first purchase from this site today! While shipping can be expensive, I was really impressed with the pricing and especially with the sales (I picked up, among other things, 23 sheet masks for under $5 US!!).  I'll keep you posted on how this turns out.

BeautyNetKorea - This one is highly recommended by some other beauty bloggers.  They also have great pricing but the best part is free shipping! This was almost my first purchase but there were a few things that were cheaper elsewhere.  Great selection though!

TesterKorea - Also some great pricing and lots of smaller-size products.  Apparently they take requests for stocking new items (just not at the moment).

Beauteque - This one ships out of the States and tends to be a little pricier but they do themed bags which seem pretty nice and decent value.  They have also just started a monthly sub as well.

Wishtrend - Another pricier option but they do offer themed boxes as well.

Apparently there are also some products available reasonably on e-bay but I'm not much of an e-bay-er.

Any other options out there? Any recommendations or warnings?

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