By Janness Koh

Like a certain brand of cosmetic but can’t get your hands on it in Singapore? Amazon is probably the place everybody turns to for absolutely anything, however some of the brands you want on their site don’t ship ship here. In that case, be sure to check out these sites that do send to Singapore such as Anastasia Beverly Hills, RCMA, Koh Gen Do, Laura Gellar, Charlotte Tilbury, Milani, and many more!

1. Beauty Bay

Beauty Bay is one of my favourite sites to get my skincare or makeup shopping fix because they carry so many brands and have the lowest spend amount to get free shipping. Only SGD $26 and you get free shipping! Beauty Bay is based in the UK so shipping takes about 1.5 weeks on average.

Brands to lookout for here are Z Palette which makeup junkies like me know well; and they also have some limited edition products. Laura Gellar – yes you can get your hands on the popular Baked Gelato Illuminator in Gilded Honey. Viseart eyeshadow palettes that has been raved about by famous Youtubers and also Anastasia Beverly Hills brow products.

Even with brands that you can buy locally, I find Beauty Bay is cheaper. For example, First Aid Beauty’s Facial Radiance Pads is selling at SGD $51 at local Sephora but Beauty Bay is selling only at SGD $31.30. Ardell lashes at SGD $7.60 compared to SGD $9, BeautyBlender at SGD $26 compared to SGD $32.

Do your research on the prices at local stores and compare it with the ones on the site and get the  best deal!

*Images credit to beautybay.com

2. Cult Beauty

This is another UK based retailer with free shipping when you spent a minimum of £50. What I love about this site is that they deduct the tax off if you are shipping out of the UK and also offers a one time discount for your first order when you subscribe to them (if they haven’t change this promotion yet).

Brands you can get here are of course Charlotte Tilbury, well known for their Filmstar Bronze & Glow and their lipsticks. Huda Beauty by Middle East’s makeup guru Huda herself, Pixi and their cult product, Glow Tonic. I really recommend looking at skincare brands Sunday Riley and Dr. Dennis Gross as these aren’t available in Singapore from what I know and they are really good brands but expensive, so getting the tax free is such a deal. Sunday Riley’s Good Genes and Luna Oil are highly raved with good reviews and so is Dr. Dennis Gross’s Alpha Beta Peel. 

*Images credit to cultbeauty.co.uk

3. Beautylish

Beautylish ships to Singapore free with a minimum USD $75 purchase. You can also get popular brands like Anastasia Beverly Hills and Charlotte Tilbury but I think Beautylish is best known for carrying the RCMA No-Color Powder that gets sold out all the time. This powder has been a staple for makeup artists and beauty Youtubers for its no-colour nature as per its name and also the great price for the amount of product.

Other brands you can get your hands on are Natasha Denona, a well known makeup artist and famous for her amazing eyeshadow palettes that I myself can’t afford, premium haircare brand Oribe, Jeffree Star and many more.

*Images credit to beautylish.com

4. ikatehouse

ikatehouse does not offer free shipping to Singapore but they do ship here. You will find drugstore brands like Nyx, Milani, Covergirl, LA Girl, and etc on this site. ikatehouse always have discount codes available that gets you up to 12% off, so don’t buy till you have a code which is almost always really. Subscribe to their newsletter and you will receive emails from them with updated discount codes.

You might have seen some Watson’s sales selling brands like LA Girl, elf and Nyx but honestly their prices are way more than the original price so I recommend just getting from this site.

Some cult products you can get are LA Girl’s Pro Conceal, Milani’s blushes and Conceal + Perfect Foundation, and etc. You can get really good deals on Ardell’s lashes from USD $3.49 a pair as well as brands that aren’t easily available here like City Color and Jordana.

On this site you can find items for as low as USD $1 and further discount with discount codes, I say you can’t get any better than that.

*Images credit to ikatehouse.com

5. iHerb

iHerb isn’t exactly a main beauty site but if you haven’t heard of them, you need to check them out. They are like IKEA for supplements, you can find almost everything you will ever want there. Also, they have a wide selection of oils you can use for hair or skin at really affordable prices. My sister likes getting lemongrass and citronella oil to make her own concoction of insect repellent for my baby niece and nephew while I like getting oils like macadamia and argan for my hair. I also recommend checking out the herbal teas they have like Yogi’s raspberry leaf tea if you are dealing with period cramps and they have tea that aids in sleeping too if you are insomniac like me.

Makeup brands includes elf, Physician’s Formula, Real Techniques, etc. I highly recommend trying out Aztec Secret Indian Healing Clay, the most effective clay mask I have used, you literally feel your face pulsating as the product states.

Spend a minimum of USD $60 and you get free shipping to Singapore! You can use my code QUN653 to get USD $5 off your first purchase.

*Images credit to iherb.com

Bonus sites

Do you know you can buy from some brands direct on their website and either they ship here or you can make use of a freight forwarder even though you can buy them in local stores? You might ask why do I need to buy online then? Well, because direct brand websites will occasionally have discounts and promotions that you won’t get locally, plus free samples with every order. Example for Tarte, they can have up to 30% off when they have their family and friends discount. Also, they usually have a one time discount code for your first purchase after you sign up with them and you can secure that newly launched item before it hits our shore.

Something to note when shipping to freight forwarders is buying spray products as most are not allowed to be shipped. You might want to check with your freight forwarder beforehand if you intend to buy such products.

List of some brands:

• Tarte ships to Singapore for free with a minimum purchase of SGD $112 currently, I think this changes according to their promotion or exchange rates. Even if you don’t hit for the free shipping, you can send to a freight forwarder address so you still can a cheaper price even after paying the shipping. Checkout their Rainforest of the Sea collection which I really like and not available in Singapore
• M.A.C ships to freight forwarder address and you will be able to get products on sale that will forever be gone from their product line once gone. You can find this will be under Products > Makeup > Goodbyes. I really like being able to get my hands on some of M.A.C’s limited edition items before they are in local stores and run out of stock too quickly. M.A.C also has that occasional discount where you are getting such a deal because their original price is already lower than Singapore’s to begin with and they have some online only products.
• Urban Decay also ships to freight forwarder address and has the same occasional discounts going on where you can take 20-30% off.