Lancome

Full review
Là, tout n'est qu'ordre et beauté,
Luxe, calme et volupté. - Charles Baudelaire

I’ve been a loyal Lancôme customer since about 1996, when I could first afford to purchase such indulgences on a regular basis, and my greatest qualm with the company has always been that it forced me to brave the oh-so-crowded MallWorld in my various quests for the perfect shade of lipstick or foundation, or the most freebies with purchase.

Oh, Lancôme, purveyor of feminine mystique packaged so prettily, pronounced so pleasantly, and previously peddled by Isabella Rossellini, why do you torture me so?

Why www.Lancome.com?
C'est mon opinion, et je la partage. - Henri Monnier
(That’s my opinion, and I’m sharing it)

I forget when I first started trying to purchase Lancôme product online, but no one had heard of Amazon or Beauty.com yet. I was on some now-defunct electronics website purchasing one of those outrageously priced, newfangled laser discs for the boyfriend who became my husband (if that gives you any idea) when I had the brilliant idea of typing “www.lancome.com” into my AOL v1 browser to see if anything came up.

Néant. Nada. Nothing.

I tried again a few years later, and was terribly pleased to find their website up and running. They’d be just thrilled to point me to a local distributor, but were not prepared to sell direct over the internet. Quel horreur! But no! The entire purpose of visiting your site is to make a purchase, silly cosmetic people, not to find the location of the nearest Macy’s!

One more try, in 2001, brought the fulfillment I so desperately desired. Finally, I could quit the odious odyssey that was MallWorld, and buy direct from Lancôme! Quel joie! I am complete!

Navigability
Youth is something new; twenty years ago no one mentioned it. – Coco Chanel

Lancôme recently tweaked their website, which is helpful because I no longer have to pick my country before being directed to the English-version home page. That would save downloading a page, except that the company has replaced that useless (to me as a consumer) mouse click with a welcome page of advertising. I find this a tad annoying. A full page “welcome” ad. I’m here, at the site, presumably it’s to at least look at the products; I’d prefer they saved the ad for a promotional page or resized it to fit on the regular home page.

Well, phooey. Apparently, that was a one-shot deal. They're back to choosing your country before moving on. If I choose Mexico, it does come up in Spanish. That's handy.

Once I finally do arrive at the official home page, however, navigation is easy and straightforward. The site is graphics heavy (they do need to picture the cosmetics, after all), so those with slower connections should be prepared, but download times even on my old dial up weren’t that bad. Pages loaded on par with most other merchants.

Major navigation buttons conveniently display at both the top and bottom of the screen, with links for specially promoted items (and special promotions; who’da thunk it) embedded in the middle of the page. The categories are intuitive and straightforward, so you don’t have to wander about the site searching for something unless you particularly want to.

They do still offer a store locator if you feel you absolutely must take on MallWorld and you don’t happen to already know where the nearest one is.

Shipping and Payment Options
Old age is not so bad when you consider the alternatives. – Maurice Chevalier

Lancome.com ships via USPS and UPS to US addresses only. They offer Standard (4-8 business days), Premium (3-5 business days), and Express (2-3 business days). I happen to live near a distribution center, so Standard shipments generally arrive at my door within a mere 2-3 business days.

Standard shipping is free on orders over $50 if you are a MyLancome member. Membership requires nothing more than your email address and a password, and there are other perks I’ll discuss in a bit, so I highly recommend you participate even if you don’t think you’ll be back.

The company accepts Visa, MasterCard and American Express. They also accept eGift Certificates, should you be lucky enough to receive one.

Product and Service
Things are beautiful if you love them. – Jean Anouilh

The meat of the meal is, of course, Lancôme’s products. They’re priced above moderate, but certainly aren’t the most expensive cosmetics out there. On par with Estee Lauder or Elizabeth Arden, you’re paying for the prestige factor as much as for the product, but their overall quality is, in my experience, sufficient to their price point.

You can find most any beauty product here. From moisturizer to eyecolor to skincare to lipstick to perfume, Lancôme has almost anything a girl could need to enhance her charm and splendor. Or to leave little messages on the bathroom mirror. Or to catch her kids playing with on the sly when she’s told them several times not to touch it without supervision. You know – everything.

As I said earlier, I’ve been a loyal customer for several years, and have been very satisfied with all of my purchases. I don’t particularly care for Trésor, but that’s my own personal peccadillo and no reflection, really, on Lancôme’s overall quality or selection.

As with all websites involving color, however, what you see on the screen is not necessarily an accurate reflection of what you get. The Artliner shade of Ice Black is, in reality, a sort of smoky pearlescent gray with hints of black. On the website, they show the color as this sort of nondescript beigey-tan concoction. I would suggest, therefore, that you do make at least one foray into the dreaded MallWorld to see the actual colors for yourself before you purchase. Unless, of course, you have money to burn on cosmetics, in which case knock yourself out and buy two of everything for evaluation. You can send one of each item to me and I’ll be more than happy to assist you with your research.

Service has been a non-issue for me thus far. They’ve always shipped when they said they would and, living relatively near that distribution center, product has always arrived very quickly.

MyLancome
J'ai réinventé le passé pour voir la beauté de l'avenir. - Louis Aragon

Joining My Lancôme carries some great benefits, and I highly suggest taking the plunge:

---Free shipping on orders over $50
---Choice of sample with every purchase
---News on Lancôme product launches
---Periodic sampling based on your skin's needs
---Personalized consultation results for makeup, skincare and suncare are stored for future reference
---Your order history stored for future reference

In addition to this, Lancôme will occasionally send free samples for no reason whatsoever. Every few months an unordered box from them shows up at my door. It may contain nothing more than a lipstick, or it might house a few miscellaneous samples, but it’s always free and accompanied by a note thanking me for my loyalty. It’s a nice touch.

Overall Recommendation
C'est à cause que tout doit finir que tout est si beau. - Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz

I highly recommend www.lancome.com to any Lancôme aficionado or beauty buff. They’ve a well-designed site, a wide selection of quality products, and they’ve some nifty benefits just for joining their no-hassle MyLancome club. Go forth and enjoy with confidence.

“It's because everything must end that everything is so beautiful.” The end.




As a parting gift, just because I like the quote, the following freebie is courtesy of myjaxmom28.com:
If someone wants a sheep, then that means that he exists. - Antoine de Saint-Exupery


Want to compare sites?
WWW.BobbiBrown.com
WWW.LushCanada.com


Looking for more Lancôme?
♦ Bienfait Total Moisturizer
♦ Colour Focus Eye Colour
♦ Juicy Rouge LipColour
♦ Rouge Sensation Lipstick