beauty.com

Full review
At some point after I had children, I realized that it's nice to be pampered, and started shopping for people with that in mind. Being a huge fan of Philosophy products, and receiving an offer for $20 off a purchase of $150.00 or more, I set out to try my first order at Beauty.com and knocked off several gifts in one fell swoop.

::: The Little Sister :::

Beauty.com is actually a subsidiary of drugstore.com (which I shockingly have yet to review), and focuses on the hair/body/make-up products. Similar in scope to Sephora, but carries a wider variety of price ranges for products.

The site looks very similar to the drugstore.com site, with easy navigation, and a constant view of your shopping bag in the left side bar. Also like drugstore.com, Beauty.com offers free shipping on all purchases of $49.00 or more. A convenient search is located right at the top of the screen, and you can shop by brand or product category. Beauty.com also offers expert advice from make-up artists and provides information on the latest trends in beauty.

Methods of payment accepted are Visa, MasterCard, Discover, Diner's Club and American Express credit cards.

::: Certainly Not a Beast :::

When I set out on my shopping quest at Beauty.com, my first task was to get the free shipping, which is an easy enough feat, especially when you are buying Philosophy products. I was also pleasantly surprised to discover that there were two free Philosophy giveaways with purchase, and I'm still not sure how they were calculated.

At any rate, I had several people to buy for, including my mother, my girlfriend's birthday, my sister, and my youngest's godmother. I was able to find every single product that I was looking for with no issues whatsoever, even products that I was concerned might be sold out since I was shopping relatively late in the season, and I was looking for some of the holiday-only items that Philosophy does.

My total haul was an Amazing Grace fragrance gift set and a full-sized bottle of Amazing Grace 3-in-1 for my mother, the gingerbread house for my son's godmother, the birthday girl gift set for my girlfriend, and a ridiculously expensive Kevyn Aucoin Eyelash Curler for my sister. For my trouble, I received free shipping, $20.00 off my purchase, plus a free full-sized bottle of Philosophy Vanilla Ice Cream 3-in-1 (retail $16.00) and a 6-ounce jar of Philosophy the gingerbread man hot salt scrub (retail $7.50).

My order was placed very late on a Thursday night/Friday morning, and I received an instant email confirming my order (the email came from drugstore.com. Saturday morning, I received notification that my order was assembled and was shipping out, and it arrived via UPS on Wednesday. The items were packaged in tissue and Beauty.com shopping bags just as if I'd been to a brick and mortar store, and the items were packed well and arrived safely.

I'll admit I'll be back for more. Nothing says lovin' like free stuff just for shopping there, and it makes the final tally so much less painful knowing that you are getting goodies for yourself as well. Presents for buying presents are a good way to turn this first-timer into a repeat customer.

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This review is part of the Lean 'n Mean III W/O.