If you’ve watched the video below, you know now that I am absolutely obsessed with Kylie Cosmetics. There is something about making a purchase from the brand that makes my heart skip a million beats. Perhaps it’s my escape from life; from the never ending work load that I can’t seem to be done with; or from my mind that is forever thinking. Whatever it is that draws me to the site when the restock happens, I am not complaining. The time before & after the restock for me, is something unexplainable. I am completely lost in it. I like that feeling. So, today I share with you my Tips for purchasing Kylie Cosmetics Lip Kits, because hey, after 5 successful orders, I think I’m a pro at this.
The video is mostly focussed on the unboxing & tips for actually successfully purchasing from Kylie Cosmetics. And while I did briefly speak on my experiences, I had to edit the video down (considerably – I talk too much haha), so there are things I didn’t mention in the video, that I mention here & vice versa. One of the most important things, in my opinion is the actual break down of costs. I have seen a few local people reselling the Kylie Cosmetics products for upwards of R600 for a lip gloss & I think it’s important that you also know how much it actually costs if you would like to make a purchase yourself. For some people, staying up until midnight & having to go through the USA forwarding address process may be too much, & they would rather pay someone to go through that for them. That is fair, but personally I love actually going through it all myself, & it’s really no headache.
Before I get into the cost break down, I wanted to chat about Shipito. Shipito is the USA forwarding service I use to get anything & everything (mostly make-up) from companies that don’t ship to South Africa. And in case you didn’t know, Kylie Cosmetics does not ship to South Africa. I have spoken about Shipito before, you can watch the video here.
Order 1
Restock Date: 1 April 2016, 10pm SA Time
I didn’t get to go into detail about this in the video, but this is my most memorable Kylie Cosmetics purchase. I had had 2 unsuccessful attempts at purchasing from Kylie Cosmetics, & this was my 3rd try so I figured I had to be successful right? I spent my whole day speaking about the restock until I left the office around 6pm & headed to the gym. I got home from gym around 7.20pm & basically opened my laptop immediately. I had no idea of the time of restock so I just sat there rotting as Rush would say lol. It was gross but I didn’t care. I eventually got to the point of restock & my screen was stuck. So here I was checking the Instagram comments on the @kyliecosmetics page; reading that people had made purchases & I couldn’t even see anything? WTF! Only to realise that I had been viewing the password page!!! I mean really? Then after my purchase I did a little victory lap around the dining room table. It really did feel great 🙂
Products Purchased:
x3 Glosses in LIKE
Cost:
$15 per gloss / $45 subtotal
TAX (California & LA County) $4.06
Shipping $8.95
Total: $58.01 / R892.95 (R15.40 exchange rate)
**Above is what was deducted from my SA bank account at the time I made the purchase.
Shipping:
6 April – Kylie Cosmetics shipped my order to my USA forwarding address (Shipito)
7 April – Parcel received by Shipito. I was notified immediately. I have it set up so that Shipito automatically takes pictures of what has arrived.
8 April – Mailed from SHIPITO warehouse to me in SA.
SHIPITO Costs:
$2 Processing fee
$2 Optional Special Requests (Pictures / Invoice Removal)
$3.27 Delivery Insurance
$5.91 Postage
TOTAL: $13.18 / R203
Date Received: 6 May
Individual Cost per gloss: R365.32
**No customs taxes paid
Order 2 + 3
Restock Date: 11 April 2016, midnight Dubai Time
I was in Dubai for a quick trend shop out on my way home from a business trip to China. By this time, the addiction was in full force, & I had subscribed to the KYLIE App just so that I could find out about restock information. The restock happened at midnight, & I was in stealth mode with both my laptop & iPad open to the Kylie Cosmetics website. I explained why I ordered twice in one night in the video above so I won’t go into that again.
(Order 2) Products Purchased:
x2 Lip Kits in DOLCE K | KOURT K
X1 Gloss in LITERALLY
Cost:
$29 per lip kit
$15 gloss
TAX CA & LA $6.58
Shipping $8.95
Total: $88.53 / R1390.05 (R15.70 exchange rate)
15 April – Shipped from Kylie Cosmetics to my Shipito address
18 April – Received by Shipito
(Order 3) Products Purchased:
x2 Lip Kits in DOLCE K | CANDY K
Cost:
$29 per lip kit
TAX CA & LA $5.22
Shipping $8.95
Total: $72.17 / R1133.18 (R15.70 exchange rate)
18 April – Shipped from Kylie Cosmetics to my Shipito address
19 April – Received by Shipito
SHIPITO Costs (Order 2 & 3 combined)
Because Orders 2 & 3 came in around a similar time, I decided to consolidate the 2 orders so that they could be shipped together. In this case, both orders were kept in their Kylie boxes, & put into a large plain box for shipping.
$4 Processing Fee
$6 Consolidation Fee
$3 Optional Special Requests (Pictures / Invoice Removal)
$3.69 Delivery & Damage Insurance
$17.12 Postage
Total: $33.81 / R531
22 April – Shipped from Shipito warehouse to me in SA. The 3 day delay in shipping is mostly due to me not being sure how to process a consolidated package. It was my first time, as the FREE account I previously had only allowed 1 package at a time. This is an upgraded account.
Date Received: Not received at time of post going LIVE. UPDATE: Arrived 21 June 2016. A little disappointed it took almost 2 months to arrive. In all honesty, I thought I had lost the package, which would’ve been awful. I tracked it to SA customs clearance where it was sitting from 23 May until 17 June, when it was sent to my local post office in Durban. Basically took 3 weeks to clear, & to find out where it was I had to call Johannesburg International where they do the SARS clearance.
Individual Cost per gloss: R339.36
Individual Cost per lip kit: R678.72
**Cost is approximate & subject to not paying any customs taxes
UPDATE: Paid R154.67 in customs fees, bringing the final costs to: Gloss R370.29 & Lip Kits R709.65
Order 4
Restock Date: 15 April 2016, 9.45pm SA Time
In hindsight this is my worst purchase. I should never have purchased 1 item. The cost works out to be so much more than it could’ve been.
Products Purchased:
x1 Metal Lipstick in KING K
Cost:
$18 Metal lipstick
TAX CA & LA $2.70
Shipping $8.95
Total: $31 / R469.33 (R15.14 exchange rate)
22 April – Kylie Cosmetics shipped my order to my USA forwarding address (Shipito)
25 April – Parcel received by Shipito.
26 April – Mailed from SHIPITO warehouse to me in SA.
SHIPITO Costs:
$2 Processing Fee
$1 Optional Special Request (Pictures)
$3.09 Delivery Insurance
$4.78 Postage
Total: $10.87 / R164.57
Date Received: Not received at time of post going LIVE. UPDATE: Received end May 2016. No Tax.
Individual Cost Metal lipstick: R633.90
(See why I regret this one?)
**Cost is approximate & subject to not paying any customs taxes
Order 5
Restock Date: 3 May 2015, 9pm SA Time
Products Purchased:
x3 Lip kits in KOKO K | TRUE BROWN K | MARY JO K
Cost:
$29 per lip kit / $87 subtotal
TAX CA & LA $6.53
Shipping $8.95
Total: $102.48 / R1512.34 (approx. R14.76 exchange rate)
9 May – Shipped from Kylie Cosmetics
10 May – Packaged received by Shipito warehouse
11 May – Mailed from SHIPITO warehouse to me in SA.
SHIPITO Costs:
$2 Processing Fee
$2 Optional Special Requests (Pictures / Invoice Removal)
$3.27 Delivery & Damage insurance
$7.03 Postage Fee
Total: $14.30 / R211.06
Date Received: Not received at time of post going LIVE. UPDATE: Received 24 June 2016. NO Taxes.
Individual Cost per lip kit: R574.47
**Cost is approximate & subject to not paying any customs taxes
I hope this post has been helpful to you. Be sure to watch the video above because it’s got lots of valuable info in it with regard to successfully making a purchase from Kylie Cosmetics. And share with your friends. There’s no fun in not sharing such valuable info right?
**UPDATE: I have purchased more Kylie Cosmetics orders since this post. Find the cost breakdown on those here.
Hi
Thank u soo much for this info, just wanted to ask quickly if u signed up for free or billed membership with shipto? What are the advantages and/or disadvantages of either?
Hi Lesego, I signed up for the free package.
But when I knew I was going to have multiple packages arriving at the same time, I upgraded.
As soon as they were sorted I went back to the free account 🙂
Thanks for your contagious addiction, Brett 😛 I finally took the plunge today and seem to have successfully ordered 3 kits, after taking your advice in your video and blog post. Can’t wait for them to arrive!
YAY I am so excited for you!
How come your shipping was so cheap! I’m doing a shipping estimate and the lowest price is $40!
The lip kits are in stock now and I’m dying to get one… Please help ?
Hey Jess, are you using Shipito to forward your package from USA to SA? I always select the cheapest method. It usually takes a month to get to me. Most I’ve paid was $33 for a box package but that included a whole lot of other fees for things I requested they do, so it would’ve been cheaper.
Hi if you looking for kylie make up in south africa check out ” Hair and make up by Ameena” on instagram they have all brands and u dont pay shipping.
I’d like to find out more? I’d care to find out some additional information.
hi Brett!
thank you so much for all your extremely helpful tips, id just like to know how did you request them to throw out the invoice?
ive been DYING to get my hands on the lip kits!
Get it in South africa…. make up and hair by ameena on instagram
Hi
When you forward your packages to SA, do you use your PO Box or home address for delivery
I use my home address 🙂
Thanks Brett! Great post x
Thanks for the help, I followed ur advice about shipito
Hi Brett,
I noticed that you wrote about customs for one of your orders but not the others. I’m a little confused. Were they all subject to customs charges? I’m asking because customs charges are so difficult to figure out- I’ve spent way too much time investigating customs charges (including phoning various government departments) over the years with no conclusive answers until I actually have to claim orders at the post office.
Also, I’m so glad I now know about Shipito because I’ve been sad about not being able to order things for too long. Thanks!
Not sure if you are tagged in the reply comment below.
Hi Rosa
If you read the post again, you will see that I have included the no tax part in Date Received UPDATE.
You must’ve skipped over that when reading it before.
I agree that it’s hard to figure out what you will pay taxes on & what you will not. Personally I find that it’s like rolling a dice. However, even so I still add 40% to everything I buy &then I decide if it’s worth it. If I don’t pay the tax then it’s just a bonus.
Hope that helps
Shoo you can waffle
LOL 🙂 True Story.
When i try paying i get an order saying its confirmed, but straight after i get one saying its cancelled? I think it might have to do with me using a SA credit card? because im sending it to an american address. How did you work around this?
Thanks
Hi there Talia, I use my SA Credit card & also ship to a USA address & I don’t do anything special. I have never had a cancelled order so I am not sure why your order is being cancelled. I wish I could help, but I don’t know what’s going wrong when you are trying to order.
Are you maybe ordering on high traffic days & perhaps the order didn’t go through because of the product being sold out?
Hi there
Would you recommend buying Kylie Cosmetics products off Muse Beauty?
Thanks 🙂
Hi Kayla, from what I hear Muse Beauty does sell authentic product. In my opinion, it’s better to buy it directly. I prefer that. But as I said, I have only heard great reviews about Muse Beauty.
Do you choose the Airmail economy option for your Shipito shipping?
Yes that was what I was choosing. Now I am selecting Aramex, & it gets to me much faster, for a similar price.
Hi Brett
For some reason delivery has increased drastically. For two Kylie lip kits, they are charging $14 for airmail and $33 for aramex. When you choose airmail, is there any tracking number that’s given? How do you know when it arrives in SA and if it’s just sitting at the post office, forgotten? Do they give you a post office tracking number?
Hi! Well the shipping does vary according to size of the box, but the rates are not looking so outrageous in my opinion.
If I am not mistaken (I haven’t shipped using Airmail in a very long time) they do give you a tracking number, but its not updated as frequently as a courier tracking number. This is because the package is slowly moving to you. When it arrives at the post office you will get a slip to fetch it. I am yet to have anything get lost via the SAPO.
hiee Brett
does kylie ship to PO box address, as I mailed them they reverted back saying we don’t ship to PO box address
Hi Aisha, I have never shipped to a PO BOX, the address I have used before was a warehouse address.
the reason most people don’t ship to PO Boxes is because someone needs to sign for the package, & a post office won’t sign for it.
Can you be more specific about the content of your article? After reading it, I still have some doubts. Hope you can help me. https://accounts.binance.com/fr-AF/register-person?ref=JHQQKNKN