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Post last updated: June 2, 2017
Note: These are only the stores that I have personally tried or people that I know have tried. My experiences may be different to yours! I'm not affiliated or sponsored by any of these stores unless noted. All opinions are honest and unbiased!
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EBAY STORES
✧ alphabeautyuk
(Ships from Hong Kong)
(Ships from Hong Kong)
This is a pretty popular store for Japanese items, and I found them when I was searching for Mentholatum lip balms after I saw a photo of one of Tumblr. They didn't end up having the end that I wanted but the other flavours were only $3 so I picked up a couple.
Their prices are reasonable, and their shipping is around $2 per item, but this does add up if you're buying a lot of things. If you're doing a large order, I would recommend ordering from their main website Alpha Beauty instead (mentioned below). I've ordered from the eBay store about four times now and shipping was always quite fast (2 weeks max. in my experience), plus everything was packaged safely too.
Pricing: Reasonable
Shipping: Cheap but adds up, pretty fast
Free samples: None
Overall rating: 4 / 5
Their prices are reasonable, and their shipping is around $2 per item, but this does add up if you're buying a lot of things. If you're doing a large order, I would recommend ordering from their main website Alpha Beauty instead (mentioned below). I've ordered from the eBay store about four times now and shipping was always quite fast (2 weeks max. in my experience), plus everything was packaged safely too.
Pricing: Reasonable
Shipping: Cheap but adds up, pretty fast
Free samples: None
Overall rating: 4 / 5
✧ f2plus1
(Ships from South Korea)
This is Beauty Net Korea's eBay store, but I bought from them before I knew about their main site. They specialise in Korean cosmetics. I've bought a couple things from them before, mostly lip products. They ship the orders pretty quickly and the shipping is decently fast. If I can recall properly, they give out a couple free samples with each order too. Their items are reasonably priced, usually only a few dollars more than the brand store's price, and shipping is free.
Pricing: Competitive
Shipping: Free, fast
Free samples: Yes, a few
Overall rating: 5 / 5
Pricing: Competitive
Shipping: Free, fast
Free samples: Yes, a few
Overall rating: 5 / 5
✧ hkwai_beauty
(Ships from Hong Kong)
This is another eBay store that's popular for their Japanese beauty products. I've bought from here once only but they were pretty good. The shipping was reasonably fast, about 2 weeks. They weren't too bad but I just prefer other Japanese cosmetic stores a bit more, since they don't have stock of everything I might want.
Pricing: Reasonable
Shipping: Free on some items, reasonably fast
Free samples: None
Overall rating: 3.5 / 5
✧ rubyruby76
(Ships from South Korea)
Yet another popular eBay store, this one is run by Roseroseshop. They stock mostly Korean beauty products and some other misc. Korean items. I've bought from them quite a few times before, mostly for Tony Moly and Etude House items. They ship out the orders pretty fast and the packaging is quite safe. Their prices are pretty good and they have sales often which means some of the items will end up being around the same price as in store/Gmarket. They have free shipping, which sometimes means it's better to order from here instead of the full Roseroseshop store if you're only getting a small amount of items.
Pricing: Competitive
Shipping: Free, fast
Free samples: None
Overall rating: 4.5 / 5
✧ ryushindo japan
(Ships from Japan)
I first found this seller when I was looking for good prices on the Biore UV Perfect Milk, which is my HG sunscreen. They had the best prices on eBay so I decided to try it, and I don't regret it at all. The sunscreen arrived with a ribbon wrapped around the packaging, as well as a cute personal note.
(Ships from Japan)
I first found this seller when I was looking for good prices on the Biore UV Perfect Milk, which is my HG sunscreen. They had the best prices on eBay so I decided to try it, and I don't regret it at all. The sunscreen arrived with a ribbon wrapped around the packaging, as well as a cute personal note.
Pricing: Reasonable
Shipping: Free, fast
Free samples: None
Overall rating: 4.5 / 5
(Ships from Taiwan)
My mum wanted to try some Taiwanese products a while ago, so I helped her buy a few things from Webtai. It was a bit of a mission trying to combine the order so that it would ship to New Zealand, but we got there in the end. It arrived pretty fast and the stuff was wrapped very safely. I would recommend Webtai for Taiwanese products since their prices are usually cheaper than Sasa.
My mum wanted to try some Taiwanese products a while ago, so I helped her buy a few things from Webtai. It was a bit of a mission trying to combine the order so that it would ship to New Zealand, but we got there in the end. It arrived pretty fast and the stuff was wrapped very safely. I would recommend Webtai for Taiwanese products since their prices are usually cheaper than Sasa.
Pricing: Reasonable
Shipping: Free, fast
Free samples: None
Overall rating: 4.5 / 5
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WEBSITES
✧ alpha beauty
(Ships from Hong Kong)
(Ships from Hong Kong)
This is the website for alphabeautyuk, mentioned above. They have a pretty wide range of mostly Japanese products for super cheap and shipping prices are much more reasonable than on eBay, shipping is even free over $50. I would definitely recommend using their website instead of eBay if you plan on doing a large haul, as the selection is larger too.
Pricing: Competitive
Shipping: By weight, free over $50, fast
Free samples: None
Overall rating: 4 / 5
✧ bb cosmetic (affiliate, 8% discount code: BBUYURO)
(Ships from South Korea)
(Ships from South Korea)
BB Cosmetic is a newer Korean beauty site so they don't have some of the older ranges of products from most brands, but they are constantly adding new products and I see them adding older products too. They have free worldwide shipping and they also stock a lot of brands that other free shipping sites like Jolse and Beauty Net Korea do not, like Dearpacker, 3CE and Welcos. I've worked with them to review products but I've also bought from them personally dozens of times.
Pricing: Competitive
Shipping: Free, fast
Free samples: A few
Overall rating: 4.5 / 5
✧ beauty box korea
(Ships from South Korea)
(Ships from South Korea)
This is another new store and I've bought from them a few times. The prices are generally really cheap but for some reason some of them are super pricey, even more than some sites that have shipping included in the priced. They do give nice bonuses for signing up, and I was able to get another $6 credit for posting a review.
Their communication is quite fast, but their site is confusing at first with the forums and everything. All my orders have been packaged nicely and I always got a lot of free gifts and samples. Highly recommended.
Their communication is quite fast, but their site is confusing at first with the forums and everything. All my orders have been packaged nicely and I always got a lot of free gifts and samples. Highly recommended.
Pricing: Competitive
Shipping: By weight, free over a certain amount, fast
Free samples: Yes, quite a lot!
Overall rating: 5 / 5
✧ beauty net korea
(Ships from South Korea)
This is one of the first sites that I used for buying Korean cosmetics. Their base prices are quite reasonable, keeping in mind that they offer free shipping. I also like how you can earn store credit points with your orders. They give out free samples with every order too (once I got all Missha for Men hair samples though haha). All of my orders have come in a box rather than an envelope and everything has been bubble wrapped inside too!
I don't really purchase from them too often, because they only seem to have roadshop brands and then some obscure ones, but if you like BBIA or Macqueen products, this is a good place to pick them up.
I don't really purchase from them too often, because they only seem to have roadshop brands and then some obscure ones, but if you like BBIA or Macqueen products, this is a good place to pick them up.
Pricing: Competitive
Shipping: Free, fast
Free samples: Yes, quite a few
Overall rating: 4 / 5
✧ cutie and beautie
(Ships from New Zealand)
I originally bought from this store long before I had discovered the wonderland that is eBay.com (and other Asian beauty sites). I would only recommend them if you also live in New Zealand and want your order ASAP. Their prices are not cheap, considering that you can find almost everything on eBay for at least half price anyway. Their service was great though and shipping was fast.
Pricing: Expensive
Shipping: Affordable, fast
Free samples: None
Overall rating: 2 / 5
✧ jolse
(Ships from South Korea)
Jolse is one of my favourite stores to buy from and there's a few reasons why I'm used them so many times. They add new items quite quickly and processing time is usually super quick. You can earn store credit with each purchase as well as by reviewing verified purchases, which is a great incentive to review items. They're also a great source of buying COSRX if you're outside of Korea or the US, and most of my purchases have included COSRX products. Some of their prices are a bit higher than similar sites like Beautynetkorea, but I prefer Jolse's range of products, and they always give great free samples!
Pricing: Reasonable
Shipping: Free, fast
Free samples: Yes, a lot!
Overall rating: 5 / 5
Jolse is one of my favourite stores to buy from and there's a few reasons why I'm used them so many times. They add new items quite quickly and processing time is usually super quick. You can earn store credit with each purchase as well as by reviewing verified purchases, which is a great incentive to review items. They're also a great source of buying COSRX if you're outside of Korea or the US, and most of my purchases have included COSRX products. Some of their prices are a bit higher than similar sites like Beautynetkorea, but I prefer Jolse's range of products, and they always give great free samples!
Pricing: Reasonable
Shipping: Free, fast
Free samples: Yes, a lot!
Overall rating: 5 / 5
(Ships from United States?)
Their prices are not that cheap and to be honest, they don't have that many brands, only the typical Korean roadshop brands. Shipping was also a bit slow and not too cheap. Although they're apparently based in the United States, I've read reviews that said they ship from South Korea, so honestly you should just order from one of the cheaper Korean online stores and it'd take about the same amount of time.
Pricing: Expensive
Shipping: Starts from $7, slow
Free samples: None
Overall rating: 2 / 5
Their prices are not that cheap and to be honest, they don't have that many brands, only the typical Korean roadshop brands. Shipping was also a bit slow and not too cheap. Although they're apparently based in the United States, I've read reviews that said they ship from South Korea, so honestly you should just order from one of the cheaper Korean online stores and it'd take about the same amount of time.
Pricing: Expensive
Shipping: Starts from $7, slow
Free samples: None
Overall rating: 2 / 5
(Ships from South Korea)
Koreadepart sells a lot of more obscure brands that other sites don't have, like Yadah and The Yeon. They also have the newest collections up super fast, I think they were the first store where I found VDL's 2016 Pantone collection for not-price-gougy amounts. They also have a lot of 'outlet' items for super cheap, but be aware that they're usually closer to expiry date. I like the variety they have but they don't have a very special draw that keeps me going back, as I don't have a particular need for the obscure brands they carry.
Pricing: Reasonable
Shipping: By weight, reasonable speed
Free samples: Yes, a few
Overall rating: 4 / 5
Koreadepart sells a lot of more obscure brands that other sites don't have, like Yadah and The Yeon. They also have the newest collections up super fast, I think they were the first store where I found VDL's 2016 Pantone collection for not-price-gougy amounts. They also have a lot of 'outlet' items for super cheap, but be aware that they're usually closer to expiry date. I like the variety they have but they don't have a very special draw that keeps me going back, as I don't have a particular need for the obscure brands they carry.
Pricing: Reasonable
Shipping: By weight, reasonable speed
Free samples: Yes, a few
Overall rating: 4 / 5
✧ memebox
(Ships from South Korea)
You might know Memebox as a Korean beauty box. In fact, they actually have a store, so you can buy full-size versions of the items you get in your box, as well as other items including their own I'm X line. I was really sad when they stopped doing international shipping, because I was so excited to try their beauty boxes, but now they only do shipping to the US. The shipping can be a little expensive if you're only getting like one item, but they do stock some of the more unknown brands that other stores might not have. You get can get free shipping if you spend over $30, and I always see them offering sales and coupons so prices can be pretty good considering they are US-based.
Pricing: Reasonable
Shipping: Free over $30, fast
Free samples: Yes, a few
Overall rating: 4.5 / 5
You might know Memebox as a Korean beauty box. In fact, they actually have a store, so you can buy full-size versions of the items you get in your box, as well as other items including their own I'm X line. I was really sad when they stopped doing international shipping, because I was so excited to try their beauty boxes, but now they only do shipping to the US. The shipping can be a little expensive if you're only getting like one item, but they do stock some of the more unknown brands that other stores might not have. You get can get free shipping if you spend over $30, and I always see them offering sales and coupons so prices can be pretty good considering they are US-based.
Pricing: Reasonable
Shipping: Free over $30, fast
Free samples: Yes, a few
Overall rating: 4.5 / 5
This is another popular store that you've most likely heard of. I've got to give them one thing, their website design is super cute. However, there are a few downsides. Usually almost everything is out of stock, and the items are quite overpriced. Shipping is okay if you're in the US or Canada since you can get free shipping for spending above a certain amount, but if you're in any other country, no luck there and I would honestly suggest going somewhere else.
Pricing: Expensive
Shipping: Free US shipping over $50, free CAN shipping over $100
Free samples: N/A
Overall rating: 2 / 5
Pricing: Expensive
Shipping: Free US shipping over $50, free CAN shipping over $100
Free samples: N/A
Overall rating: 2 / 5
This is one of my favourite Korean beauty online store, especially for bulk orders. Their prices are very cheap, sometimes a lot cheaper than the brand's own store, but you do need to keep in mind that the shipping is based on weight. So if you buy a lot, the shipping will creep up but just make sure to maximise your shipping bracket to get your money's worth (ㆁᴗㆁ✿) However, often times it will still be cheaper than purchasing from elsewhere. If you only want to buy a couple items - try buying from their eBay store (rubyruby76), mentioned above!
They have a huge selection of products and samples, and even bulk items for wholesale. They also give samples quite generously and you get more samples as you spend more per order. They have free shipping on Mizon items which makes them really affordable and accessible. My only complaint is that the communication can be a bit iffy sometimes due to a language barrier.
They have a huge selection of products and samples, and even bulk items for wholesale. They also give samples quite generously and you get more samples as you spend more per order. They have free shipping on Mizon items which makes them really affordable and accessible. My only complaint is that the communication can be a bit iffy sometimes due to a language barrier.
Pricing: Competitive
Shipping: By weight, fast, free on some items
Free samples: Yes, depends on order amount
Overall rating: 5 / 5
✧ sasa
This was the first online makeup store that I ever heard of, and I'm sure you've heard of them too. Their prices are alright, although some items are definitely cheaper elsewhere, and shipping is also pretty cheap, sometimes free over a certain amount depending on promotions they're running. Their stock is also very diverse, with tons of brands from across Asia. The shipping was also very fast but it did take a bit of time to ship out originally. I loved this store when I didn't really know about other makeup stores but I don't really buy from them now, unfortunately. Most of the time I only buy My Beauty Diary masks from them now since the free shipping promotions make it worthwhile to buy heavy items like sheet masks.
Pricing: Decent
Shipping: Free over a certain amount, pretty fast
Free samples: None
Overall rating: 3 / 5
I would say that Testerkorea is my preferred Korean beauty store. Their prices are super cheap and their shipping prices are generally cheaper than Roseroseshop too. They tend to add new items quite fast, but I like how you can also request for items that are only available on other online stores, and Testerkorea will help you by it, like a mini shopping service! They also give quite nice samples, though I once got two very terrible Skinfood nail polishes and I just thought, 'Blah, I would've preferred a couple foil packages'.
One thing a lot of people say they don't like about Testerkorea is the processing times. I've never had too much trouble with them, except during sales... I just think they get a bit overwhelmed. They actually have sales a lot, including their daily sales and other events. Their communication is quite good too and they've always been super nice to me.
One thing a lot of people say they don't like about Testerkorea is the processing times. I've never had too much trouble with them, except during sales... I just think they get a bit overwhelmed. They actually have sales a lot, including their daily sales and other events. Their communication is quite good too and they've always been super nice to me.
Pricing: Competitive
Shipping: By weight, reasonably fast
Free samples: Yes, depends on order amount
Overall rating: 5 / 5
✧ w2beauty (affiliate link)
w2beauty is another one of my first online stores. I think I heard about them from Soompi? and I was young and impressionable so I bought a ton of stuff. The experience with them was very good though! Alice, the storeowner, is so lovely and she has emailed me back to ask how I liked the items, etc. I love when orders are personalised and service is impeccable which is why I would continue to buy from w2beauty even though their prices aren't the most competitive. The free samples are great and there are free gifts thrown in too.
Pricing: Decent
Shipping: Free, fast
Free samples: Yes, a lot!
Overall rating: 4.5 / 5
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OFFICAL BRAND WEBSITES (THAT SHIP INTERNATIONALLY)
This is Etude House's official international website. They usually add their new collections quickly, and prices are okay compared to other Korean online stores. Their free shipping threshold is about $50 (depends on the promotions they have going on) so I've only ordered from the site once since I don't usually have a need for $50 of Etude House products. I would suggest buying elsewhere if you don't buy enough to get free shipping - once you consider the item price + shipping price, you can usually find Etude House items from other online stores for much cheaper.
They do have sales a lot though, so I would suggest waiting for a sale first before buying. They don't really give samples, but they usually have a free gift with a certain amount purchase. From my experience with them, they were a bit slow to ship out and the package took ~2 weeks which is an average timeframe for packages from Korea.
They do have sales a lot though, so I would suggest waiting for a sale first before buying. They don't really give samples, but they usually have a free gift with a certain amount purchase. From my experience with them, they were a bit slow to ship out and the package took ~2 weeks which is an average timeframe for packages from Korea.
Pricing: Reasonable
Shipping: By weight, free over $50 usually, reasonably fast
Shipping: By weight, free over $50 usually, reasonably fast
Free samples: Free gifts sometimes
Overall rating: 3.5 / 5
This is the official site for Innisfree, and it's available in a multitude of languages. I've bought from Innisfree World many times, always during their 10+10 sheet mask sales which make the masks incredibly affordable due to the free shipping promotions they also have. Although the prices on their site are usually higher than other sites, they always have some kind of rotational sale going on which makes them cheaper (typically 1+1 sales).
Pricing: Competitive (during sales), decent (usually)
Shipping: By weight, free over $70 usually, fast
Free samples: Yes, depends on order amount
Overall rating: 4 / 5
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OTHER NOTES
- I would not recommend buying branded cosmetics from Aliexpress. I am not condemning all of them, but I will say that there are so many fakes out there, especially on popular Korean cosmetics, and Aliexpress is full of them. These fakes do not have the proper formulation or safe ingredients that the authentic products do, so please don't risk your health and safety in order to save a few dollars.
- As always, make sure to check the seller's feedback on eBay or google for reviews for websites before buying.
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Thank you so much for reading this list! Hopefully it helps you out with your decision on what online stores to purchase from, have a lovely day 💕
