Hello lovelies. Today’s post is slightly different than usual. I normally talk about how you can do this or that if you live in the UK, but I decided to switch a few things up. I want to begin and cater more towards all my followers and not just my UK based ones. I love and appreciate you all the same regardless of where you are based from.
So…let’s talk about ordering from Cult Beauty if you live outside the UK. Oh, one last thing before I do that. Even though I wanted this post to be all inclusive, it might still appeal a bit more for those who are EU based. I don’t want to talk about things that I do not know as I would hate to provide you with false or misleading information.
Can you order from CultBeauty if you live outside the UK?
This is pretty obvious by now, but the answer to this question is yes. You can totally order from CultBeauty even if you do not live in the United Kingdom. This answer is applicable to both EU and non-EU countries. However, do keep in mind that certain geographic and brand restrictions may apply.
Is there a spend limit?
As far as I know, there is no limit on how much you spend. However, the free delivery threshold are indeed affected by this.
What kind of delivery does CultBeauty offer?
There is standard international delivery and then there is the express version. The standard is, as the name suggest. a bit slower while the express is supposedly faster. Also, standards delivery might make use of your national postal service while the express one uses DHL (at least in Europe it does).
I am not going to do a huge Q?&A here as I am not a representative of the brand. You can find all the information you need on the Cult Beauty website. I just wanted to point out the few things above before moving on and talking about my personal experience with ordering from the online retailer while abroad.
My experience with ordering from CultBeauty in the EU (non-UK)
As you might know, Cult Beauty released a new goody bag at the beginning of June 2020. I was super unsure whether to get it or not. I did not really need the products included and I had kinda decided to skip it. However, for one reason or another, I went onto the website to check a few prices for an article I was writing and saw a product that intrigued me and that I had no idea it even existed. The product in question was the Dermapore device from Dermaflash.
Those details are not as important, but since the devices was about half the amount I needed to spend in order to qualify for the goody bag and the same morning I become obsessed with a kit from Drunk Elephant which had just been released, I decided to go fo it. The fact that some other products I was really curious about were finally in store did not help matters either. So since my total was enough o cover the minimum spend for the goody bag, I caved.
So I had decided to place an order, but was not sure how to proceed. I was really nervous about getting the parcel delivered straight home, I admit. I had never been in a situation that required it until now (I used to love in London). I had been tempted to place an order or two since I returned home to Eastern Europe, but the whole thing was a bit tricky and let me tell you why.
Express delivery is freaking expensive (£15 I believe) if you do not meet the minimum required to qualify for free express delivery. For one product worth £22 it makes little sense to pay that amount. In general, the fee is pretty steep and it makes waiting to have more products on the list worth it.
The standard delivery minimum is significantly lower, however in my country my national postal services does not even come close to the one in the UK and perhaps other European countries so it is not an option I am willing to entertain. I mean, do you do need to go to the a special postal office that deals with imports to pick up your parcel? I do. I also need to wait a very long time in line at an office that is opened twice or three times per week and has incredibly short working hours (2-4 hours per day). In addition, the workers are police and they require lots of paperwork to prove this and that… Since the parcel is from the EU (sort of) it might be easier, but I refused to risk it. The hassle is just too much and at this time in particular, it is just not worth it. Even if the parcel would go to the regular postal office, I would still have to pick it up in person as parcels do not get delivered at home where I am based at nowadays. Yeah, it pretty much sucks so standard delivery is just out of the question.
The June 2020 order and goody bag was the perfect excuse to try this whole thing out and see how it works.
I ended up placing my order on Thursday at 15.45 and by 16.05 the next day the order was in my hands. My glove covered hands.
Since my order was high value, I also met the amount required for free delivery of any kind. I picked the express delivery option of course. Can you blame me knowing what you know now?
The order was processed rather quickly and the same day it reached the sorting centre at London Heathrow. During the night, the parcel made a few stops. One was in Brussels and another in Budapest. From there, the next day the parcel made its way to my regional distribution centre and then was delivered to my local centre (around 100 km away). Then a local currier picked it up and brought it to me. The entire process took less than 25 hours. Colour me impressed. I know that planes are not a new invention, but still – damn! Being used to delays and things not going right, I was super impressed by the delivery speed.
The parcel was delivered in one piece, there was not even a stretch on it. This time I actually got my goody bag as well so no new fiasco. I was a bit nervous about handling it since it passed through so many countries and hands. Not something I would have worried about before, but I was a bit anxious now. I entertained the idea to store the parcel in a safe space for a few days before opening it, but I was so curious. I of course disinfected my hands with warm water and soap as well as alcohol several times and washed every single item that was included in my order. I disposed of all the boxes even though I would have loved to keep some of them for photos and whatnot. I did take a few photos with product boxes on a surface that I can easily disinfect, but I have to admit that I did not feel 100% comfortable doing that so might avoid it altogether in the future.
Safe to say that my experience with order from Cult Beauty was a positive one. I look forward to placing another order in the future. Let’s hope things stay this way.
However, since this is a unique event, I wanted to hear your opinion/experience.
How was your international experience when ordering from Cult Beauty? Do you have any tips? comments?
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