Sorry to our gentlemen readers, but this one is for the ladies. We already told you about some of our great finds at Shecky’s Girls Night Out, but at the time we didn’t include Bluefire Cosmetics, a discount retailer that sells premium brand makeup at wholesale prices (e.g., Bobbi Brown lip pencil in soft rose for $10, Stila Sun Bronzing Powder SPF 15 in Shadow for $16). Why? Because we’re still a little mixed on our feelings.
Last time I wrote about The Fairest before trying it out myself, and I fear I could have led you astray. At the time of my post (early-mid November) I had purchased several Anastasia’s items from the site, but when mid-December rolled around and I still hadn’t received my purchases (they were mostly Christmas gifts for my mom), I was pissed and cancelled my order.
So before I wrote about Bluefire Cosmetics, I wanted to try them out by purchasing online, versus buying from the kiosk at the event, and I’m glad I did. I ordered a mini tube of Tarte’s cheek stain in Merry (one of three available colors) for $6. I’ve wanted to try it but didn’t want to make the investment of $30 for a full-size tube in case I didn’t like the way it looked or reacted with my skin, so this was the perfect little item for me.
However, it was not smooth sailing throughout the whole purchasing experience. Take a look at our pros and cons list below to see if you think it’s worth a try.
Pros:
- Discounted makeup! This is even better than the makeup stands you’ll often find at street fairs
- Great brands! They had some of my personal favorites – Bare Escentuals, Tarte, Urban Decay, etc.
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Random note: I must share a little secret with you ladies…I am in love with Urban Decay’s Eyeshadow Primer Potion (although they don’t currently have this on Bluefire). But that is not the secret, per se. I am compelled to tell you all about it because I have never found an eye primer that works as well as this one. I kid you not, I apply just a dab in the morning, around 8 am, and everything, including my eye liner that I brushed on using a very dark powdery eye shadow is still intact. It’s amazing, and it’s so nice to leave in the morning without bringing my eye shadow or liner in my purse for reapplication later. The only issue is that it can be a little difficult to blend at times, so you may need to be a tad more aggressive than usual, but it’s worth it. At $17, this is a smart purchase because it will last you several months. Okay, enough about that.
- No tax or shipping charges! I only ordered one item for $6 and I still wasn’t charged for shipping – this made my day! According to the receipt and my credit card statement, I was billed $6 even.
- Quick delivery. Once my order went through (see below), I received it in two business days.
Cons:
- I do not like the Web site. If you’re primarily an e-commerce site, you should make sure that your main vehicle for securing sales, your Web site, is visually appealing with no errors (currently Bobbi Brown is spelled Bobbi Borwn in one rotating box) to instill confidence in your users. And honestly, if I’m shopping for something as aesthetically-focused as makeup, I want to shop on an aesthetically-pleasing site.
- Sparse inventory. Despite the huge table at the event with lots of options, the site seems to be limited. Maybe I’m not getting to the right pages (maybe it’s not user-friendly enough), but it wasn’t the HalfOff.com kind of inventory I was envisioning and hoping for.
- But my biggest gripe? The e-commerce functionality. After 10 minutes and four separate attempts (re-clicking to submit, going back to the homepage to shop for it and attempt to re-purchase it, and finally closing and re-opening my browser to do it all over again), I was still unsuccessful at completing my purchase. I kept getting an error signal that made zero sense to me. Frustrated, I gave up and decided that I was better off without my purchase.
Much to my surprise, several days later I received an email confirming that my order successfully went through and was on its way to my mailbox. I immediately shot back a note explaining the situation and telling them that I better not be charged four times for their mistake. I never heard from them and when the package came in the mail I ripped it open to luckily only find one tube of it with a receipt confirming a $6 charge to my credit card.
True to their promise, the makeup was still wrapped up in its original packaging with a plastic sleeve around it (hopefully) ensuring no tampering or previous usage. Overall I’ve been pleased with my purchase and I think I’ll give them one more shot. I just hope they get the tech/web design support they need fast, because I do love the idea behind the site and the prices (especially the no shipping charge!), but the inconvenience factor is enough to dissuade me.
