Hey my fellow beauty addicts, I think you might like this post today….

So I’ve finally given In and made a Colourpop order I’ve wanted to try this brand for about 2 years now and because they still aren’t shipping to the UK a lot of us girls are using forwarding companies. which brings me on to what I want to talk about today, I had been looking up a few companies and a few friends recommend me some to try, if you don’t know what these are they are basically companies that give you your own US-based address kind of like a PO box, which you can use when ordering online, it’s especially handy to use when you want to order things that don’t ship to the UK, and for me that’s pretty much makeup! I always want to try so many brands but they either don’t ship here or are a fortune to send, what with shipping, taxes and custom fees on top, so I wanted to give this service a go and see if it worked out cheaper, although I’m pretty sure it’s now impossible to get away without paying custom fees from anything you order from outside the UK, which is so annoying!!!

Anyway on to the company I decide to use which was My Mall box (MMB) http://www.mymallbox.com I actually did a lot of research into these companies as it can be a little overwhelming.

MMB actually reached out to me and asked if I wanted to try out their service which was great as I had already decide this was the company I was going to choose anyway, MMB don’t require a sign up fee, the process was easier than some I had seen, The shipping fees are the cheapest In my opinion (more on that later)

So basically how it works is you sign up (for free) and create an account they then give you your own US address which will be like a little unit or whatever where your parcels will be sent to, and then you can go shopping till your heart’s content… first stop for me was Colourpop!!

I went on the site and made a big order, also as I was a first time customer with CP I signed up and got a $5 off coupon code I really recommend you do that as every little helps. Colourpop also had free shipping on orders over $30 which was another bonus, I’m going to do a separate post on my Colourpop order and haul as this post I just want to strictly explain the process of how I ordered, so It’s easy and not a massive long post in one go.

So I checked out and added my US address I got given from MMB in the payment and also shipping section I paid with Paypal and to be honest I think it’s the only way I could have done it as obviously a debit/credit card is registered to your UK house address so when I entered my card details in at first it wasn’t going through, now days they can tell all this which is very clever lol, it wouldn’t have been an issue if Colourpop actually shipped to the UK as I could have put in my UK billing address and used my card but anyway I used paypal and it all went through ok I was a little worried the order would get cancelled but it didn’t.

You then wait for your order to be shipped from the company directly and you get a tracking number, Colourpop said my order could take up to 14 days to be processed as they were very busy at that time but after 3 days I got my email to say it had shipped, my CP parcel literally arrived at MMB centre 2 days later and I had an email from MMB a few hours later to say it had arrived  and if I wanted to repackage my order or they also offer the service where you can get multiple parcels sent and then they repackage them all together and send which I thought was so good as it keeps shipping costs down, I decide to repackage my order straight away as that was all I wanted this time round, they ask you to fill out the customs value, I had no idea what I was doing here and didn’t want to lie so I just put the full value of my goods which was $80 so I bet I get a big custom fee yay!! to be honest I didn’t want to put something stupid like $20 and get my parcel checked and found out anyway as I seem to have the worst luck possible with customs.

 

So Next step is where you pick what shipping service you want, they offer 4

• DHL express 1-3 business days and trackable (normally the most expensive)
• DHL local post 5-12 business days and trackable
• USPS airmail 5-12 business days standard Non trackable
• USPS epacket 5-12 business days standard  trackable (this is the one I went for)

All these shipping companies go by weight and dimensions of your package so price of shipping all depends on that, MMB emailed me to say my package had arrived and kindly gave me all those details which was helpful as it made me go on a little investigation into some other companies and the price difference between them all.

 

so for example mine weighed 1.3lbs and measured 9x7x3

for:

DHL express shipping it was $32.10

DHL local post was $19.72

USPS airmail $12.32

USPS epacket £19.72

 

I didn’t think this was to bad at all, I wanted to get express as I’m impatient but $32 was a little bit more than I wanted to pay and I thought waiting a few more extra days wouldn’t matter. So I went with the USPS epacket at $19.72 this was thanks to my boyfriend who said to go for that one, as the package would probably get passed over to royal mail and be easier to pay the custom fee, as he said DHL normally send letters regarding custom fees, I have no idea if this is accurate but I went with USPS anyway and plus it was trackable so gave me piece of mind, and I’ve used USPS loads of time before.

 

Here are some other companies that I compared prices using the same weight and dimensions

Shipito

 

 

ViaBox

As you can see there is a huge difference in some of these shipping prices, shipito is popular with some other bloggers but there prices are more than any I’ve researched, I’m very pleased I went with MMB.

 

 

The whole process was so easy and quick and I filled out my repackage details on the Friday 10/06/16 and on the 13/06/16 I had an email to say it had been sent with my tracking number, It finally arrived 23/06/16 It actually arrived in the UK pretty quickly on the 17th but it did get stuck at customs until the 22nd!! which was annoying but I am pleased to say I got No custom charges which I was so happy about, I was expecting to pay at least £20+ so I was shocked about this, I know custom charges are completely random and anyone can get one over the value of £15 so it is just luck I’m afraid, it doesn’t mean if you order you wont get one, I’m sorry to say.

like I said MMB reached out to me to try this service and I have a referral code if you would like to use it obviously it’s totally up to you. I would still use this service regardless as it’s the cheapest in my opinion and the service has been really quick and easy. My referral code is A8035,  So if you sign up with MMB and use my referral code you will get $5 credit to your account, and also If you ship a package also make sure to use my code, every little helps 🙂

I can’t wait to get ordering more, I really hope this post encourages you to make an order as I get so many people asking me about how I get American makeup to the UK especially Colourpop, If you have ordered American Makeup to the UK before then you know the process and this is really easy to do so don’t panic, plus MMB help you at every step!

Don’t forgot this is part one, Part two will be up in the next few days, I can’t wait to show you my Colourpop collection.

I think I covered all the basics, If you do have any questions drop me a comment below.

Thanks for reading xo